The Integral Libertarian: Social and Free

I argue that Libertarian Socialism is a natural consequence of the Libertarian method, that there is no conflict in ideologies, and that Right-Libertarians have nothing to fear from the prospect of social organization. But first we should get the big question out of the way…

Aren’t Socialism and Libertarianism Total Opposites?

No. Socialism is fundamentally characterized by the workers having control of the means of production. By definition, the Socialism we have seen in the USSR and China is not true Socialism. One fundamental Libertarian tenet is that human beings have the right to self-ownership, which precludes the potential for any Libertarian to endorse slavery. The possible interpretations of self-ownership/slavery is broad, but most Libertarian Socialists would define slavery in a broader sense than does current US law and certainly broader than would State Socialists. Left Libertarians view State Socialism as either the ownership of people by the state (in a practical interpretation) or the ownership of everyone by everyone else (by an idealogical interpretation). In a coercive Socialist world where wealth is distributed evenly, every person would own one six-billionth of everyone else’s labor (and, by extension, six-billionth of everyone else). This violates the Libertarian tenet of self-ownership.

Instead, Libertarian Socialists seeks to remove imposed restrictions that prohibit individuals from voluntarily creating socially cooperative organizations. This would be accomplished by reducing or eliminating state regulation, allowing people to do such things as print their own money or direct-barter without reconciliation to state currency (and the taxation and politization that comes with it). People who have common self-interests will naturally find themselves forming cooperative structures. With mutualism untethered there is no need for a totalitarianist structure to impose cooperation. Indeed, such a structure is coercive and non-cooperative in its nature because the state will inevitably limit organization that threatens its priviledged position as regulator.

So What is Libertarian Socialism, Then?

Indeed, because Libertarianism advocates the reduction or elimination of most state structures, it relies upon the general public to create their own social organizations to fulfill the services the state was providing. The realization of this fact, the understanding that social structures are needed to support the “modern individual”, is what defines a Libertarian Socialist. It is the pursuit of the creation of these voluntary, mutual, social structures that defines Libertarian Socialism, which is itself perhaps just a component in the larger Libertarian “method” moreso than a flavor of Libertarianism itself. For example, no Libertarian would consider imposing restrictions upon the practice of such organization. So, Right-Libertarians whose primary interests consist of individual, free-market exchanges would have infinite opportunities to do just that. Left-Libertarians, who would like to create credit unions and cooperatives, would similarly be unfettered in doing so. It is a matter of personal liberty in how one would like to organize one’s life.

So, therefore, I consider myself first a Libertarian and a Socialist second. I advocate a Libertarian society and a Socialist emphasis on my own particular pursuit of the Libertarian lifestyle.

Grain image (CC) from http://www.flickr.com/photos/raeallen/5980866/