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Left-libertarianism,Bookchin, Murray; Biehl, Janet (1997). ''The Murray Bookchin Reader''. New York: Cassell. p. 170.Goodway, David (2006). '' Anarchist Seeds Beneath the Snow: Left-Libertarian Thought and British Writers from William Morris to Colin Ward''. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press
p. 4
. "'Libertarian' and 'libertarianism' are frequently employed by anarchists as synonyms for 'anarchist' and 'anarchism', largely as an attempt to distance themselves from the negative connotations of 'anarchy' and its derivatives. The situation has been vastly complicated in recent decades with the rise of anarcho-capitalism, 'minimal statism' and an extreme right-wing ''laissez-faire'' philosophy advocated by such theorists as Murray Rothbard and Robert Nozick and their adoption of the words 'libertarian' and 'libertarianism'. It has therefore now become necessary to distinguish between their right libertarianism and the left libertarianism of the libertarian tradition."
Marshall, Peter (2008). '' Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism''. London: Harper Perennial. p. 641. "The word 'libertarian' has long been associated with anarchism, and has been used repeatedly throughout this work. The term originally denoted a person who upheld the doctrine of the freedom of the will; in this sense, Godwin was not a 'libertarian', but a 'necessitarian'. It came however to be applied to anyone who approved of liberty in general. In anarchist circles, it was first used by Joseph Déjacque as the title of his anarchist journal ''Le Libertaire, Journal du Mouvement Social'' published in New York in 1858. At the end of the last century, the anarchist Sebastien Faure took up the word, to stress the difference between anarchists and authoritarian socialists."Newman, Saul (2010). ''The Politics of Postanarchism'', Edinburgh University Press
p. 43
. "It is important to distinguish between anarchism and certain strands of right-wing libertarianism which at times go by the same name (for example, Murray Rothbard's anarcho-capitalism). There is a complex debate within this tradition between those like Robert Nozick, who advocate a 'minimal state', and those like Rothbard who want to do away with the state altogether and allow all transactions to be governed by the market alone. From an anarchist perspective, however, both positions—the minimal state (minarchist) and the no-state ('anarchist') positions—neglect the problem of economic domination; in other words, they neglect the hierarchies, oppressions, and forms of exploitation that would inevitably arise in a ''laissez-faire'' 'free' market. ..Anarchism, therefore, has no truck with this right-wing libertarianism, not only because it neglects economic inequality and domination, but also because in practice (and theory) it is highly inconsistent and contradictory. The individual freedom invoked by right-wing libertarians is only a narrow economic freedom within the constraints of a capitalist market, which, as anarchists show, is no freedom at all."
Miller, Wilbur R. (2012). ''The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America: An Encyclopedia''. SAGE Publications
p. 1006
also known as egalitarian libertarianism, left-wing libertarianism, or social libertarianism, is a
political philosophy Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, ...
and type of
libertarianism Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's en ...
that stresses both individual freedom and
social equality Social equality is a state of affairs in which all individuals within a specific society have equal rights, liberties, and status, possibly including civil rights, freedom of expression, autonomy, and equal access to certain public goods and ...
. Left-libertarianism represents several related yet distinct approaches to
political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studi ...
and
social theory Social theories are analytical frameworks, or paradigms, that are used to study and interpret social phenomena.Seidman, S., 2016. Contested knowledge: Social theory today. John Wiley & Sons. A tool used by social scientists, social theories rel ...
. Its classical usage refers to
anti-authoritarian Anti-authoritarianism is opposition to authoritarianism, which is defined as "a form of social organisation characterised by submission to authority", "favoring complete obedience or subjection to authority as opposed to individual freedom" an ...
varieties of
left-wing politics Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in ...
such as
anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
, especially
social anarchism Social anarchism is the branch of anarchism that sees individual freedom as interrelated with mutual aid.Suissa, Judith (2001). "Anarchism, Utopias and Philosophy of Education". ''Journal of Philosophy of Education'' 35 (4). pp. 627–646. . ...
, whose adherents call it ''libertarianism'',
communalism Communalism may refer to: * Communalism (Bookchin), a theory of government in which autonomous communities form confederations * , a historical method that follows the development of communities * Communalism (South Asia), violence across ethnic ...
, and
libertarian Marxism Libertarian socialism, also known by various other names, is a left-wing,Diemer, Ulli (1997)"What Is Libertarian Socialism?" The Anarchist Library. Retrieved 4 August 2019. anti-authoritarian, anti-statist and libertarianLong, Roderick T. (2 ...
, collectively termed
libertarian socialism Libertarian socialism, also known by various other names, is a left-wing,Diemer, Ulli (1997)"What Is Libertarian Socialism?" The Anarchist Library. Retrieved 4 August 2019. anti-authoritarian, anti-statist and libertarianLong, Roderick T. (2 ...
. A portion of the left wing of the
green movement Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy. Wall 2010. p. 12-13. It ...
, including adherents of
Murray Bookchin Murray Bookchin (January 14, 1921 – July 30, 2006) was an American social theorist, author, orator, historian, and political philosopher. A pioneer in the environmental movement, Bookchin formulated and developed the theory of social ...
's
social ecology Social ecology may refer to: * Social ecology (academic field), the study of relationships between people and their environment, often the interdependence of people, collectives and institutions * Social ecology (Bookchin), a theory about the relat ...
, are also generally considered left-libertarian. In the United States, left-libertarianism represents the left wing of the libertarian movement, including the political positions associated with academic philosophers
Hillel Steiner Hillel Isaac Steiner (; born 1942) is a Canadian political philosopher and is Emeritus Professor of Political Philosophy at the University of Manchester. He was elected to the Fellowship of the British Academy in 1999. Work Steiner's writings ...
,
Philippe Van Parijs Philippe Van Parijs (; born 1951) is a Belgian political philosopher and political economist, best known as a proponent and main defender of the concept of an unconditional basic income and for the first systematic treatment of linguistic jus ...
, and
Peter Vallentyne Peter Vallentyne (; born March 25, 1952, in New Haven, Connecticut) is Florence G. Kline Professor of Philosophy at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. He holds dual citizenship in the United States and Canada. Biography Vallenty ...
that combine
self-ownership Self-ownership, also known as sovereignty of the individual or individual sovereignty, is the concept of property in one's own person, expressed as the moral or natural right of a person to have bodily integrity and be the exclusive controlle ...
with an egalitarian approach to
natural resource Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. ...
s. Kymlicka, Will (2005). "libertarianism, left-". In Honderich, Ted. ''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy''. New York City:
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...
. p. 516. "'Left-libertarianism' is a new term for an old conception of justice, dating back to Grotius. It combines the libertarian assumption that each person possesses a natural right of self-ownership over his person with the egalitarian premiss that natural resources should be shared equally. Right-wing libertarians argue that the right of self-ownership entails the right to appropriate unequal parts of the external world, such as unequal amounts of land. According to left-libertarians, however, the world's natural resources were initially unowned, or belonged equally to all, and it is illegitimate for anyone to claim exclusive private ownership of these resources to the detriment of others. Such private appropriation is legitimate only if everyone can appropriate an equal amount, or if those who appropriate more are taxed to compensate those who are thereby excluded from what was once common property. Historic proponents of this view include Thomas Paine, Herbert Spencer, and Henry George. Recent exponents include Philippe Van Parijs and Hillel Steiner." .
This is done to distinguish libertarian views on the nature of
property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...
and
capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...
, usually along left–right or socialist–capitalist lines. Although
libertarianism in the United States In the United States, libertarianism is a political philosophy promoting individual liberty. According to common meanings of conservatism and liberalism in the United States, libertarianism has been described as '' conservative'' on economi ...
has become associated with
classical liberalism Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, e ...
and minarchism, with
right-libertarianism Right-libertarianism,Rothbard, Murray (1 March 1971)"The Left and Right Within Libertarianism" ''WIN: Peace and Freedom Through Nonviolent Action''. 7 (4): 6–10. Retrieved 14 January 2020.Goodway, David (2006). '' Anarchist Seeds Beneath the ...
being more known than left-libertarianism, political usage of the term until then was associated exclusively with
anti-capitalism Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. In this sense, anti-capitalists are those who wish to replace capitalism with another type of economic system, such as ...
,
libertarian socialism Libertarian socialism, also known by various other names, is a left-wing,Diemer, Ulli (1997)"What Is Libertarian Socialism?" The Anarchist Library. Retrieved 4 August 2019. anti-authoritarian, anti-statist and libertarianLong, Roderick T. (2 ...
, and social anarchism; in most parts of the world, such an association still predominates.Bookchin, Murray; Biehl, Janet (1997). ''The Murray Bookchin Reader''. London: Cassell. p. 170. .
Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
left-libertarians are opposed to
capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private ...
and the
private ownership Private property is a legal designation for the ownership of property by non-governmental legal entities. Private property is distinguishable from public property and personal property, which is owned by a state entity, and from collective or ...
of the
means of production The means of production is a term which describes land, labor and capital that can be used to produce products (such as goods or services); however, the term can also refer to anything that is used to produce products. It can also be used as a ...
.Carlson, Jennifer D. (2012). "Libertarianism". In Miller, Wilbur R. ''The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America: An Encyclopedia''. Sage Publications
p. 1006
" cialist libertarians view any concentration of power into the hands of a few (whether politically or economically) as antithetical to freedom and thus advocate for the simultaneous abolition of both government and capitalism".
Left-libertarians are skeptical of, or fully against, private ownership of natural resources, arguing in contrast to right-libertarians that neither claiming nor mixing one's labor with natural resources is enough to generate full private property rights and maintain that natural resources should be held in an egalitarian manner, either unowned or
owned collectively Common ownership refers to holding the assets of an organization, enterprise or community indivisibly rather than in the names of the individual members or groups of members as common property. Forms of common ownership exist in every economi ...
.Carlson, Jennifer D. (2012). "Libertarianism". In Miller, Wilbur R. ''The social history of crime and punishment in America''. London: Sage Publications. p. 1007. . "Left-libertarians disagree with right-libertarians with respect to property rights, arguing instead that individuals have no inherent right to natural resources. Namely, these resources must be treated as collective property that is made available on an egalitarian basis". Those left-libertarians who are more lenient towards private property support different property norms and theories, such as
usufruct Usufruct () is a limited real right (or ''in rem'' right) found in civil-law and mixed jurisdictions that unites the two property interests of ''usus'' and ''fructus'': * ''Usus'' (''use'') is the right to use or enjoy a thing possessed, direct ...
Carson, Kevin (15 June 2014)
"What is Left-Libertarianism?"
Center for a Stateless Society. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
or under the condition that recompense is offered to the local or even global community, such as the Steiner–Vallentyne school. Other currents of thought identified with left-libertarianism include adherents of
Henry George Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of the Progressive Era. He inspired the eco ...
's
land tax A land value tax (LVT) is a levy on the value of land without regard to buildings, personal property and other improvements. It is also known as a location value tax, a point valuation tax, a site valuation tax, split rate tax, or a site-value r ...
ideas and
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (, , ; 15 January 1809, Besançon – 19 January 1865, Paris) was a French socialist,Landauer, Carl; Landauer, Hilde Stein; Valkenier, Elizabeth Kridl (1979) 959 "The Three Anticapitalistic Movements". ''European Socia ...
's mutualism, and more recent forms of left-wing market anarchism (or market-oriented left-libertarianism), including Samuel Konkin III's
agorism Agorism is a social philosophy that advocates creating a society in which all relations between people are voluntary exchanges by means of counter-economics, engaging with aspects of nonviolent revolution. It was first proposed by American liber ...
.


