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IPFS News Link • Philosophy: Libertarianism

Libertarians and 'Privilege'

• Lewrockwell.com
It's not the fact that these things are being discussed – there's nothing wrong with that – it's what's being omitted from most of the discussions.

Take the recent debate between Cathy Reisenwitz and Julie Borowski on the pages of FEE's The Freeman.  Says Reisenwitz:

"Libertarians have a choice: They can stay silent on the topic of class and privilege, and simply support policies such as ending the drug war, extending marriage to gays, and opening up immigration from a limited government perspective. Or they can admit that in America, the State still extends privilege unevenly across lines of race, orientation, gender, and national origin, and that this privilege must be acknowledged before it can be fully understood or treatment needs to be addressed though.  Each of the problems she cites earlier in her essay (racially skewed enforcement of the war on drugs, attempts to "put the state between a woman and her doctor," proposed legislation that would make it harder to hire even legal immigrants, anti-sodomy laws that are used to harass gays, etc.) is an example of rights violations by the state, and would simply go away if the state's power to enforce these laws were removed –


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