Preamble:
Wise men make decisions and form policies on the basis of realistic options and real world consequences.
Fools make decisions and form policies on the basis of what their ideology tells them should work in theory.
Communists and Libertarians are on opposite ends of the political spectrum, at least so far as economic matters are concerned.
Communists represent the extreme Leftwing, while Libertarians represent the extreme Rightwing,
What both have in common is that they are ideologues; they blindly assume that if their respective ideologies were implemented, utopia would be created.
They desire for their ideologies to be implemented, the real world consequences be damned.
Leftwing Communists:
Karl Marx is Communism’s head ideologue.
Communism is a simple ideology; it demands that the entirety of the economy be managed by the government (a command economy). Communists hold that every problem can be solved by government control, while no problems can be solved by the free market.
Communists also demand zero inequality of outcome; they hold that the only conceivable reason some people end up with more wealth than others is that those with greater wealth have stolen from those who have less wealth.
In reality there are many problems (perhaps most) that are best solved by the free market, rather than government intervention.
There are also many reasons some people end up richer or poorer than others besides crookedness. Sometimes the reason your neighbor is richer than you is because he is smarter than you. Sometimes it’s because he works harder than you, and sometimes it’s a result of sheer blind luck.
Crookedness does drive inequality to some degree, but it is not the only driving force behind unequal outcomes.
Communism demands equality of outcome, and this is why it is pathological.
Why is equality of outcome pathological? Because historically the only way equality of outcome has been achieved has been by destroying everything, so that everyone has nothing; the result being mass starvation.
Rightwing Libertarians:
Ayn Rand is Libertarianismâs head ideologue.
Libertarianism is a simple ideology; have the government do nothing, let the free market do everything, and somehow utopia will appear.
In reality there are many problems that are better solved by government intervention rather than the free market. Examples would include preventing an invasion (winning World War 2), containing a pandemic (see COVID-19), and building infrastructure for an entire country.
Libertarians have infinite tolerance for inequality. They assert that intense inequality (a high gini coefficient) is not a problem.
This is delusional; intense inequality delivers a host of negative effects including higher homicide rates and a higher probability of violent revolution.
Rightwing Libertarians assert that under no circumstances should a government do wealth redistribution (take from the rich to give to the poor). They will refuse to modestly increase taxes on billionaires for the sake of giving poor people access to life saving medical care (universalized healthcare).
There are many creative rationalizations Libertarians give for this, but their real motivation is simple; they have callous indifference regarding the suffering of the poor.
Wealth Inequality:
Wealth Inequality is a serious problem.
The solution Communists offer ends in catastrophe; they demand zero inequality, and the only way to achieve this is when everyone has nothing; the practical result is mass starvation.
Libertarians offer no solution at all to wealth inequality; their solution is to pretend the problem does not exist.
Ideal Economic Structure:
The ideal economic structure is this; have the free market tackle most problems, and for those problems that free markets cannot solve effectively use government intervention.
Communists insist we always use government intervention, while Libertarians insist we never use government intervention; both are wrong.
TLDR:
Leftwing Communists demand that everything be socialized (done by the government, the public sector).
Rightwing Libertarians demand that everything be privatized (done by the free market, the private sector).
Both are pathological because in reality some problems are best handled by the public sector and others are best handled by the private sector; some problems are best solved by the free market, others require government intervention.
Communists demand zero inequality of outcome. Libertarians assert we should accept any degree of inequality of outcome, no matter how intense. Both are pathological.
A state that instituted Communism would be The Soviet Union; see Russia in the 1950s.
The perfect Libertarian state would be Somalia in the year 2020; there is no government intervention for anything, since there is no government.
