Somalia – Libertarian Paradise

Originally published at Am I the Only One Dancing?. Please leave any comments there.

Somalia: Plenty of guns but no bootstraps to lift themselves by

U.N. declares famine in Somalia; makes urgent appeal to save lives

I used to joke that if libertarians wanted a government-free society so badly, they should move to Somalia. It was a pointed joke, aimed at pointing out that this is the end result of non governance.

Imagine my consternation when libertarians started defending Somalia, saying, essentially, that the failed state was on the right track.

Is it too much to hope for that the declaration of famine in the libertarian paradise will cause a libertatian or three to question the ideology’s assumptions?

Or will they simply assert, as usual when challenged, that Somalia was insufficiently libertarian, and if they would just let the market be,  it would right itself – and what are the deaths of a few hundred thousand or a million ‘parasites’ to the birth of a ideological paradise, anyhow?

More likely, they’ll take the racist route. You know, those people don’t know what to do with the natural advantages of their form of government and its the failure of them being insufficiently ‘rational’ or ‘entrepreneurial’ to take advantage, rather than the failure of the idea that less government is automatically a good thing, especially government non interference in business and non-protection of the poor.

Oh, and while we’re at it, if you want to help the Somalis rebel against their libertarian freedoms and (you know) eat and stuff, you can find a worthy charity here (via HuffPost)

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Related articles

• Somalia: no government… still not a libertarian paradise (tobiasbuckell.com)
• Somalia: The horror of famine in a failed state (theglobeandmail.com)
• Explainer: Famine in Somalia – The Guardian (news.google.com)