The hashtag #libertarianismin4words was trending on Monday, leading to some amusing critiques of what I will charitably call the political ideology, along with some breathless efforts to decry the ignorance of the mockers and some noble attempts to find four words to describe the libertarian worldview that weren’t all either “freedom” or “liberty.”
I haven’t exactly made my thoughts on libertarianism a secret around here, so I don’t need to rehash or go into any great detail here. I will note, perhaps gratuitously, that four words is probably a fair limit for defenders of the ideology, at least since my own experience suggests that it has nothing to recommend it aside from abstract nouns.
Voluntary transaction not coercion. #LibertarianismIn4Words
— Econlib (@Econlib) June 14, 2012
#LibertarianismIn4words Free Minds, Free Markets
— reason (@reason) June 13, 2012
I took the liberty (see what I did there?) of Storifying some tweets that I found amusing. This is by no means a complete set of tweets I liked, but rather just the ones that came up on a quick search of the hashtag:
Here were my thoughts for those who, as always, claimed that the critics just. don’t. get. it:
If you think that we who make light of #libertarianismin4words just don't understand REAL libertarianism – maybe it's you, not us (1/2)
— d.wells (@wellslawoffice) December 31, 2013
(2/2) because it's all based on what self-proclaimed libertarians say. But go ahead and try to backtrack. #libertarianismin4words
— d.wells (@wellslawoffice) December 31, 2013
