Libertarians Should Not Indentify As Capitalists

"I contend that, while the libertarian opposes many aspects of the status quo in the United States, he does not necessarily oppose private property, and therefore there is not(sic) reason for one to refrain from identifying as a capitalist. " - Wjmelements Firstly, Wjmelements contends that libertarians oppose the present governmental-economic system in the United States. This is true. He then, however, claims that since the libertarian does not oppose private property that therefore libertarians should identify as Capitalists. This is a blatant non sequitur. As I have shown previously there are a number of reasons both etymological and tactical to not identify as a Capitalist. "My opponent's argument that "it can be shown then that the word Capitalist is generally used to mean this status quo" fails because is not confirmed by any of his sources. Capitalism is only a part of the status quo, that part being the existence of private capital. The author listed in my opponent's fourth source is arguing that Obama seeks to replace the capitalist system (a system of private capital ownership) with socialism (a system of collective capital ownership) [1]. So, capitalism does not mean the entirety of the status quo. " - Wjmelements Here Wjmelements makes a good point. Though the current system is called Capitalist it is far from the only kind of Capitalism. There are different kinds of Capitalism ranging from a more Free Market to a less Free Market. In fact, we could draw a spectrum with "Free Market Capitalism" on one end and State Capitalism on the other and place different countries at different points on this spectrum. Wjmelements could then contend that what the libertarian opposes is not Capitalism but State Capitalism and that while the current system is called Capitalist it is not Capitalism that is the problem, but the State. However, one could also draw a spectrum from Free Market to Government Intervention, with no need to bring up the term Capitalism at all. "My opponent also offers a tactical argument, that libertarians should not call themselves capitalist to avoid the discussion of whether or not the status quo is capitalism. Indeed, such a choice would be efficient and would avoid unnecessary associations. My opponent's source [3] confirms that the more intelligent choice of words would be "free enterprise," whose approval rating is 25% higher than that of "capitalism," and whose definition is more specific to many libertarian's economic stance [4]. " - Wjmelements Agreed. "The question still lies, though, in whether or not libertarians themselves should denounce capitalism if asked, "Are you a capitalist? " The tactical answer is "Yes" as opposed to "No" because more potential converts support the word capitalism than oppose," - Wjmelements My position is not that the libertarian should necessarily position himself as an opponent of Capitalism but that he should not label himself as it's supporter. Being a supporter of Free Markets should be enough. "and because to denounce the system of private ownership of capital would lead to a contradiction that would confuse many potential converts. " - Wjmelements Again, my position is not that the libertarian should necessarily denounce Capitalism, as the word has different meanings and connotations with different audiences, merely that he himself should not identify as a supporter of Capitalism. "I agree to my opponent's definition of libertarianism, but I still contend that, in the context of this debate, Kevin Carson's beliefs should be limited to only defining what is libertarian and what is not and that his statements not be taken as indisputable truth. " - Wjmelements Agreed. "In conclusion, because the definition of libertarianism presented includes private property ownership, there is no reason why libertarians should contradict themselves in proclaiming to be against capitalism. " - Wjmelements Because Capitalism does not just mean private property ownership. Do u think 33% of Americans oppose all private property ownership? [1] Furthermore, for the purposes of this debate I am not claiming that libertarians should identify as Anti-Capitalists, merely not as Capitalists. ==Conclusion== Capitalism, as a word, has bad roots and means different things to different people. Rather than to clarify, it obfuscates. This fits Ayn Rand's definition of an anti-concept. [2] That is, that it is an unnecessary term that confuses rather than clarifies. If you mean Free Market, say Free Market. If you mean the private ownership of the means of production, say the private ownership of the means of production. After all: "The use of anti-concepts gives the listeners a sense of approximate understanding. But in the realm of cognition, nothing is as bad as the approximate. " - Ayn Rand The resolution is affirmed. Sources: 1 . http://www.gallup.com... 2 . http://aynrandlexicon.com...