Definition

People described as being ''left-libertarian'' or ''right-libertarian'' generally call themselves simply ''libertarians'' and refer to their philosophy as ''libertarianism''. In light of this, some political scientists and writers classify the forms of
libertarianism Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's en ...
into two or more groups. such as left-libertarianism and
right-libertarianism Right-libertarianism,Rothbard, Murray (1 March 1971)"The Left and Right Within Libertarianism" ''WIN: Peace and Freedom Through Nonviolent Action''. 7 (4): 6–10. Retrieved 14 January 2020.Goodway, David (2006). '' Anarchist Seeds Beneath the ...
, to distinguish libertarian views on the nature of
property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...
and
capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...
. In the United States, proponents of
free-market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...
anti-capitalism Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. In this sense, anti-capitalists are those who wish to replace capitalism with another type of economic system, such as ...
consciously label themselves as ''left-libertarians'' and part of the ''libertarian left''. Traditionally, ''libertarian'' was a term coined by the French libertarian communistLong, Roderick T. (2012). "The Rise of Social Anarchism". In Gaus, Gerald F.; D'Agostino, Fred, eds. ''The Routledge Companion to Social and Political Philosophy''
p. 223
"In the meantime, anarchist theories of a more communist or collectivist character had been developing as well. One important pioneer is French anarcho-communists Joseph Déjacque (1821–1864), who ..appears to have been the first thinker to adopt the term "libertarian" for this position; hence "libertarianism" initially denoted a communist rather than a free-market ideology."
and ''
Le Libertaire ''Le Libertaire'' is a Francophone anarchist newspaper established in New York City in June 1858 by the exiled anarchist Joseph Déjacque. It appeared at slightly irregular intervals until February 1861. The title reappeared in Algiers in 1892 a ...
'' editor
Joseph Déjacque Joseph Déjacque (; 27 December 1821, in Paris – 1864, in Paris) was a French early anarcho-communist poet, philosopher and writer. He coined the term "libertarian" (French: ''libertaire'') for himselfJoseph DéjacqueDe l'être-humain mâle ...
to mean a form of
left-wing politics Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in ...
that has been frequently used to refer to
anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
Bookchin, Murray (January 1986)
"The Greening of Politics: Toward a New Kind of Political Practice"
''Green Perspectives: Newsletter of the Green Program Project'' (1). "We have permitted cynical political reactionaries and the spokesmen of large corporations to pre-empt these basic libertarian American ideals. We have permitted them not only to become the specious voice of these ideals such that individualism has been used to justify egotism; the pursuit of happiness to justify greed, and even our emphasis on local and regional autonomy has been used to justify parochialism, insularism, and exclusivity—often against ethnic minorities and so-called deviant individuals. We have even permitted these reactionaries to stake out a claim to the word libertarian, a word, in fact, that was literally devised in the 1890s in France by Elisée Reclus as a substitute for the word anarchist, which the government had rendered an illegal expression for identifying one's views. The propertarians, in effect—acolytes of Ayn Rand, the earth mother of greed, egotism, and the virtues of property—have appropriated expressions and traditions that should have been expressed by radicals but were willfully neglected because of the lure of European and Asian traditions of socialism, socialisms that are now entering into decline in the very countries in which they originated".
Fernandez, Frank (2001). ''Cuban Anarchism. The History of a Movement''. Sharp Press
p. 9
"Thus, in the United States, the once exceedingly useful term "libertarian" has been hijacked by egotists who are in fact enemies of liberty in the full sense of the word."
Ward, Colin (2004)
''Anarchism: A Very Short Introduction''
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...
. p. 62. "For a century, anarchists have used the word 'libertarian' as a synonym for 'anarchist', both as a noun and an adjective. The celebrated anarchist journal ''Le Libertaire'' was founded in 1896. However, much more recently the word has been appropriated by various American free-market philosophers."
and
libertarian socialism Libertarian socialism, also known by various other names, is a left-wing,Diemer, Ulli (1997)"What Is Libertarian Socialism?" The Anarchist Library. Retrieved 4 August 2019. anti-authoritarian, anti-statist and libertarianLong, Roderick T. (2 ...
"The Week Online Interviews Chomsky"
'' Z Magazine''. 23 February 2002. Retrieved 12 July 2019. "The term libertarian as used in the US means something quite different from what it meant historically and still means in the rest of the world. Historically, the libertarian movement has been the anti-statist wing of the socialist movement. In the US, which is a society much more dominated by business, the term has a different meaning. It means eliminating or reducing state controls, mainly controls over private tyrannies. Libertarians in the US don't say let's get rid of corporations. It is a sort of ultra-rightism."
since the mid- to late 19th century. Sébastien Faure, another French libertarian communist, began publishing a new ''
Le Libertaire ''Le Libertaire'' is a Francophone anarchist newspaper established in New York City in June 1858 by the exiled anarchist Joseph Déjacque. It appeared at slightly irregular intervals until February 1861. The title reappeared in Algiers in 1892 a ...
'' in the mid-1890s while France's Third Republic enacted the so-called villainous laws ('' lois scélérates''), which banned anarchist publications in France. According to Anthony Comegna of the
Cato Institute The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch Ind ...
, the libertarian socialist
Benjamin Tucker Benjamin Ricketson Tucker (; April 17, 1854 – June 22, 1939) was an American individualist anarchist and libertarian socialist.Martin, James J. (1953)''Men Against the State: The Expositers of Individualist Anarchism in America, 1827–1908''< ...
was the first American to use the term ''libertarian'' around the late 1870s and early 1880s. As a term, ''left-libertarianism'' has been used to refer to various political economic
philosophies Philosophical schools of thought and philosophical movements. A Absurdism - Action, philosophy of - Actual idealism - Actualism - Advaita Vedanta - Aesthetic Realism - Aesthetics - African philosophy - Afrocentrism - Agential realism - ...
emphasizing
individual liberty Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...
. With the modern development of
right-libertarian Right-libertarianism,Rothbard, Murray (1 March 1971)"The Left and Right Within Libertarianism" ''WIN: Peace and Freedom Through Nonviolent Action''. 7 (4): 6–10. Retrieved 14 January 2020.Goodway, David (2006). '' Anarchist Seeds Beneath the ...
co-optingMarshall, Peter (2008). '' Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism''. London: Harper Perennial. p. 565. "The problem with the term 'libertarian' is that it is now also used by the Right. ..In its moderate form, right libertarianism embraces ''laissez-faire'' liberals like Robert Nozick who call for a minimal State, and in its extreme form, anarcho-capitalists like Murray Rothbard and David Friedman who entirely repudiate the role of the State and look to the market as a means of ensuring social order". the term ''libertarian'' in the mid-20th century to advocate ''
laissez-faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups ...
''
capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private ...
and strong private property rights such as land, infrastructure, and natural resources, ''left-libertarianism'' has been used more often to differentiate between the two forms, especially concerning
property rights The right to property, or the right to own property (cf. ownership) is often classified as a human right for natural persons regarding their possessions. A general recognition of a right to private property is found more rarely and is typically h ...
. While ''right-libertarianism'' refers to ''laissez-faire'' capitalism (for instance to
Murray Rothbard Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American economist of the Austrian School, economic historian, political theorist, and activist. Rothbard was a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian ...
's
anarcho-capitalism Anarcho-capitalism (or, colloquially, ancap) is an anti-statist, libertarian, and anti-political philosophy and economic theory that seeks to abolish centralized states in favor of stateless societies with systems of private property en ...
and
Robert Nozick Robert Nozick (; November 16, 1938 – January 23, 2002) was an American philosopher. He held the Joseph Pellegrino University Professorship at Harvard University,
's minarchism),
socialist libertarianism Libertarian socialism, also known by various other names, is a left-wing,Diemer, Ulli (1997)"What Is Libertarian Socialism?" The Anarchist Library. Retrieved 4 August 2019. anti-authoritarian, anti-statist and libertarianLong, Roderick T. (201 ...
"view any concentration of power into the hands of a few (whether politically or economically) as antithetical to freedom and thus advocate for the simultaneous abolition of both government ''and'' capitalism." According to Jennifer Carlson, right-libertarianism is the dominant form of
libertarianism in the United States In the United States, libertarianism is a political philosophy promoting individual liberty. According to common meanings of conservatism and liberalism in the United States, libertarianism has been described as '' conservative'' on economi ...
. In contrast, left-libertarianism "has become a more predominant aspect of politics in western European democracies over the past three decades." Socialist libertarianism has been included within a broad left-libertarianism in its original meaning. Left-libertarianism also includes "the decentralist who wishes to limit and devolve State power, to the
syndicalist Syndicalism is a revolutionary current within the left-wing of the labor movement that seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes with the eventual goal of gaining control over the means of pr ...
who wants to abolish it altogether. It can even encompass the Fabians and the
social democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...
who wish to socialize the economy but who still see a limited role for the State."Marshall, Peter (2009)
991 Year 991 ( CMXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events * March 1: In Rouen, Pope John XV ratifies the first Truce of God, between Æthelred the Unready and Richard I of ...
'' Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism'' (POLS ed.). Oakland, California: PM Press. p. 641. "Left libertarianism can therefore range from the decentralist who wishes to limit and devolve State power, to the syndicalist who wants to abolish it altogether. It can even encompass the Fabians and the social democrats who wish to socialize the economy but who still see a limited role for the State." .
According to the textbook definition in ''The Routledge Companion to Social and Political Philosophy'', ''left-libertarianism'' has at least three meanings, writing:
In its oldest sense, it is a synonym either for anarchism in general or social anarchism in particular. Later it became a term for the left or Konkinite wing of the free-market libertarian movement, and has since come to cover a range of pro-market but anti-capitalist positions, mostly individualist anarchist, including agorism and mutualism, often with an implication of sympathies (such as for radical feminism or the labor movement) not usually shared by anarcho-capitalists. In a third sense it has recently come to be applied to a position combining individual self-ownership with an egalitarian approach to natural resources; most proponents of this position are not anarchists.
The ''
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy The ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (''SEP'') combines an online encyclopedia of philosophy with peer-reviewed publication of original papers in philosophy, freely accessible to Internet users. It is maintained by Stanford University. E ...
'' distinguishes left-libertarianism from right-libertarianism, arguing:
Libertarianism is often thought of as 'right-wing' doctrine. This, however, is mistaken for at least two reasons. First, on social—rather than economic—issues, libertarianism tends to be 'left-wing'. It opposes laws that restrict consensual and private sexual relationships between adults (e.g., gay sex, non-marital sex, and deviant sex), laws that restrict drug use, laws that impose religious views or practices on individuals, and compulsory military service. Second, in addition to the better-known version of libertarianism—right-libertarianism—there is also a version known as 'left-libertarianism'. Both endorse full self-ownership, but they differ with respect to the powers agents have to appropriate unappropriated natural resources (land, air, water, etc.). Vallentyne, Peter (20 July 2010)
"Libertarianism"
''
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy The ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (''SEP'') combines an online encyclopedia of philosophy with peer-reviewed publication of original papers in philosophy, freely accessible to Internet users. It is maintained by Stanford University. E ...
''.
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...
. Retrieved 26 December 2012.


