Janet Bufton — Are Libertarians Liberals?

Alex Aragona speaks with Janet Bufton as she explores where and how the tenets of classical liberalism come into play for those who call themselves libertarians. References from Episode 72 with Janet Bufton Janet Bufton manages the Liberal Studies Guides project and is a consultant at Adam Smith Works, whose websites have been hyperlinked. You can read more about Adam Smith’s thoughts on a system of natural liberty, the rules of commercial society, and the decisions people make at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy at this link. Follow this link to learn more about the non-aggression principle as libertarian philosophy. In the podcast, Janet mentions Adam Smith’s caution against business people who can turn economic power into political power to harm consumers. His argument against monopolies was summarized by Heinz D. Kurz in the article, Adam Smith on markets, competition, and violations of natural liberty, available here. Alex and Janet discuss how Milton Friedman identified differently overtime: early into his career he described himself as a neoliberal, which is evident in his essay, Neo-Liberalism and its Prospects, (The Curious Task also dedicated Episode 60 with Eric Schliesser to discussing neoliberalism) and later as a “liberal without adjectives” on The Donahue Show, and towards the end of life, he advocates for consequentialist freedom (all references hyperlinked). Like Milton Friedman, Murray Rothbard strongly identified as a libertarian (as evident in his work, For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto, which can be accessed at this link) but along with Rockwell was a pioneer of the paleo-libertarianism movement which aimed to unite traditional conservatives. Its origin story first featured in Rothbard’s essay, Right-Wing Populism: A Strategy for the Paleo Movement, which available for reading at this link. Here is the Wikipedia article for Ron Paul’s 2012 Presidential Campaign, where he ran with the Republican Party on principles such as anti-war but economic freedom. Robert Nozick coined the term “nightwatchman state” in his work, Anarchy, State, and Utopia, which can be purchased on Amazon Canada at this link. The Freeman was a libertarian magazine by the Foundation for Economic Education that was consulted by Ronald Reagan. Archives of the magazine can be accessed on the FEE’s website at this link. This link will direct you to a historical run-down of fusionism by Libertarianism.org. Janet references Steve Davies’s appearance to discuss the pandemic on Episode 45 of The Curious Task. If you would like a refresher on the topics covered in that episode, here is the link. More readings on cosmopolitanism are available at this link.