Libertarians Are the New Communists

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Most people would consider radicallibertarianism and communism polar opposites: The firstglorifies personal freedom. The second would obliterate it. Yetthe ideologies are simply mirror images. Both attempt to answerthe same questions, and fail to do so in similar ways. Wherecommunism was adopted, the result was misery, poverty andtyranny. If extremist libertarians ever translated their beliefsinto policy, it would lead to the same kinds of catastrophe.

Let’s start with some definitions. By radicallibertarianism, we mean the ideology that holds that individualliberty trumps all other values. By communism, we mean theideology of extreme state domination of private and economiclife.