Terminology

Joseph Déjacque Joseph Déjacque (; 27 December 1821, in Paris – 1864, in Paris) was a French early anarcho-communist poet, philosopher and writer. He coined the term "libertarian" (French: ''libertaire'') for himselfJoseph DéjacqueDe l'être-humain mâle ...
was the first to formulate libertarian ideas using the term ''libertarian''. Later philosophers on the left would add detail to his political philosophy to study and document attitudes and themes relating to
stateless socialism Libertarian socialism, also known by various other names, is a left-wing,Diemer, Ulli (1997)"What Is Libertarian Socialism?" The Anarchist Library. Retrieved 4 August 2019. anti-authoritarian, anti-statist and libertarianLong, Roderick T. (20 ...
. In Déjacque's case, it was called
libertarian communism Anarcho-communism, also known as anarchist communism, (or, colloquially, ''ancom'' or ''ancomm'') is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that advocates communism. It calls for the abolition of private property but retains r ...
. As a term, ''left-libertarianism'' is used by some political analysts, academics, and media sources, especially in the United States, to contrast it with the libertarian philosophy, which is supportive of
free-market capitalism In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or an ...
and strong
private property Private property is a legal designation for the ownership of property by non-governmental legal entities. Private property is distinguishable from public property and personal property, which is owned by a state entity, and from collective or ...
rights, in addition to supporting
limited government In political philosophy, limited government is the concept of a government limited in power. It is a key concept in the history of liberalism.Amy Gutmann, "How Limited Is Liberal Government" in Liberalism Without Illusions: Essays on Liberal Th ...
and
self-ownership Self-ownership, also known as sovereignty of the individual or individual sovereignty, is the concept of property in one's own person, expressed as the moral or natural right of a person to have bodily integrity and be the exclusive controlle ...
which is common to both libertarian types.
Peter Vallentyne Peter Vallentyne (; born March 25, 1952, in New Haven, Connecticut) is Florence G. Kline Professor of Philosophy at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. He holds dual citizenship in the United States and Canada. Biography Vallenty ...
describes left-libertarianism as the type of libertarianism holding that "unappropriated natural resources belong to everyone in some egalitarian manner." Similarly, Charlotte and Lawrence Becker maintain that left-libertarianism most often refers to the political position that holds natural resources are originally
common property Common ownership refers to holding the assets of an organization, enterprise or community indivisibly rather than in the names of the individual members or groups of members as common property. Forms of common ownership exist in every econo ...
. Followers of Samuel Edward Konkin III, who characterized
agorism Agorism is a social philosophy that advocates creating a society in which all relations between people are voluntary exchanges by means of counter-economics, engaging with aspects of nonviolent revolution. It was first proposed by American liber ...
as a form of left-libertarianism and strategic branch of left-wing market anarchism, use the terminology as outlined by Roderick T. Long, who describes left-libertarianism as "an integration, or I'd argue, a reintegration of libertarianism with concerns that are traditionally thought of as being concerns of the left. That includes concerns for worker empowerment, worry about plutocracy, concerns about feminism and various kinds of social equality."
Anthony Gregory Anthony Gregory (born January 3, 1981) is an American historian and author. He has published two books on civil liberties in the United States and in the English legal tradition. Prior to becoming an academic historian, Gregory published hundreds ...
maintains that libertarianism "can refer to any number of varying and at times mutually exclusive political orientations." Gregory describes left-libertarianism as maintaining an interest in
personal freedom Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties m ...
, having sympathy for
egalitarianism Egalitarianism (), or equalitarianism, is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds from the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all h ...
and opposing
social hierarchy Social stratification refers to a society's categorization of its people into groups based on socioeconomic factors like wealth, income, race, education, ethnicity, gender, occupation, social status, or derived power (social and political). As ...
, preferring a liberal lifestyle, opposing
big business Big business involves large-scale corporate-controlled financial or business activities. As a term, it describes activities that run from "huge transactions" to the more general "doing big things". In corporate jargon, the concept is commonly ...
, and having a
New Left The New Left was a broad political movement mainly in the 1960s and 1970s consisting of activists in the Western world who campaigned for a broad range of social issues such as civil and political rights, environmentalism, feminism, gay rights ...
opposition to
imperialism Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic powe ...
and
war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
. Although some American libertarians such as
Walter Block Walter Edward Block (born August 21, 1941) is an American Austrian School economist and anarcho-capitalist theorist. He currently holds the Harold E. Wirth Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair in Economics at the School of Business at Loyola Universit ...
,
Harry Browne Harry Edson Browne (June 17, 1933 – March 1, 2006) was an American writer, politician, and investment advisor. He was the Libertarian Party's Presidential nominee in the U.S. elections of 1996 and 2000. He authored 12 books that in total hav ...
,
Leonard E. Read Leonard Edward Read (September 26, 1898 – May 14, 1983) was the founder of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), one of the first free market think tanks in the United States. He wrote 29 books and numerous essays, including the well-k ...
, and
Murray Rothbard Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American economist of the Austrian School, economic historian, political theorist, and activist. Rothbard was a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian ...
Rothbard, Murray (1 March 1971)
"The Left and Right Within Libertarianism"
''WIN: Peace and Freedom Through Nonviolent Action''. 7 (4): 6–10. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
may reject the
political spectrum A political spectrum is a system to characterize and classify different political positions in relation to one another. These positions sit upon one or more geometric axes that represent independent political dimensions. The expressions politi ...
(especially the
left–right political spectrum The left–right political spectrum is a system of classifying political positions characteristic of left-right politics, ideologies and parties with emphasis placed upon issues of social equality and social hierarchy. In addition to position ...
) while denying any association with both the political right and left, other American libertarians such as Kevin Carson,
Karl Hess Karl Hess (born Carl Hess III; May 25, 1923 – April 22, 1994) was an American speechwriter and author. He was also a political philosopher, editor, welder, motorcycle racer, tax resister, and libertarian activist. His career included stints on ...
, Roderick T. Long,Long, Roderick T. (8 April 2006)
"Rothbard's 'Left and Right': Forty Years Later"
Mises Institute. Rothbard Memorial Lecture, Austrian Scholars Conference 2006. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
and Sheldon Richman have written about libertarianism's left-wing opposition to authoritarian rule and argued that libertarianism is fundamentally a left-wing position. Rothbard himself previously made the same point, rejecting the association of
statism In political science, statism is the doctrine that the political authority of the state is legitimate to some degree. This may include economic and social policy, especially in regard to taxation and the means of production. While in use s ...
with the left.Rothbard, Murray (Spring 1965). "Left and Right: The Prospects for Liberty". ''Left and Right: A Journal of Libertarian Thought''. 1 (1): 4–22.


Philosophy

While all libertarians begin with a conception of personal
autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one' ...
from which they argue in favor of civil liberties and a reduction or elimination of the state, left-libertarianism encompasses those libertarian beliefs that claim the Earth's natural resources belong to everyone in an egalitarian manner, either unowned or owned collectively. Traditionally, left-libertarian schools are
communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...
and market abolitionist, advocating the eventual replacement of money with labor vouchers or
decentralized planning A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment, production and the allocation of capital goods takes place according to economy-wide economic plans and production plans. A planned economy may use centralized, decentralized, ...
. Contemporary left-libertarians such as
Hillel Steiner Hillel Isaac Steiner (; born 1942) is a Canadian political philosopher and is Emeritus Professor of Political Philosophy at the University of Manchester. He was elected to the Fellowship of the British Academy in 1999. Work Steiner's writings ...
,
Peter Vallentyne Peter Vallentyne (; born March 25, 1952, in New Haven, Connecticut) is Florence G. Kline Professor of Philosophy at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. He holds dual citizenship in the United States and Canada. Biography Vallenty ...
,
Philippe Van Parijs Philippe Van Parijs (; born 1951) is a Belgian political philosopher and political economist, best known as a proponent and main defender of the concept of an unconditional basic income and for the first systematic treatment of linguistic jus ...
, Michael Otsuka, and David Ellerman believe the appropriation of land must leave " enough and as good" for others or be taxed by society to compensate for the exclusionary effects of private property. Socialist libertarians such as
anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessar ...
s ( green anarchists,
individualist anarchist Individualist anarchism is the branch of anarchism that emphasizes the individual and their will over external determinants such as groups, society, traditions and ideological systems."What do I mean by individualism? I mean by individualism t ...
s, and social anarchists) and libertarian Marxists ( council communists, De Leonists and
Luxemburgist Rosa Luxemburg (; ; pl, Róża Luksemburg or ; 5 March 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a Polish and naturalised-German revolutionary socialist, Marxist philosopher and anti-war activist. Successively, she was a member of the Proletariat party, ...
s) promote
usufruct Usufruct () is a limited real right (or ''in rem'' right) found in civil-law and mixed jurisdictions that unites the two property interests of ''usus'' and ''fructus'': * ''Usus'' (''use'') is the right to use or enjoy a thing possessed, direct ...
and
socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
economic theories, including
collectivism Collectivism may refer to: * Bureaucratic collectivism, a theory of class society whichto describe the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin * Collectivist anarchism, a socialist doctrine in which the workers own and manage the production * Collectivis ...
, mutualism, and
syndicalism Syndicalism is a revolutionary current within the left-wing of the labor movement that seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes with the eventual goal of gaining control over the means of prod ...
. They criticize the state for being the defender of private property and believe capitalism entails
wage slavery Wage slavery or slave wages refers to a person's dependence on wages (or a salary) for their livelihood, especially when wages are low, treatment and conditions are poor, and there are few chances of upward mobility. The term is often us ...
.


Personal autonomy

Left-libertarianism, such as anarchism, envisages freedom as a form of autonomy which
Paul Goodman Paul Goodman (1911–1972) was an American writer and public intellectual best known for his 1960s works of social criticism. Goodman was prolific across numerous literary genres and non-fiction topics, including the arts, civil rights, decen ...
describes as "the ability to initiate a task and do it one's own way, without orders from authorities who do not know the actual problem and the available means." All anarchists oppose political and legal authority, but collectivist strains also oppose the economic authority of private property.Marshall, Peter (2009). '' Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism''. London: Harper Perennial. pp. 42–43. These social anarchists emphasize mutual aid, whereas individualist anarchists extol individual sovereignty.


