The Libertarian Code 1
I’m a Southern boy. I can translate the code.
The Booman is not a Southern boy, but he translates it quite well in a long post over at his place. Essential to understanding the translation is putting the words of the code code words into context.
Here’s a couple of snippets from the Booman:
(snip)
Did anyone seriously think that these kinds of attitudes could be legislated out of existence? Or that a significant number of people wouldn’t resent the Federal Government for sending in enough troops to force the Southern people to break down segregation? Naturally, those attitudes persisted. But they persisted in less overtly racist ways. Ron Paul’s newsletters occasionally delved into the former style, but that’s more of a slip-up than a regular practice. People know better these days than to say white people are a superior race. The coded way to say that is to insist that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was an unconstitutional overreach that actually made race relations worse.
Because, you know, under Jim Crow, race relations were just fine.
Aside:
I suspect that much of the appeal that Libertarianism and Ron Paul seem to have for some college-age males is the youngsters’ ignorance of Libertarianism’s lineage.
The rest of the appeal is likely Libertarianism’s glorification of selfishness: it legitimizes their desire to pursue any and every woman as they congratulate themselves for the Galtian purity and exemplary idealism that guides their so doing.
January 4, 2012 at 10:47 am
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