X-Message-Number: 21880 Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2003 12:18:21 +0900 (JST) From: "Matthew S. Malek" <> Subject: Re: CryoNet #21863 - #21871 > Libertarian Socialist is an oxymoron! Hardly so. Libertarian Socialism has existed for well over a century now. Perhaps you simply need to broaden your definitions somewhat (see below): > Libertarian philosophy seeks minimal government, maximum self > responsibility and individual liberty. Once again, I would remind you to be careful of what you refer to when you use the term "Libertarian" loosely (see yesterday's post on this). > Socialist philosophy seeks maximum government control over people and > their decisions. Now here you are just plain wrong. You are looking specifically at one brand of Socialism, namely the Authoritarian Socialism practiced by Stalin, Mao, and others. In doing so, you have completely failed to grasp the core idea behind Socialism. Socialism's core tenet is NOT, as you put it, "seeking maximum control." It is more about making common decisions on how to provide for the common economic good. Common decisions can, of course, be made in a centralized authoritarian manner. But they can also be made in a decentralized forum, too. > You can't have it both ways!! Again, this is just plain wrong and seems to clearly stem from your misunderstanding of Libertarianism (beyond the American right's recent incarnation of it) and of Socialism. If you really believe your above statement, I would recommend that you do some reading to educate yourself further on Libertarian Socialism. If you would like, I can recommend several good books to begin with. =>Cheers, =>Matthew ---------------------------+------------------------------------------------- Matthew S. Malek | "Judging by his outlandish attire, he's | some sort of free-thinking anarchist!" ---------------------------+------------------------------------------------- QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them." --George Orwell ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=21880