Civil liberties

Left-libertarians have been advocates and activists of civil liberties, including
free love Free love is a social movement that accepts all forms of love. The movement's initial goal was to separate the state from sexual and romantic matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery. It stated that such issues were the concern ...
and
free thought Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and that beliefs should instead be reached by other met ...
. Free love appeared alongside
anarcha-feminism Anarcha-feminism, also referred to as anarchist feminism, is a system of analysis which combines the principles and power analysis of anarchist theory with feminism. Anarcha-feminism closely resembles intersectional feminism. Anarcha-feminism ...
and advocacy of
LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, ...
. Anarcha-feminism developed as a synthesis of
radical feminism Radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that calls for a radical re-ordering of society in which male supremacy is eliminated in all social and economic contexts, while recognizing that women's experiences are also affected by other ...
and anarchism and views
patriarchy Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of dominance and privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical anthropological term for families or clans controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males ...
as a fundamental manifestation of compulsory government. It was inspired by the late-19th-century writings of early feminist anarchists such as
Lucy Parsons Lucy Eldine Gonzalez Parsons (born Lucia Carter; 1851 – March 7, 1942) was an American labor organizer, radical socialist and anarcho-communist. She is remembered as a powerful orator. Parsons entered the radical movement following her marria ...
,
Emma Goldman Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born anarchist political activist and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the ...
, Voltairine de Cleyre, and Virginia Bolten. Advocates of free love viewed sexual freedom as a clear, direct expression of individual sovereignty, and they particularly stressed
women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countri ...
as most sexual laws discriminated against women: for example, marriage laws and anti-birth control measures. Like other radical feminists, anarcha-feminists criticize and advocate the abolition of traditional conceptions of family, education, and
gender roles A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cen ...
. '' Free Society'' (1895–1897 as ''The Firebrand'', 1897–1904 as ''Free Society'') was an anarchist newspaper in the United States that staunchly advocated free love and women's rights while criticizing
comstockery Anthony Comstock (March 7, 1844 – September 21, 1915) was an anti-vice activist, United States Postal Inspector, and secretary of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice (NYSSV), who was dedicated to upholding Christian morality. He ...
, the censorship of sexual information.''Emma Goldman: Making Speech Free, 1902–1909''. p. 551. "''Free Society'' was the principal English-language forum for anarchist ideas in the United States at the beginning of the twentieth century." Anarcha-feminism has voiced opinions and taken action around certain sex-related subjects such as pornography,
BDSM BDSM is a variety of often erotic practices or roleplaying involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given the wide range of practices, some of which may be engaged ...
, and the
sex industry The sex industry (also called the sex trade) consists of businesses that either directly or indirectly provide sex-related products and services or adult entertainment. The industry includes activities involving direct provision of sex-related ...
. Free thought is a philosophical viewpoint that believes opinions should be formed based on science, logic, and reason in contrast with authority, tradition, or other dogmas. In the United States, free thought was an
anti-Christian Anti-Christian sentiment or Christophobia constitutes opposition or objections to Christians, the Christian religion, and/or its practices. Anti-Christian sentiment is sometimes referred to as Christophobia or Christianophobia, although these terms ...
,
anti-clerical Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historical anti-clericalism has mainly been opposed to the influence of Roman Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, which seeks to ...
movement whose purpose was to make the individual politically and spiritually free to decide on religious matters. A number of contributors to ''
Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
'' were prominent figures in both free thought and anarchism. Catalan anarchist and free-thinker
Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia (; January 14, 1859 – October 13, 1909), widely known as Francisco Ferrer (), was a Spanish radical freethinker, anarchist, and educationist behind a network of secular, private, libertarian schools in and around ...
established
modern Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosophy ...
or progressive schools in Barcelona in defiance of an educational system controlled by the Catholic Church. The schools' goal was to " educate the working class in a rational, secular and non-coercive setting. Fiercely anti-clerical, Ferrer believed in "freedom in education", i.e., education free from the authority of the church and state. Later in the 20th century, Austrian
Freudo-Marxist Freudo-Marxism is a loose designation for philosophical perspectives informed by both the Marxist philosophy of Karl Marx and the psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud. It has a rich history within continental philosophy, beginning in the 1920s ...
Wilhelm Reich Wilhelm Reich ( , ; 24 March 1897 – 3 November 1957) was an Austrian doctor of medicine and a psychoanalyst, along with being a member of the second generation of analysts after Sigmund Freud. The author of several influential books, most ...
, who coined the term ''
sexual revolution The sexual revolution, also known as the sexual liberation, was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the United States and the developed world from the 1 ...
'' in one of his books from the 1940s, became a consistent propagandist for sexual freedom, going as far as opening free sex-counseling clinics in Vienna for working-class patients (Sex-Pol stood for the German Society of Proletarian Sexual Politics). According to
Elizabeth Danto Elizabeth Ann Danto is professor emeritus of social welfare at Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one h ...
, Reich offered a mixture of "psychoanalytic counseling, Marxist advice and contraceptives" and "argued for sexual expressiveness for all, including the young and the unmarried, with a permissiveness that unsettled both the political left and the psychoanalysts." The clinics were immediately overcrowded by people seeking help. During the early 1970s, the English anarchist and pacifist
Alex Comfort Alexander Comfort (10 February 1920 – 26 March 2000) was a British scientist and physician known best for his nonfiction sex manual, '' The Joy of Sex'' (1972). He was an author of both fiction and nonfiction, as well as a gerontologis ...
achieved international celebrity for writing the sex manuals ''
The Joy of Sex ''The Joy of Sex'' is a 1972 illustrated sex manual by British author Alex Comfort. An updated edition was released in September 2008. Overview ''The Joy of Sex'' spent eleven weeks at the top of the ''New York Times'' bestseller list and more ...
'' and ''More Joy of Sex''.


State

Many left-libertarians are anarchists and believe the state inherently violates personal autonomy. Anarchists believe the state defends private property, which they view as intrinsically harmful, as this strongly prevents the removal of illegitimate authority through inspection and vigilance.
Robert Paul Wolff Robert Paul Wolff (born December 27, 1933) is an American political philosopher and professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Wolff has written widely on topics in political philosophy such as Marxism, tolerance (against ...
has argued that "since 'the state is authority, the right to rule', anarchism which rejects the State is the only political doctrine consistent with autonomy in which the individual alone is the judge of his moral constraints."
Market-oriented left-libertarian Free-market anarchism, or market anarchism, also known as free-market anti-capitalism and free-market socialism, is the branch of anarchism that advocates a free-market economic system based on voluntary interactions without the involvement ...
s argue that so-called
free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...
s consist of economic privileges granted by the state. These left-libertarians advocate for '' freed markets'' that are freed from these privileges. They see themselves as part of the
free-market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...
tradition of socialism. Although mainly related to
libertarianism in the United States In the United States, libertarianism is a political philosophy promoting individual liberty. According to common meanings of conservatism and liberalism in the United States, libertarianism has been described as '' conservative'' on economi ...
,
Objectivism Objectivism is a philosophical system developed by Russian-American writer and philosopher Ayn Rand. She described it as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievemen ...
, and
right-libertarianism Right-libertarianism,Rothbard, Murray (1 March 1971)"The Left and Right Within Libertarianism" ''WIN: Peace and Freedom Through Nonviolent Action''. 7 (4): 6–10. Retrieved 14 January 2020.Goodway, David (2006). '' Anarchist Seeds Beneath the ...
, a minimal state or minarchism has also been advocated by left-libertarians, either as a path to
anarchy Anarchy is a society without a government. It may also refer to a society or group of people that entirely rejects a set hierarchy. ''Anarchy'' was first used in English in 1539, meaning "an absence of government". Pierre-Joseph Proudhon adopte ...
or as an end in itself. Some left-libertarians have proposed or supported a minimal welfare state because
social safety net The social safety net (SSN) consists of non-contributory assistance existing to improve lives of vulnerable families and individuals experiencing poverty and destitution. Examples of SSNs are previously-contributory social pensions, in-kind and fo ...
s are short-term goals for the working class and believe in stopping welfare programs only if it means abolishing both government and capitalism. According to Sheldon Richman of the
Independent Institute The Independent Institute is an American libertarian think tank based in Oakland, California. Founded in 1986 by David J. Theroux, the institute focuses on political, social, economic, legal, environmental, and foreign policy issues. It has more ...
, other left-libertarians "prefer that corporate privileges be repealed before the regulatory restrictions on how those privileges may be exercised."Richman, Sheldon (3 February 2011)
"Libertarian Left: Free-market anti-capitalism, the unknown ideal"
''The American Conservative''. . Retrieved 5 March 2012.


Property rights

Socialist left-libertarians are opposed to
private property Private property is a legal designation for the ownership of property by non-governmental legal entities. Private property is distinguishable from public property and personal property, which is owned by a state entity, and from collective or ...
and the private ownership of the
means of production The means of production is a term which describes land, labor and capital that can be used to produce products (such as goods or services); however, the term can also refer to anything that is used to produce products. It can also be used as a ...
, instead supporting
common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally ...
or
social ownership Social ownership is the appropriation of the surplus product, produced by the means of production, or the wealth that comes from it, to society as a whole. It is the defining characteristic of a socialist economic system. It can take the form o ...
or property rights based on occupation and use. Other left-libertarians believe that neither claiming nor mixing one's labor with natural resources is enough to generate full private property rights and maintain that natural resources ought to be held in an
egalitarian Egalitarianism (), or equalitarianism, is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds from the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hu ...
manner, either unowned or
owned collectively Common ownership refers to holding the assets of an organization, enterprise or community indivisibly rather than in the names of the individual members or groups of members as common property. Forms of common ownership exist in every economi ...
. Political scientist Peter Mclaverty notes it has been argued that socialist values are incompatible with the concept of
self-ownership Self-ownership, also known as sovereignty of the individual or individual sovereignty, is the concept of property in one's own person, expressed as the moral or natural right of a person to have bodily integrity and be the exclusive controlle ...
when this concept is considered "the core feature of libertarianism" and socialism is defined as holding "that we are social beings, that society should be organised, and individuals should act, so as to promote the common good, that we should strive to achieve social equality and promote democracy, community and solidarity." However, political philosopher Nicholas Vrousalis has also argued that "property rights ..do not pass judgment as to what rights individuals have to their own person .. ndto the external world" and that "the nineteenth-century egalitarian libertarians were not misguided in thinking that a thoroughly libertarian form of communism is possible at the level of principle."


