[Buddha-l] Re: Buddhism and Politics

[curt]

The word "libertarianism" has been hikacked by people
that I like to refer to as "pot smoking republicans". Originally
"libertarianism" referred exclusively to genuine Anarchists.
As Albert Parsons said, just before he was hanged, "all
Anarchists are Socialists, but not all Socialists are Anarchists".
Errico Malatesta, the Italian Anarchist (I know that sounds
redundant) also said "All Anarchists are Individualists, but
not all Individualists are Anarchists." So an Anarchist, according
to Parsons and Malatesta is someone who combines Socialism
with Individualism. 

The important thing about this distinction (between the correct
and incorrect use of the word libertarian) is that the incorrect
usage perpetrates a view of individualism that sees individuals as
inherently in conflict with each other. The Anarchist view of
Individualism is that individuals are, by nature, compassionate
and cooperative. While it is easy to scoff and sneer at such a
breathtakingly naive view of human nature, it is nevertheless
much closer to the Buddhist view of human nature. The right-
wing libertarian view of human nature is, in my opinion, at
the very least very difficult to reconcile with Buddhism.

- Curt

Bernie Simon wrote:

> Dr. Hayes wrote:
>
>> No one on earth is uniformly conservative or progressive. I should hope
>> almost everyone tries to find a good balance between conserving useful
>> traditions and progressing to better ways of doing things than our
>> ancestors dreamed possible. And I quite accept that this means no two
>> people will quite agree on what is worth conserving and what needs to be
>> thrown out. That's why we all have no honest alternative to being
>> liberal.
>
>
> I'll assume this is a joke.
>
> Conservatism and liberalism both have their virtues and deplorable 
> excesses. To quote Buddhist guru Gov. Jerry Brown, it's like paddling 
> a canoe: first you use the oar on the right side and then the left, or 
> you go around in circles.
>
> Devotees of Buddhism and libertarianism (if there are any) will be 
> pleased to learn of a weblog exploring the connections between the 
> two: "Enlightened Liberty."
>
> http://prrometheus.blogspot.com/
>
> ----
> I have read some books
> and have grown quite brave (Bright Eyes)
>
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