From: yamauchi@ces.cwru.edu (Brian Yamauchi)
Subject: Libertarianism, Communitarianism, and Realignment (was Re: Communit..)
Organization: Computer Engineering and Science, Case Western Reserve University
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 92 03:43:34 GMT

In article <Bto8JA.2vG@acsu.buffalo.edu> v113mg59@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Ronald T Coslick Jr) writes:
>
>Communitarians feel that many of our nation's problems are the  
>result of an overemphasis on individual rights which has lead to 
>selfish and destructive behavior.  They attack the left for what 
>they call "rights rhetoric", and the right for pushing capitalism 
>which promotes self interest over community interest.  As the 
>Village Voice said, communitarianism is an attack on both the 
>'70s and the '80s, a movement which attempts to unify people of 
>both bents by resolving fundamental idealogical conflicts between 
>our two dominant political philosophies, all for the good of our 
>"community".

Socially conservative and economically liberal, the communitarians are
our (libertarian) opposite numbers.  These are the people who fall
into the diametrically opposed quadrant on the Nolan chart....

Both libertarians and communitarians agree with conservatives on some
issues and liberals on others, but the issues on which libertarians
are liberal, communitarians are conservative, and the issues upon
which libertarians are conservative, communitarians are liberal.

An example of communitarian thinking was provided by a recent guest
(whose name eludes me) on Crossfire who advocated a "new solution" to
the Welfare problem "beyond liberal and conservative".  His solution
was to force all Welfare recipients to work -- for a greatly expanded
Department of Labor.  He also advocated mandatory national service and
complete government control of medical services.

Another long-time advocate of communitarianism has been Christopher
Lasch, a philosophy professor at the University of Rochester.  Lasch
has criticized civil libertarians and capitalists alike for their
support of individualism, but he goes beyond this to criticize the
very idea of progress itself -- that the lives of individuals can be
constantly improved through social and technological change.

I found this interesting, in a way, because at some level, technology
is neutral on the individualist-collectivist continuum (there have
been pro-technology collectives, such as the Soviet Union, and
anti-technology individualists, such as Thoreau) -- but libertarians,
as a whole, tend to be strongly pro-technology in their outlook on the
future.  Many libertarians are involved in high technology
professions; there has long been a vigorous libertarian wing to the
space development movement; and many of the advocates of
nanotechnology have strong libertarian sympathies.  The idea of
unlimited horizons seems to be central to many libertarian world
views...

In contrast, Lasch's ideal is the "reduced expectations" of
poor/working class families.  His goal is to get people to reduce
their ambitions and their dreams...

I believe that the conflict between libertarian and communitarian
philosophy goes beyond political differences to a fundamental
clash both of values and of ways of viewing the world.

In the wake of the Cold War, some sort of political realignment seems
likely.  The threat of the Soviets/nuclear war no longer acts as a
polarizing factor on the conservative/liberal continuum -- these days
the Democrats are sounding more hawkish than the Republicans, while
the issues of abortion and "values" threatens schisms in both major
parties.

If a realignment does occur, I think it's quite possible that it may
be along libertarian-vs-communitarian lines -- with advocates of
"freedom, prosperity, and progress" on one side and advocates of
"community, social responsibility, and traditional values" on another.

I think libertarians would be well-advised to keep a close eye on
their opposite numbers...

_______________________________________________________________________________

Brian Yamauchi			Case Western Reserve University
yamauchi@alpha.ces.cwru.edu	Department of Computer Engineering and Science
_______________________________________________________________________________

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