From: Ian Goddard (Ian@Goddard.net)
Date: Wed Oct 28 1998 - 21:10:41 MST
At 09:56 AM 10/29/98 +1300, J. Maxwell Legg wrote:
>> IAN: In fact, it stands to reason that "socialist
>> transhumanism" would be "compulsory transhumanism,"
>> because a socialist plan is government implemented
>> and thus compulsory, and therefore the libertarian
>> ethic is the definitionally anti-Nazi >H policy;
>> and as such, the libertarian ethic is the only
>> policy compatible with ethical transhumanism.
>>
>
>excerpt from "Isn't libertarian socialism an oxymoron?"
>
>http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/1931/secI1.html
>
>So what does socialism mean? And is it compatible with
>libertarian ideals? Webster's New International Dictionary
>defines a libertarian as "One who holds to the doctrine
>of free will; also, one who upholds the principles of
>liberty, esp. individual liberty of thought and action."
>
>According to the American Heritage Dictionary "socialism"
>is "a social system in which the producers possess both
>political power and the means of producing and distributing
>goods." This definition fits neatly with the implications
>of the word "libertarian" indicated above. In fact, it
>shows that socialism is necessarily libertarian, not statist.
IAN: The definition of socialism cited observes
by default that consumers have been deprived of
political power -- which is held by producers --
and that consumers have been taken out of the con-
trol of the distribution of goods; which is exactly
the case in the socialist, but not libertarian, state.
We can also observe that a definition of libertarianism
need only note that * individuals * have political power,
not that one social subset, such as producers, had power.
What is more, the idea that producers have power in the
socialist state is false, the central planners have it.
The case presented for the nondifference of socialism
and libertarianism has not been made by the selective
set of definitions cited. Here's a better definition
that clearly defines what is unique to socialism:
From Merriam Webster's (http://m-w.com)
SOCIALISM: 1: any of various economic and political
theories advocating collective or governmental ownership
and administration of the means of production and
distribution of goods 2 a: a system of society or group
living in which there is no private property b: a system
or condition of society in which the means of production
are owned and controlled by the state 3: a stage of society
in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and
communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of
goods and pay according to work done
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