How to Reach Out to The Left

by Chet Lake

Libertarianism is on the rise as can be observed by anyone who was paying attention to the last election cycle. For example, Ron Paul has struck a chord and has energized young voters from both the left and the right. Liberty minded folks should be very pleased with the recent progress of the liberty movement and should be very careful to not be complacent and miss out on opportunities to win over allies to the cause of liberty.

It is no secret that libertarians have done fairly well for themselves inside the Republican party despite the mistreatment of establishment Republican leaders at the Republican National Convention and elsewhere. Slowly but surely, libertarians have been gaining influence in the GOP and are continuing the revolution from within. As good as this is, it is only one smaller series of battles that libertarians are going to have to deal with. The real battles in the war of ideas are not going to be fought against the GOP establishment, they are going to be fought against the left, and that is where I think at least some libertarians need to start shifting their focus (while continuing the revolution in the Republican party, of course).

As open minded as liberals and progressives claim to be (and many of them are), most seem to be the least open-minded and tolerant. I don't mean to base my case on this, so suffice it to say, winning the hearts and minds of the members of this group is going to be, and has been, a special challenge; one that I believe is a great opportunity for libertarians if they don't blow it!

To demonstrate what I mean, I am going to talk about something that is a bit of a sore topic among many libertarian circles, but I think is very important nonetheless. I am talking about the S-word: Social Justice. What is social justice? There are different theories and ideas about social justice, but broadly defined, it is concern for the poor--the least well off socially and/or economically--and is a way to judge the justice of social institutions. For example, societies are just insofar as the least well off are advantaged in society. In other words, the better off the poor are, the better.

Now before you go off the handle and conclude that I am a socialist, please understand that is not what social justice necessarily requires, i.e., central planning and massive redistribution of wealth. It is arguable that no one is terribly advantaged by a strictly egalitarian society for several reasons. Recall that old saying that such societies in their efforts to make life better for everyone end up making everyone equally miserable while free markets unequally distribute their benefits. From economics, we know that free-markets make everyone better off, especially the poor, and that interventions in the economy hurt the poor, not help them. The minimum wage is a perfect example of a public policy intended to help the poor that actually has the opposite effect (see this policy analysis from CATO and this review of economic literature for more on the effects of minimum wage laws).

It should also be understood that social justice is not antithetical to libertarian (classical liberal) thought. For example, F.A. Hayek, Adam Smith, and Milton Friedman all advocated a social safety net of some kind. Minarchist libertarianism does admit some wealth redistribution in order to provide a military, courts, police; and some minarchists would go as far as a minimal social safety net. Now I don't intend to argue specifically for a minimal social safety net because that is not the point that I am trying to make here. My point is that libertarians can make the case for free markets on the grounds that they (markets) provide the most benefit to the least well off in society relative to any of the known alternatives.

So libertarians and classical liberals, or people who care about liberty in general, need to make the case for free markets on social justice grounds if they are going to win more allies from the left and eventually win the war of ideas. Libertarians are in a unique position to do this and need to recognize it and embrace it.

Please check out Bleeding Heart Libertarians for more on Social Justice and Free Markets.