On Dennis Marks' Claim That Libertarianism Dates Back To The Age of Enlightenment

Dennis Marks (AKA dmarks) is a Conservative blogger who has (of late) been allowing himself to be indoctrinated into the "Libertarian" ideology (via blogs such as Contra O'Reilly, rAtional nAtion uSA and Libertas & Latte).

As someone fairly new to Libertarianism, Dennis is quite uninformed as to where "Libertarianism" originanted. According to him, Libertarianism can trace it's roots back to "schools of thought" that date back to the Age of Enlightenment, which was "an era from the 1620s to the 1780s in which cultural and intellectual forces in Western Europe emphasized reason, analysis, and individualism rather than traditional lines of authority".

Dennis Marks: If one researches the history of libertarianism, you will see schools of thought dating to the Age of Enlightenment: intellectuals, revolutionaries, great thinkers, those who railed against the entrenched aristocracy. I tried to find any sort of "plutocrat" among them. I should have known that looking for them was a waste of time. (7/4/2015 AT 11:30am).

Libertarianism does not go back to the Age of Enlightenment. Libertarianism does not emphasize reason, analysis, and individualism rather than traditional lines of authority... although I can see how modern Libertarians might think this.

Libertrianism was actually invented in 1946 by the Foundation for Economic Education, which was the first Libertarian think tank. FEE was put together by a number of large corporations as a lobbying/propaganda organization to indoctrinate people into "Libertarianism". This new ideology advocated that government be run in a manner that benefits the plutocrats.

Back in 1946 (and today still) the "traditional lines of authority" that Libertarians didn't/don't like is democracy. Libertarians hate "rule by the people" and emphasize "individualism"... the individuals they defer to being those who are wealthy.

"Reason" and "analysis" tell Libertarians that wealthy people (by virtue of being wealthy) are better than ordinary folks, and thus the ruling should be done by them... and NOT our elected representatives. Which is why Libertarians demonize "the state" and wish to see it shrunk. This is, BTW, something Libertarianism has in common with Prospertity Theology, which is a bullshit idea started by greedy Christians that says "financial blessing is the will of God for Christians".

Ayn Rand's idea that greed is a virtue and that the world is made up of "takers and makers" is prosperity theology for greedy atheists. The difference is that (with these "Objectivists" or "Libertarians") the being at the center of the universe telling them "greed is good"... is themselves instead of an omnipotent being.

This is why Libertarians wish to get the hated "state" out of the way. So those who are wealthy can do as they please without regulations or taxes put in place by The People (via their elected representatives). The only liberty that Libertarians are concerned about is liberty for the wealthy to not have to be subjected to democracy. Instead we should be ruled by (and subjugated to the greed of) the plutocrats.

(See The True History of Libertarianism in America: A Phony Ideology to Promote a Corporate Agenda by Mark Ames for more information on "Libertarianism". FYI: the Salon article is an adapted version of an article that first appeared on NSFWCORP).

In any case, dmarks failed to find any plutocratic Libertarians because he started out his search not knowing the true history of Libertarianism. He could not, in fact, be more wrong. Of course he found no plutocrats, as the idiot wrongly thinks the ideology is somehow linked to the age of enlightenment. The "enlightened" thought being that rich people (such as the Koch Brothers) are special ("makers" or "job creators") and these individuals should be allowed to "create jobs" (i.e. exploit workers for their own gain and The People's detriment).

As Dennis himself says, "they gain = we lose". Although he was talking about our those who represent our interests (or are supposed to, at least). But instead of fixing that problem (the plutocrats bribing our elected representatives), Dennis wants to put another group in charge (trade politicians for plutocrats).

But plutocrats only represent themselves, and plutocracy is the antithesis of liberty... a truth the dupes who have been indoctrinated into "Libertarianism" are blind to.

TADM #70