Economics

Left-libertarians, such as anarchists, libertarian Marxists, and market-oriented left-libertarians, argue in favor of libertarian socialist economic theories such as collectivism, communism, mutualism, and syndicalism. Daniel Guérin wrote that "anarchism is really a synonym for socialism. The anarchist is primarily a socialist whose aim is to abolish the exploitation of man by man. Anarchism is only one of the streams of socialist thought, that stream whose main components are concern for liberty and haste to abolish the State."Guérin, Daniel (1970). '' Anarchism: From Theory to Practice''. New York City: Monthly Review Press. p. 12. . Other left-libertarians make a libertarian reading of progressive and
social-democratic Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...
economics to advocate a
universal basic income Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive an unconditional transfer payment, that is, without a means test or need to work. It would be received independently of ...
. Building on Michael Otsuka's conception of "robust libertarian self-ownership", Karl Widerquist argues that a universal basic income must be large enough to maintain individual independence regardless of the market value of resources because people in contemporary society have been denied direct access to enough resources with which they could otherwise maintain their existence in the absence of interference by people who control access to resources. Updating
Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (; russian: link=no, Пётр Алексе́евич Кропо́ткин ; 9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist, socialist, revolutionary, historian, scientist, philosopher, and activist ...
's empirical analysis and criticizing the
right-libertarian Right-libertarianism,Rothbard, Murray (1 March 1971)"The Left and Right Within Libertarianism" ''WIN: Peace and Freedom Through Nonviolent Action''. 7 (4): 6–10. Retrieved 14 January 2020.Goodway, David (2006). '' Anarchist Seeds Beneath the ...
theory of the state, Grant S. McCall and Wilderquist argue that contemporary societies fail to fulfill the
Lockean proviso The Lockean proviso is a feature of John Locke's labor theory of property which states that whilst individuals have a right to homestead private property from nature by working on it, they can do so only "at least where there is enough, and as g ...
, equality and freedom are compatible, stateless egalitarian societies promote negative freedom better than
capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private ...
, the appropriation principle supports small-scale community property, and the private-property right system associated with right-libertarian capitalism was established not by appropriation but by a long history of state-sponsored violence.


Schools of thought


Anarchism

Anarchism is a political philosophy that advocates stateless societies characterized by self-governed, non-hierarchical, voluntary institutions. It developed in the 19th century from the secular or religious thought of the Enlightenment, particularly
Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...
's arguments for the moral centrality of freedom.(2006). "Anarchism". ''
Encarta ''Microsoft Encarta'' is a discontinued digital multimedia encyclopedia published by Microsoft from 1993 to 2009. Originally sold on CD-ROM or DVD, it was also available on the World Wide Web via an annual subscription, although later article ...
Online Encyclopedia''.
As part of the political turmoil of the 1790s and in the wake of the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...
,
William Godwin William Godwin (3 March 1756 – 7 April 1836) was an English journalist, political philosophy, political philosopher and novelist. He is considered one of the first exponents of utilitarianism and the first modern proponent of anarchism. God ...
developed the first expression of modern anarchist thought. According to anarchist
Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (; russian: link=no, Пётр Алексе́евич Кропо́ткин ; 9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist, socialist, revolutionary, historian, scientist, philosopher, and activist ...
, Godwin was "the first to formulate the political and economical conceptions of anarchism, even though he did not give that name to the ideas developed in his work."Peter Kropotkin
"Anarchism"
''
Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...
'' 1910.
Godwin instead attached his ideas to an early
Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">N ...
. He is generally regarded as the founder of philosophical anarchism, arguing in '' Political Justice'' that government has an inherently malevolent influence on society and perpetuates dependency and ignorance. Godwin thought the proliferation of reason would eventually cause the government to wither away as an unnecessary force. Although he did not accord the state moral legitimacy, he was against using revolutionary tactics to remove the government from power; rather, he advocated for its replacement through peaceful evolution. His aversion to the imposition of a rules-based society led him to denounce the foundations of
law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
,
property rights The right to property, or the right to own property (cf. ownership) is often classified as a human right for natural persons regarding their possessions. A general recognition of a right to private property is found more rarely and is typically h ...
, and even the institution of
marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...
as a manifestation of the people's "mental enslavement." He considered the basic foundations of society as constraining the natural development of individuals to use their powers of reasoning to arrive at a mutually beneficial method of social organization. In each case, the government and its institutions are shown to constrain the development of our capacity to live wholly following the full and free exercise of private judgment. In France, revolutionaries began using ''anarchiste'' in a positive light as early as September 1793.
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (, , ; 15 January 1809, Besançon – 19 January 1865, Paris) was a French socialist,Landauer, Carl; Landauer, Hilde Stein; Valkenier, Elizabeth Kridl (1979) 959 "The Three Anticapitalistic Movements". ''European Socia ...
was the first self-proclaimed ''
anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessar ...
'' (a label he adopted in his treatise '' What Is Property?'') and is often described as the founder of modern anarchist theory. He developed the theory of
spontaneous order Spontaneous order, also named self-organization in the hard sciences, is the spontaneous emergence of order out of seeming chaos. The term "self-organization" is more often used for physical changes and biological processes, while "spontaneous o ...
in society in which organization emerges without a central coordinator imposing its idea of order against the wills of individuals acting in their interests, saying: "Liberty is the mother, not the daughter, of order." Proudhon answers his question in ''What Is Property?'' with the famous statement that "
property is theft "Property is theft!" (french: La propriété, c'est le vol!) is a slogan coined by French anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon in his 1840 book ''What Is Property? or, An Inquiry into the Principle of Right and of Government''. Overview By "pro ...
." He opposed the institution of decreed property ("proprietorship") in which owners have absolute rights to "use and abuse" their property as they wish Proudhon, Pierre-Joseph (1840). '' What Is Property?'
"Chapter 3. Labour as the efficient cause of the domain of property"
and contrasted this with
usufruct Usufruct () is a limited real right (or ''in rem'' right) found in civil-law and mixed jurisdictions that unites the two property interests of ''usus'' and ''fructus'': * ''Usus'' (''use'') is the right to use or enjoy a thing possessed, direct ...
("possession") or limited ownership of resources only while in more or less continuous use. Proudhon wrote "Property is Liberty" because it was a bulwark against state power. Proudhon's opposition to the state, organized religion, and certain capitalist practices inspired subsequent anarchists and made him one of the leading social thinkers of his time. However, French anarchist
Joseph Déjacque Joseph Déjacque (; 27 December 1821, in Paris – 1864, in Paris) was a French early anarcho-communist poet, philosopher and writer. He coined the term "libertarian" (French: ''libertaire'') for himselfJoseph DéjacqueDe l'être-humain mâle ...
castigated Proudhon for his
sexist Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primaril ...
economic and political views in a scathing letter written in 1857. He argued that "it is not the product of his or her labour that the worker has a right to, but to the satisfaction of his or her needs, whatever may be their nature." Déjacque later named his anarchist publication '' Le Libertaire, Journal du Mouvement Social'' (''Libertarian, Journal of the Social Movement''), printed from 9 June 1858 to 4 February 1861. In the mid-1890s, French libertarian communist Sébastien Faure began publishing a new ''Le Libertaire'' while France's Third Republic enacted the so-called villainous laws ('' lois scélérates''), which banned anarchist publications in France. ''Libertarianism'' has been a synonym for anarchism since this time, especially in Europe.
Josiah Warren Josiah Warren (; 1798–1874) was an American utopian socialist, American individualist anarchist, individualist philosopher, polymath, social reformer, inventor, musician, printer and author. He is regarded by anarchist historians like Jam ...
is widely regarded as the first American anarchist,Palmer, Brian (29 December 2010)
What do anarchists want from us?
'' Slate.com''.
Orton, Bill (2011
Against Authority
/ref> and the four-page weekly paper he edited during 1833 called ''The Peaceful Revolutionist'' was the first anarchist periodical published,Bailie, William (1906).
Josiah Warren: The First American Anarchist – A Sociological Study
''. Boston: Small, Maynard & Co. p. 20.
an enterprise for which he built his printing press, cast his type, and made his printing plates. Warren was a follower of
Robert Owen Robert Owen (; 14 May 1771 – 17 November 1858) was a Welsh people, Welsh textile manufacturer, philanthropist and social reformer, and a founder of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement. He strove to improve factory working conditio ...
and joined Owen's community in
New Harmony, Indiana New Harmony is a historic town on the Wabash River in Harmony Township, Posey County, Indiana. It lies north of Mount Vernon, the county seat, and is part of the Evansville metropolitan area. The town's population was 789 at the 2010 census. ...
. Josiah Warren termed the phrase "
Cost the limit of price "Cost the limit of price" was a maxim coined by Josiah Warren, indicating a (prescriptive) version of the labor theory of value. Warren maintained that the just compensation for labor (or for its product) could only be an equivalent amount of l ...
", with "cost" referring not to the monetary price paid but the labor one exerted to produce an item. Therefore, " proposed a system to pay people with certificates indicating how many hours of work they did. They could exchange the notes at local time stores for goods thaat took the same amount of time to produce." He put his theories to the test by establishing an experimental "labor for labor store" called the Cincinnati Time Store, where trade was facilitated by notes backed by a promise to perform labor. The store proved successful and operated for three years, after which it was closed so that Warren could pursue establishing colonies based on mutualism (these included
Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book '' Utopia'', describing a fictional island soc ...
and Modern Times). Warren said that Stephen Pearl Andrews' ''The Science of Society'', published in 1852, was the most lucid and complete exposition of Warren's theories. American individualist anarchist
Benjamin Tucker Benjamin Ricketson Tucker (; April 17, 1854 – June 22, 1939) was an American individualist anarchist and libertarian socialist.Martin, James J. (1953)''Men Against the State: The Expositers of Individualist Anarchism in America, 1827–1908''< ...
argued that the elimination of what he called "the four monopolies"—the land monopoly, the money and banking monopoly, the monopoly powers conferred by patents, and the quasi-monopolistic effects of tariffs—would undermine the power of the wealthy and big business, making possible widespread property ownership and higher incomes for ordinary people, while minimizing the power of would-be bosses and achieving socialist goals without state action. Tucker influenced and interacted with anarchist contemporaries—including
Lysander Spooner Lysander Spooner (January 19, 1808May 14, 1887) was an American individualist anarchist, abolitionist, entrepreneur, essayist, legal theorist, pamphletist, political philosopher, Unitarian and writer. Spooner was a strong advocate of the labor ...
, Voltairine de Cleyre,
Dyer Lum Dyer Daniel Lum (February 15, 1839 – April 6, 1893) was an American anarchist, labor activist and poet. A leading syndicalist and a prominent left-wing intellectual of the 1880s, Lum is best remembered as the lover and mentor of early anarch ...
, and
William Batchelder Greene William Batchelder Greene (April 4, 1819 – May 30, 1878) was a 19th-century individualist anarchist, Unitarian minister, soldier, and promoter of free banking in the United States. Greene was a member of the First International. Biography ...
—who have, in various ways, influenced later left-libertarian thinking. The Catalan politician
Francesc Pi i Margall Francesc Pi i Margall (Spanish: Francisco Pi y Margall) (29 April 1824 – 29 November 1901) was a Spanish federalist and republican politician and theorist who served as president of the short-lived First Spanish Republic in 1873. He was a ...
became the principal translator of Proudhon's works into Spanish
George Woodcock George Woodcock (; May 8, 1912 – January 28, 1995) was a Canadian writer of political biography and history, an anarchist thinker, a philosopher, an essayist and literary critic. He was also a poet and published several volumes of travel wri ...
. ''Anarchism: a history of libertarian movements''. p. 357
and later briefly became president of Spain in 1873 while being the leader of the Democratic Republican Federal Party. For prominent
anarcho-syndicalist Anarcho-syndicalism is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that views revolutionary industrial unionism or syndicalism as a method for workers in capitalist society to gain control of an economy and thus control influence i ...
Rudolf Rocker Johann Rudolf Rocker (March 25, 1873 – September 19, 1958) was a German anarchist writer and activist. He was born in Mainz to a Roman Catholic artisan family. His father died when he was a child, and his mother when he was in his teens, so he ...
, " e first movement of the Spanish workers was strongly influenced by the ideas of Pi y Margall, leader of the Spanish Federalists and disciple of Proudhon. Pi y Margall was one of the outstanding theorists of his time and had a powerful influence on the development of libertarian ideas in Spain. His political ideas had much in common with those of
Richard Price Richard Price (23 February 1723 – 19 April 1791) was a British moral philosopher, Nonconformist minister and mathematician. He was also a political reformer, pamphleteer, active in radical, republican, and liberal causes such as the French ...
, Joseph Priestly 'sic''
Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...
, Jefferson, and other representatives of the Anglo-American liberalism of the first period. He wanted to limit the power of the state to a minimum and gradually replace it by a Socialist economic order." Pi i Margall was a dedicated theorist in his own right, especially through book-length works such as ''La reacción y la revolución'' (''Reaction and Revolution'') in 1855, ''Las nacionalidades'' (''Nationalities'') in 1877 and ''La Federación'' (''Federation'') in 1880. In the 1950s, the Old Right and classical liberals in the United States began identifying as libertarians to distance themselves from modern liberals and the
New Left The New Left was a broad political movement mainly in the 1960s and 1970s consisting of activists in the Western world who campaigned for a broad range of social issues such as civil and political rights, environmentalism, feminism, gay rights ...
. Since then, it has become useful to distinguish this modern American libertarianism that promotes ''
laissez-faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups ...
''
capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private ...
and generally a
night-watchman state A night-watchman state, or minarchy, whose proponents are known as minarchists, is a model of a state that is limited and minimal, whose functions depend on libertarian theory. Right-libertarians support it only as an enforcer of the non-aggres ...
from anarchism.Brooks, Thom (2002). "Book Reviews". '' Journal of Applied Philosophy''. 19: 1. pp. 75–90. . Accordingly, the former is often described as ''right-libertarianism'' or ''right-wing libertarianism'', while synonyms for the latter include ''left-libertarianism''Long, Roderick T. (2012). "Anarchism". In Gaus, Gerald F.; D'Agostino, Fred, eds. ''The Routledge Companion to Social and Political Philosophy''. p. 227. or ''left-wing libertarianism'', ''libertarian socialism'', Ostergaard, Geoffrey. "Anarchism". ''The Blackwell Dictionary of Modern Social Thought''. Blackwell Publishing. p. 14. and ''socialist libertarianism''.


