Many from the Left think that libertarians are "obsessed with money" and think only of "material values" and leave out the "human values". The Left is fascinated with
spending (other peoples) money, and Leftists don't really care
where the money comes from. For them, State spending on whatever is simply less spending for the "rich" on some "selfish" consumption.
But libertarians are not "obsessed with money". However, they understand that freedom and economic prosperity are linked. Says Rothbard (in
Man, Economy and State, chapter 12):
Directly, voluntary action—free exchange—leads to the mutual benefit of both parties to the exchange. Indirectly, as our investigations have shown, the network of these free exchanges in society—known as the “free market”—creates a delicate and even awe-inspiring mechanism of harmony, adjustment, and precision in allocating productive resources, deciding upon prices, and gently but swiftly guiding the economic system toward the greatest possible satisfaction of the desires of all the consumers. In short, not only does the free market directly benefit all parties and leave them free and uncoerced; it also creates a mighty and efficient instrument of social order. Proudhon, indeed, wrote better than he knew when he called “Liberty, the Mother, not the Daughter, of Order.”
Ludwig von Mises was also on point when
he said:
Economic knowledge necessarily leads to liberalism.
Also, the following
can be said:
Since liberalism is based on the recognition of the self-regulating capacity of civil society (i.e., the social order minus the state), any social theory that centers on that capacity furnishes powerful support to the liberal position.
Libertarians are "obsessed" with freedom from coercion. By understanding economics, this "obsession" is strengthened (since freedom and economic prosperity are strongly linked). And that is why many libertarians are also very interested in economic policy, protest taxation, defend property rights, advocate freedom of choice, etc.
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