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July 10, 2006
A liberal is a conservative who got thrown in jail without charge
In another of our of "Liberal is the New Conservative" series, check out a rather entertaining - or not - post by the Cunning Realist on the subject of politics changing experiences.
Here's the link to the LA Times story of horror to which the CR refers.
Also, you just have to check out this surreal document by Reuel Marc Gerecht of the American Enterprise Institute. As Matthew of the Unpronounceable name says, it's the Green Lantern Theory of Geopolitics.
Strange times.
Gotta love it when the prominent representatives of Libertarianism are pushing for WAR, WAR, WAR.
Update: In the comments below, Will Wilkinson points out that the CATO institute has been vocally against the war and that Reuel Marc Gerecht doesn't represent their views - the CATO Unbound blog is an open forum for various viewpoints. Fair enough.
I think, though, this is the same Will Wilkinson who wrote this, which was demolished by Chris Bertram and bitch slapped by Brad De Long, followed by a final dusting up by Majikthise. My own response at the time is unpublished as I wandered way off the reservation into a comparison of the Sigmoid function to economic feedback for an individual's effort in the society - a truly surreal discussion if you've ever had it with me, I can assure you. Seeing as how I make X and I know people who work two jobs and a heck of a lot harder than I do and make 1/10 X, the whole sigmoid response function (and Grossberg's adaptive resonance theory, in general) makes a whole lot of sense to me when modeling what happens in our society in terms of economic distribution. But then I'm a group mind, collectivist who thinks we're all just a really messed up, adolescent global intelligence that is begging to be put to bed without supper for the crap we've been ladling out.
Anyways, I look forward to hearing the CATO institute's response to this surreal loaf squeezed out by Gerecht. After Reynolds, Matt Welch and countless other so called members of the Libertarian (or, perhaps more appropriately referred to as Glibertarian) party have not only embraced the war, but have enthusiastically backed pretty much every bit of authoritarian land grab of social liberties by this administration - including backing state sanctioned torture of all things - it certainly would be refreshing to see a Libertarian organization stand up against such obvious crap.
Posted by Azael at July 10, 2006 12:59 PM
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Hi Azael, As our disclaimer says: Cato Unbound is a forum for the discussion of diverse and often controversial ideas and opinions. The views expressed on the website belong to their authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff or supporters of the Cato Institute.
Cato's own Ted Galen Carpenter will be responding to Gerecht, and you will see that their views could hardly be more opposed. I'll point out that the promotion of peace is a key component of Cato's mission, and Cato scholars have vocally opposed the war in Iraq.
Best,
Will
Posted by: Will Wilkinson at July 10, 2006 2:23 PM
Okay, I'll update the post and point this out. Sorry for the confusion.
Posted by: Azael at July 10, 2006 6:17 PM