Classical liberalism and Georgism

Contemporary left-libertarian scholars such as David Ellerman, Michael Otsuka,
Hillel Steiner Hillel Isaac Steiner (; born 1942) is a Canadian political philosopher and is Emeritus Professor of Political Philosophy at the University of Manchester. He was elected to the Fellowship of the British Academy in 1999. Work Steiner's writings ...
,
Peter Vallentyne Peter Vallentyne (; born March 25, 1952, in New Haven, Connecticut) is Florence G. Kline Professor of Philosophy at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. He holds dual citizenship in the United States and Canada. Biography Vallenty ...
, and
Philippe Van Parijs Philippe Van Parijs (; born 1951) is a Belgian political philosopher and political economist, best known as a proponent and main defender of the concept of an unconditional basic income and for the first systematic treatment of linguistic jus ...
root an economic egalitarianism in the classical liberal concepts of
self-ownership Self-ownership, also known as sovereignty of the individual or individual sovereignty, is the concept of property in one's own person, expressed as the moral or natural right of a person to have bodily integrity and be the exclusive controlle ...
and appropriation. They hold that it is illegitimate for anyone to claim private ownership of
natural resource Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. ...
s to the detriment of others, a condition
John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism". Considered one of ...
explicated in ''
Two Treatises of Government ''Two Treatises of Government'' (or ''Two Treatises of Government: In the Former, The False Principles, and Foundation of Sir Robert Filmer, and His Followers, Are Detected and Overthrown. The Latter Is an Essay Concerning The True Original, ...
''. Locke argued that natural resources could be appropriated as long as doing so satisfies the proviso that there remains "enough, and as good, left in common for others." In this view, unappropriated natural resources are either unowned or owned in common and private appropriation is legitimate only if everyone can appropriate an equal amount or the property is taxed to compensate those excluded. This position contrasts the right-libertarians who argue for a characteristically labor-based right to appropriate unequal parts of the external world, such as
land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various isla ...
. Most left-libertarians of this tradition support some form of
economic rent In economics, economic rent is any payment (in the context of a market transaction) to the owner of a factor of production in excess of the cost needed to bring that factor into production. In classical economics, economic rent is any payment ...
redistribution on the grounds that each individual is entitled to an equal share of natural resourcesGaus, Gerald F.; Kukathas, Chandran (2004). ''Handbook of Political Theory''. Sage Publications
p. 128
and argue for the desirability of state
social welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...
programs. Economists since
Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptized 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"——� ...
have opined that a
land value tax A land value tax (LVT) is a levy on the value of land (economics), land without regard to buildings, personal property and other land improvement, improvements. It is also known as a location value tax, a point valuation tax, a site valuation ta ...
would not cause economic inefficiency, despite their fear that other forms of taxation would do so. It would be a
progressive tax A progressive tax is a tax in which the tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases.Sommerfeld, Ray M., Silvia A. Madeo, Kenneth E. Anderson, Betty R. Jackson (1992), ''Concepts of Taxation'', Dryden Press: Fort Worth, TX The term ''progre ...
, i.e., a tax paid primarily by the wealthy, that increases wages, reduces
economic inequality There are wide varieties of economic inequality, most notably income inequality measured using the distribution of income (the amount of money people are paid) and wealth inequality measured using the distribution of wealth (the amount of ...
, removes incentives to misuse real estate, and reduces the vulnerability that economies face from credit and property bubbles.McCluskey, William J, Franzsen, Riël C. D. (2005)
''Land Value Taxation: An Applied Analysis''
Ashgate.
Early proponents of this view include
radicals Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...
such as
Hugo Grotius Hugo Grotius (; 10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known as Huig de Groot () and Hugo de Groot (), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, poet and playwright. A teenage intellectual prodigy, he was born in Delft ...
,
Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...
, and
Herbert Spencer Herbert Spencer (27 April 1820 – 8 December 1903) was an English philosopher, psychologist, biologist, anthropologist, and sociologist famous for his hypothesis of social Darwinism. Spencer originated the expression " survival of the f ...
. However, the concept was widely popularized by the political economist and social reformer
Henry George Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of the Progressive Era. He inspired the eco ...
. Believing that people ought to own the fruits of their labor and the value of the improvements they make, George was opposed to
tariff A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and p ...
s,
income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Ta ...
es,
sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a gove ...
es,
poll tax A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments f ...
es,
property tax A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inher ...
es (on improvements), and any
tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...
on production, consumption, or
capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...
wealth Wealth is the abundance of valuable financial assets or physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the originating Old English word , which is from an I ...
. George was among the staunchest defenders of
free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...
s, and his book '' Protection or Free Trade'' was read into the United States ''
Congressional Record The ''Congressional Record'' is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress, published by the United States Government Publishing Office and issued when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record Inde ...
''. Early followers of George's philosophy called themselves
single tax A single tax is a system of taxation based mainly or exclusively on one tax, typically chosen for its special properties, often being a tax on land value. The idea of a single tax on land values was proposed independently by John Locke and Bar ...
ers because they believed the only economically and morally legitimate, broad-based tax was on land rent. As a term, ''Georgism'' was coined later, although some modern proponents prefer the less eponymous ''geoism'', leaving the meaning of ''geo-'' (from the Greek ''ge'', meaning "earth") deliberately ambiguous. ''Earth Sharing'', ''geonomics'', and ''geolibertarianism'' are used by some Georgists to represent a difference of emphasis or divergent ideas about how the land value tax revenue should be spent or redistributed to residents. However, all agree that economic rent must be recovered from private landholders. Within the libertarian left, George and his geoist movement influenced the development of
democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within ...
, especially British socialism and Fabianism, along with
John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, Member of Parliament (MP) and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed widely to ...
and the German
historical school of economics The historical school of economics was an approach to academic economics and to public administration that emerged in the 19th century in Germany, and held sway there until well into the 20th century. The professors involved compiled massive eco ...
. George himself converted
George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
to socialism, and many of his followers were socialists who saw George as one of their own. Individuals in this left-libertarian tradition include George, Locke, Paine, William Ogilvie of Pittensear, Spencer, and more recently,
Baruch Brody Baruch A. Brody (21 April 1943 – 30 May 2018) was an American bioethicist. He was the Leon Jaworski Professor of biomedical ethics and former Director of the Center for Ethics, Medicine and Public Issues at The Baylor College of Medicine and An ...
, Ellerman, James O. Grunebaum, Otsuka, Steiner, Vallentyne and Van Parijs, among others.Fried, Barbara (Winter 2004). "Left-Libertarianism: A Review Essay". ''Philosophy & Public Affairs''. 32 (1): 66–92. . Roberto Ardigò,Rosselli, Carlo; Urbinati, Nadia (2017). ''Liberal Socialism''. Princeton University Press. p. 51. . Hippolyte de Colins,Deshpande, Meena; Vinod, M. J. (2000). ''Contemporary Political Theory''. "Left-libertarianism". PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. p. 243. . George, François Huet, William Ogilvie of Pittensear, Paine, Spencer, and
Léon Walras Marie-Esprit-Léon Walras (; 16 December 1834 – 5 January 1910) was a French mathematical economist and Georgist. He formulated the marginal theory of value (independently of William Stanley Jevons and Carl Menger) and pioneered the developme ...
are left-libertarians also seen as being within the
left-liberal Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...
tradition of socialism. While
socialists Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the econ ...
have been hostile to
liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostilit ...
, accused of "providing an ideological cover for the depredation of capitalism", it has been pointed out that "the goals of liberalism are not so different from those of the socialists", although this similarity in goals has been described as being deceptive due to the different meanings liberalism and socialism give to liberty, equality, and solidarity. Liberal economists such as Léon Walras considered themselves socialists, and some have considered Georgism a form of socialism. Gustave de Molinari and Herbert Spencer similarly argued that liberals or left-libertarians and state socialists disagree about means rather than ends. According to Roderick T. Long, Molinari was the first theorist of free-market left-libertarianism. Molinari has also influenced left-libertarian and socialists such as
Benjamin Tucker Benjamin Ricketson Tucker (; April 17, 1854 – June 22, 1939) was an American individualist anarchist and libertarian socialist.Martin, James J. (1953)''Men Against the State: The Expositers of Individualist Anarchism in America, 1827–1908''< ...
and the ''
Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
'' circle. Philosophical anarchist
William Godwin William Godwin (3 March 1756 – 7 April 1836) was an English journalist, political philosophy, political philosopher and novelist. He is considered one of the first exponents of utilitarianism and the first modern proponent of anarchism. God ...
, classical economists such as Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Thomas Robert Malthus, Nassau William Senior, Robert Torrens (economist), Robert Torrens, and the Mills, the early writings of Herbert Spencer, socialists such as Thomas Hodgskin and
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (, , ; 15 January 1809, Besançon – 19 January 1865, Paris) was a French socialist,Landauer, Carl; Landauer, Hilde Stein; Valkenier, Elizabeth Kridl (1979) 959 "The Three Anticapitalistic Movements". ''European Socia ...
, social reformer Henry George and the Ricardian socialism, Ricardian/Smithian socialists, among others, "provided the basis for the further development of the left libertarian perspective." According to Noam Chomsky, classical liberalism is today represented by
libertarian socialism Libertarian socialism, also known by various other names, is a left-wing,Diemer, Ulli (1997)"What Is Libertarian Socialism?" The Anarchist Library. Retrieved 4 August 2019. anti-authoritarian, anti-statist and libertarianLong, Roderick T. (2 ...
, described as a "range of thinking that extends from left-wing Marxism through to anarchism." For Chomsky, "these are fundamentally correct" idealized positions "with regard to the role of the state in an advanced industrial society."Chomsky, Noam (2005)
''Government in the Future''
Seven Stories Pr. Open Media. . .
According to Iain McKay, "capitalism is marked by the exploitation of labour by capital" and "the root of this criticism is based, ironically enough, on the capitalist defence of private property as the product of labour. ..Locke defended private property in terms of labour yet allowed that labour to be sold to others. This allowed the buyers of labour (capitalists and landlords) to appropriate the product of other people's labour (wage workers and tenants)." In ''The Democratic Worker-Owned Firm'', economist David Ellerman argues that "capitalist production, i.e. production based on the employment contract denies workers the right to the (positive and negative) fruit of their labour. Yet people's right to the fruits of their labour has always been the natural basis for private property appropriation. Thus capitalist production, far from being founded on private property, in fact denies the natural basis for private property appropriation." Hence, left-libertarians such as
Benjamin Tucker Benjamin Ricketson Tucker (; April 17, 1854 – June 22, 1939) was an American individualist anarchist and libertarian socialist.Martin, James J. (1953)''Men Against the State: The Expositers of Individualist Anarchism in America, 1827–1908''< ...
saw themselves as economic socialists and political individualists while arguing that their "anarchistic socialism" or "individual anarchism" was "consistent Manchesterism." Peter Marshall (author), Peter Marshall argues that "[i]n general anarchism is closer to socialism than liberalism. ..Anarchism finds itself largely in the socialist camp, but it also has outriders in liberalism. It cannot be reduced to socialism, and is best seen as a separate and distinctive doctrine." Geolibertarianism is a political movement and ideology synthesizing libertarianism and geoist theory, traditionally known as Georgism.DeCoster, Karen (19 April 2006)
"Henry George and the Tariff Question"
LewRockwell.com. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
Geolibertarians generally advocate distributing the land rent to the community via a land value tax, as Henry George and others before him proposed. For this reason, they are often called single taxers. Fred E. Foldvary coined ''geo-libertarianism'' in an article so titled in ''Land and Liberty''. In the case of geoanarchism, a proposed voluntaryist form of geolibertarianism as described by Foldvary, rent would be collected by private associations with the opportunity to secede from a geocommunity and not receive the geocommunity's services if desired. The political philosopher G. A. Cohen extensively criticized the claim, characteristic of the Georgist school of political economy, that self-ownership and a privilege-free society can be realized simultaneously, also addressing the question of what egalitarian political principles imply for the personal behavior of those who subscribe to them. In ''Self-Ownership, Freedom, and Equality'', Cohen argued that any system purporting to take equality and its enforcement seriously is not consistent with the full emphasis on self-ownership and negative freedom that defines market libertarian thought. Tom G. Palmer has responded to Cohen's critique.


