Confessions of a Repentent Libertarian; Or Why I reject the Free market Worldview

Since everyone is feeling repentent today, our MM saying that we will if we vote in the opposition, and our PM repenting in public, I guess I should join in the season of political lent too and repent.

To put it simply, it is the very interconnected nature of the world and society that makes the schism between private and public life vital to libertarian thought impossible. The organic unity of human life nullifies the very simplistic view of a self-sustaining free market system. Developments in recent times have checked the triumphant march of the "whig theory of history" towards more and more liberalisations. The 'arrow of history' sudden seems to look more like a weather vane than a certain destination.

All these came to me as I was replying to a friend's post which fundamental premise is the free market economy, to which I now reproduce,

'The overall tone and premise of this entire article is the creed of the free market system, that the world is instrinsically a matter of survival of the (economic) fittest, profit maximisation, etc.

But it is precisely this premise which we ought to call into question. Maximisation of wealth, GDP growth, etc are desirable goals, but are they sustainable goals?

One need not go far to seek the examples of wealthy nations that are dying, i.e. the West. They are no doubt the model of being "welcoming to foreigners" with unlimited immigration, etc. All the better for the economy yes?

However, creating a culture of unlimited material advancement, of economic survival of the fittest and obessive wealth accumulation, has lead to all Western nations having a below replacement birth rate. They are rich and economically competitive. But they are also dying, because they do not seek to build a home to raise children and family, but merely to accumulate more and more wealth.

And suddenly, we find that the most "enlightened" nation in the world (can't remember which Nordic country was it, Sweden or Norway), suddenly have voted in racists and extreme right parties. Because suddenly, they feel that their native populations are threatened, and they are being overrun by the immigrants. A combination of low replacement rates of native population, and high immigrant has caused this effect. And, as inconceivable as it might be in a supposedly "advanced" and "civilised" nation, suddenly there are racists violence in those parts of the world. And all over Europe, we suddenly find a rise in anti-immigration sentiment. (Think Burqa ban, British Nationalist Party, etc)

So this isn't merely a S'porean phenomenon, it is a fundamental flaw within the capitalist system itself, it is imploding within itself, and soon it will self-destruct.
Thus, the question is not whether we can economically compete, but whether we as a nation can survive. If we do not create conditions conducive for the raising of a family, i.e. lower living and housing costs, reasonable working hours to HAVE a family life, etc. We shall simply be going down the path of the West. Our birth rates will continue to deteroriate, and then we shall feel threatened, and then we shall react like the Nordic countries did, and we certainly do not possess half their "civilisation".'

The fact is that the libertarian conception of the fundamental unit of society as the self, cannot perpetuate itself. If the fundamental fact of life is the here and the now, my own individual life and its immediate experience, what possible reason could I have for having children and raising them, since they demand a sacrifice upon my time and energy and happiness here and now? Might as well not have them and carpe diem! As an article of The Times puts it,

...the most fundamental question we can ask is: “Why should I have a child?”

In terms of self-interest it makes no sense. Having children carries with it a high price in terms of money, energy, attention and time...

That is why Western nations are dying, and they are being overrun by immigrants, and understandably enough, there are nervous racist reactions. Only a conception of life, which transcends one's own life, which sees oneself as part of a larger whole, part of a community which shall endure long after we're dead, and which we will still be a part of even when we are dead, can provide sufficient motivation for us to make the necessary sacrifices for the raising of children, and sending them forth to contribute to this community, which we shall reap the rewards of after we're dead.

Such a conception, I need not remind you, is impossible under a libertarian world. And such a world, is now revealed to be heading towards its own destruction, as they drive themselves towards extinction, while swimming in their truckloads of money.