Green politics

The green movement has been influenced by left-libertarian traditions, including anarchism, mutualism, Georgism and individualist anarchism.
Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (; russian: link=no, Пётр Алексе́евич Кропо́ткин ; 9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist, socialist, revolutionary, historian, scientist, philosopher, and activist ...
provided a scientific explanation of how mutual aid is the real basis for social organization in his ''Mutual Aid: A Factor in Evolution''. New England transcendentalism (especially Henry David Thoreau and Amos Bronson Alcott) and German Romanticism, the pre-Raphaelites and other back to nature movements combined with anti-war, anti-industrialism, civil liberties and decentralization movements are all part of this tradition. In the modern period,
Murray Bookchin Murray Bookchin (January 14, 1921 – July 30, 2006) was an American social theorist, author, orator, historian, and political philosopher. A pioneer in the environmental movement, Bookchin formulated and developed the theory of social ...
and the Institute for Social Ecology elaborated these ideas more systematically. Bookchin was one of the main influences behind the formation of the Alliance 90/The Greens, the first green party to win seats in state and national parliaments. Modern green parties attempt to apply these ideas to a more pragmatic system of democratic governance as opposed to contemporary individualist or socialist libertarianism. The green movement, especially its more left-wing factions, is often described by political scientists as left-libertarian.Neumayer, Eric (2003)
"Are left-wing party strength and corporatism good for the environment? Evidence from panel analysis of air pollution in OECD countries"
''Ecological Economics''. 45 (2): 203–220. .
Political scientists see European political parties such as Ecolo and Groen (political party), Groen in Belgium, Alliance 90/The Greens in Germany, or the Green Progressive Accord and GroenLinks in the Netherlands as coming out of the
New Left The New Left was a broad political movement mainly in the 1960s and 1970s consisting of activists in the Western world who campaigned for a broad range of social issues such as civil and political rights, environmentalism, feminism, gay rights ...
and emphasizing spontaneous self-organisation, participatory democracy, decentralization and voluntarism, being contrasted to the bureaucratic or statist approach. Similarly, political scientist Ariadne Vromen has described the Australian Greens as having a "clear left-libertarian ideological base." In the United States, green libertarianism is based upon a mixture of political Third party (United States), third party values such as the environmentalism of the Green Party of the United States, Green Party and the civil libertarianism of the Libertarian Party (United States), Libertarian Party. Green libertarianism attempts to consolidate Modern liberalism in the United States, liberal and Progressivism in the United States, progressive values with Libertarianism in the United States, libertarianism.


Libertarian socialism

Libertarian socialism is a left-libertarian tradition of anti-authoritarianism, anti-statism and
libertarianism Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's en ...
within the socialist movement that rejects the state socialist notion of socialism as centralized state ownership and statist control of the economy and the State (polity), state."I1. Isn't libertarian socialism an oxymoron"
. In ''An Anarchist FAQ''. "So, libertarian socialism rejects the idea of state ownership and control of the economy, along with the state as such. Through workers' self-management it proposes to bring an end to authority, exploitation, and hierarchy in production."
Libertarian socialism criticizes
wage slavery Wage slavery or slave wages refers to a person's dependence on wages (or a salary) for their livelihood, especially when wages are low, treatment and conditions are poor, and there are few chances of upward mobility. The term is often us ...
relationships within the workplace, instead emphasizing workers' self-management of the workplace and Libertarian socialist decentralization, decentralized structures of political organization, asserting that a society based on freedom and justice can be achieved through abolishing authoritarian institutions that control certain
means of production The means of production is a term which describes land, labor and capital that can be used to produce products (such as goods or services); however, the term can also refer to anything that is used to produce products. It can also be used as a ...
and subordinate the majority to an owning class or political and economic elite. Libertarian socialists advocate for decentralized structures based on direct democracy and Anarchist federalism, federal or Confederation, confederal associations such as citizens' assemblies, libertarian municipalism, trade unions and workers' councils. Libertarian socialists make a general call for Liberty#Socialism, liberty and Free association (Marxism and anarchism), free association through the identification, criticism and practical dismantling of illegitimate authority in all aspects of human life. "The IAF – IFA fights for: the abolition of all forms of authority whether economical, political, social, religious, cultural or sexual." Libertarian socialism opposes both Authoritarian socialism, authoritarian and vanguardist Bolshevism/Leninism and reformist Fabianism/social democracy. Past and present currents and movements commonly described as libertarian socialist include
anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
(especially anarchist schools of thought such as anarcho-communism, anarcho-syndicalism collectivist anarchism, green anarchism, individualist anarchism, mutualism and
social anarchism Social anarchism is the branch of anarchism that sees individual freedom as interrelated with mutual aid.Suissa, Judith (2001). "Anarchism, Utopias and Philosophy of Education". ''Journal of Philosophy of Education'' 35 (4). pp. 627–646. . ...
) as well as Communalism (Bookchin), Communalism, some forms of
democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within ...
, eco-socialism, guild socialism, libertarian Marxist (especially autonomism, council communism, De Leonism, left communism, LuxemburgismBookchin, Murray (1992)
"The Ghost of Anarcho-Syndicalism"
and workerism), various traditions of market socialism, several
New Left The New Left was a broad political movement mainly in the 1960s and 1970s consisting of activists in the Western world who campaigned for a broad range of social issues such as civil and political rights, environmentalism, feminism, gay rights ...
schools of thought, participism, revolutionary syndicalism and some versions of utopian socialism. Despite libertarian socialist opposition to Fabianism and modern social democracy, both have been considered as part of the libertarian left alongside other decentralist socialists. Left-libertarian Noam Chomsky considers libertarian socialism to be "the proper and natural extension" of
classical liberalism Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, e ...
"into the era of advanced industrial society." Chomsky sees libertarian socialism and anarcho-syndicalist ideas as the descendants of the classical liberal ideas of the Age of Enlightenment,McGilvray, James (2014). ''Chomsky: Language, Mind, Politics'' (second ed.). Cambridge: Polity. pp. 189, 197, 199–200, 201–202, 210. . arguing that his ideological position revolves around "nourishing the libertarian and creative character of the human being." Chomsky envisions an anarcho-syndicalist future with direct worker control of the means of production and government by workers' councils which would select representatives to meet together at general assemblies. The point of this self-governance is to make each citizen, in Thomas Jefferson's words, "a direct participator in the government of affairs." Chomsky believes that there will be no need for political parties. By controlling their productive life, Chomsky believes that individuals can gain job satisfaction and a sense of fulfillment and purpose.Chomsky argues that unpleasant and unpopular jobs could be fully automated, carried out by workers who are specially remunerated, or shared among everyone. Anarcho-syndicalist Gaston Leval explained: "We therefore foresee a Society in which all activities will be coordinated, a structure that has, at the same time, sufficient flexibility to permit the greatest possible autonomy for social life, or for the life of each enterprise, and enough cohesiveness to prevent all disorder. ..In a well-organised society, all of these things must be systematically accomplished by means of parallel federations, vertically united at the highest levels, constituting one vast organism in which all economic functions will be performed in solidarity with all others and that will permanently preserve the necessary cohesion."


Market-oriented left-libertarianism

Most Individualist anarchism in the United States, American Individualist Anarchists advocate mutualism, a libertarian socialist form of market socialism, or a free-market socialist form of classical economics. American Individualist anarchists are opposed to property that gives privilege and is exploitative, seeking to "destroy the tyranny of capital—that is, of property" by mutual credit. Certain American left-wing market anarchists who come from the left-Rothbardian school such as Roderick T. Long and Sheldon Richman, cite Murray Rothbard's homestead principle with approval to support worker cooperatives. While American market-oriented left-libertarians after Benjamin Tucker tended to ally with the political right (with notable exceptions), relationships between such libertarians and the
New Left The New Left was a broad political movement mainly in the 1960s and 1970s consisting of activists in the Western world who campaigned for a broad range of social issues such as civil and political rights, environmentalism, feminism, gay rights ...
thrived in the 1960s, laying the groundwork for modern free-market left-libertarianism. Austrian School economist
Murray Rothbard Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American economist of the Austrian School, economic historian, political theorist, and activist. Rothbard was a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian ...
was initially an enthusiastic partisan of the Old Right, particularly because of its general opposition to war and imperialism, but long embraced a reading of American history that emphasized the role of elite privilege in shaping legal and political institutions, one that was naturally agreeable to many on the left. In the 1960s, he came increasingly to seek alliances on the left, especially with members of the New Left, in light of the Vietnam War, the military draft and the emergence of the Black Power movement. Working with other radicals such as
Karl Hess Karl Hess (born Carl Hess III; May 25, 1923 – April 22, 1994) was an American speechwriter and author. He was also a political philosopher, editor, welder, motorcycle racer, tax resister, and libertarian activist. His career included stints on ...
and Ronald Radosh, Rothbard argued that the consensus view of American economic history, according to which a beneficent government has used its power to counter corporate predation, is fundamentally flawed. Rather, government intervention in the economy has largely benefited established players at the expense of marginalized groups, to the detriment of both liberty and equality. Moreover, the Robber baron (industrialist), robber baron period, hailed by the right and despised by the left as a heyday of ''
laissez-faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups ...
'', was not characterized by ''laissez-faire'' at all, but it was a time of massive state privilege accorded to
capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...
. In tandem with his emphasis on the intimate connection between Corporate statism, state and corporate power, he defended the seizure of corporations dependent on state largesse by workers and others whilst arguing that libertarianism is a left-wing position. By 1970, Rothbard had ultimately broke with the left, later allying with the burgeoning paleoconservative movement. He criticized the tendency of left-libertarians to appeal to "'free spirits,' to people who don't want to push other people around, and who don't want to be pushed around themselves" in contrast to "the bulk of Americans", who "might well be tight-assed conformists, who want to stamp out drugs in their vicinity, kick out people with strange dress habits, etc." while emphasizing that this was relevant as a matter of strategy. He wrote that the failure to pitch the libertarian message to Middle America might result in the loss of "the tight-assed majority." Those left-libertarians and left-wing followers of Rothbard who support
private property Private property is a legal designation for the ownership of property by non-governmental legal entities. Private property is distinguishable from public property and personal property, which is owned by a state entity, and from collective or ...
do so under different property norms and theories, including Georgist, Homestead principle, homestead, Labor theory of property, Lockean, Mutualism (economic theory)#Theory, mutualist, neo-Lockean and utilitarian approaches. Some thinkers associated with market-oriented left-libertarianism, drawing on the work of Rothbard during his alliance with the left and on the thought of Karl Hess, came increasingly to identify with the left on a range of issues, including opposition to Oligopoly, corporate oligopolies, State corporatism, state-corporate partnerships and Anti-war movement, war as well as an affinity for cultural liberalism. This left-libertarianism is associated with scholars such as Kevin Carson, Gary Chartier, Samuel Edward Konkin III, Roderick T. Long, Sheldon Richman, Chris Matthew Sciabarra and Brad Spangler, who stress the value of radically free markets, termed freed markets to distinguish them from the common conception which these libertarians believe to be riddled with statist and capitalist privileges.Gillis, William (2011). "The Freed Market". In Chartier, Gary; Johnson, Charles W. ''Markets Not Capitalism''. Brooklyn: Minor Compositions/Autonomedia. pp. 19–20. Also referred to as left-wing market anarchists, according to Sheldon Richman in ''The American Conservative'', these proponents of this market-oriented left-libertarian approach strongly affirm the classical liberal ideas of self-ownership and free markets, while maintaining that, taken to their logical conclusions, these ideas support strongly anti-corporatist, anti-hierarchical, pro-labor positions in economics; anti-imperialism in foreign policy; and thoroughly liberal or radical views regarding such cultural issues as gender, sexuality and race. While adopting familiar libertarian views, including opposition to civil liberties violations, Prohibition (drugs), drug prohibition, gun control, Anti-imperialism, imperialism, Antimilitarism, militarism and Peace movement, wars, left-libertarians are more likely to take more distinctively leftist stances on cultural and social issues as diverse as Social class, class, environmentalism, feminism, gender and Sexual identity, sexuality. Members of this school typically urge the abolition of the state, arguing that vast disparities in wealth and social influence result from the use of force—especially state power—to steal and engross land and acquire and maintain special privileges. They judge that in a stateless society the kinds of privileges secured by the state will be absent and injustices perpetrated or tolerated by the state can be rectified, concluding that with state interference eliminated it will be possible to achieve "socialist ends by market means." According to libertarian Sheldon Richman, left-libertarians "favor worker solidarity vis-à-vis bosses, support poor people's squatting on government or abandoned property, and prefer that corporate privileges be repealed before the regulatory restrictions on how those privileges may be exercised." Richman says left-libertarians see Walmart as a symbol of corporate favoritism, being "supported by highway subsidies and eminent domain", viewing "the fictive personhood of the Limited liability company, limited-liability corporation with suspicion" and doubting that "Third World sweatshops would be the "best alternative" in the absence of government manipulation." Richman also says left-libertarians also tend to "eschew electoral politics, having little confidence in strategies that work through the government ndprefer to develop alternative institutions and methods of working around the state." Agorism is a market-oriented left-libertarian tendency founded by Samuel Edward Konkin III which advocates counter-economics, working in untaxable Black market, black or Grey market, grey markets and boycotting as much as possible the unfree, taxed market with the intended result that private voluntary institutions emerge and outcompete statist ones.


Steiner–Vallentyne school

Contemporary left-libertarian scholars such as David Ellerman, Michael Otsuka,
Hillel Steiner Hillel Isaac Steiner (; born 1942) is a Canadian political philosopher and is Emeritus Professor of Political Philosophy at the University of Manchester. He was elected to the Fellowship of the British Academy in 1999. Work Steiner's writings ...
,
Peter Vallentyne Peter Vallentyne (; born March 25, 1952, in New Haven, Connecticut) is Florence G. Kline Professor of Philosophy at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. He holds dual citizenship in the United States and Canada. Biography Vallenty ...
and
Philippe Van Parijs Philippe Van Parijs (; born 1951) is a Belgian political philosopher and political economist, best known as a proponent and main defender of the concept of an unconditional basic income and for the first systematic treatment of linguistic jus ...
root an economic egalitarianism in the classical liberal concepts of self-ownership and land appropriation, combined with geoist or physiocratic views regarding the ownership of land and natural resources (e.g. those of
Henry George Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of the Progressive Era. He inspired the eco ...
and
John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism". Considered one of ...
). Scholars representing this school of left-libertarianism often understand their position in contrast to right-libertarians, who maintain that there are no fair share constraints on use or appropriation that individuals have the power to appropriate unowned things by claiming them (usually by mixing their labor with them) and deny any other conditions or considerations are relevant and that there is no justification for the state to redistribute resources to the needy or to overcome market failures. A number of left-libertarians of this school argue for the desirability of some state
social welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...
programs.Daskal, Steve (1 January 2010)
"Libertarianism Left and Right, the Lockean Proviso, and the Reformed Welfare State"
''Social Theory and Practice''. p. 1. .
Left-libertarians of the Carson–Long left-libertarianism school typically endorse the labor-based property rights that Steiner–Vallentyne left-libertarians reject, but they hold that implementing such rights would have radical rather than conservative consequences. Left-libertarians of the Steiner–Vallentyne type hold that it is illegitimate for anyone to claim private ownership of natural resources to the detriment of others. These left-libertarians support some form of income redistribution on the grounds of a claim by each individual to be entitled to an equal share of natural resources.Gaus, Gerald F.; Kukathas, Chandran (2004). ''Handbook of Political Theory''. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. p. 128. Unappropriated natural resources are either unowned or owned in common and private appropriation is only legitimate if everyone can appropriate an equal amount or if private appropriation is taxed to compensate those who are excluded from natural resources.Gaus, Gerald F.; Kukathas, Chandran (2004). ''Handbook of Political Theory''. Sage Publications
p. 128


Criticism

Criticism of left-libertarianism is mainly related to anarchism and includes allegations of utopianism,Landauer, Carl (1959). ''European Socialism: A History of Ideas and Movements''. University of California Press. . tacit authoritarianismDebord, Guy; Knabb, Ken, trans. (1993). ''Society of the Spectacle''. London: Rebel Press. ."The problem of organisation and the notion of synthesis"
Libcom.org. 26 December 2005. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
and vandalism towards feats of civilization.Engels, Friedrich (1872)

Marxists Internet Archive. Retrieved 10 February 2020.


See also

* Cellular democracy * Civil libertarianism * Cultural liberalism * Cultural radicalism * Drug liberalization * Grassroots democracy * Individualist feminism * :Left-libertarians, Left-libertarians (category) * Libertarian Democrat * Libertarian municipalism * Libertarian paternalism * Libertarian transhumanism * Outline of libertarianism *
Lockean proviso The Lockean proviso is a feature of John Locke's labor theory of property which states that whilst individuals have a right to homestead private property from nature by working on it, they can do so only "at least where there is enough, and as g ...
* Market socialism * Radicalism (historical), Radical movement * Refusal of work


References

Notes Further reading * * * Vallentyne, Peter (2000)
"Left-Libertarianism: A Primer"
(full text; final draft). In Vallentyne, Peter; Steiner, Hillel (eds.). ''Left Libertarianism and Its Critics: The Contemporary Debate''. Palgrave Publishers Ltd. pp. 1–20.


External links

* * {{socialism Left-libertarianism, Anarchism Georgism Left-wing politics, Libertarianism Libertarian socialism Libertarianism Libertarianism by form Libertarianism in the United States Socialism