My two favourite articles on libertarian experiments gone horribly wrong:
The Rise and Fall of the “Freest Little City in Texas”: How a Libertarian Experiment in City Government Fell Apart Over Taxes, Debt, and Some Very Angry People
and
The Town That Went Feral: based upon A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear by Matthew Hongoltz
Some choice quotes:
“This is one of the worst things I’ve ever done,” she said of being mayor. “I’ve never dealt with such angry people. I’m washing my hands of everything. … I’m going to travel. I’m going as far away from Von Ormy as I can.”
Nearly everyone in town has an opinion on who’s to blame. But it’s probably safe to say that the vision of the city’s founder, a libertarian lawyer whose family traces its roots in Von Ormy back six generations, has curdled into something that is part comedy, part tragedy.
…
When a group of libertarians set about scrapping their local government, chaos descended. And then the bears moved in.
One woman, who prudently chose to remain anonymous save for the sobriquet “Doughnut Lady,” revealed to Hongoltz-Hetling that she had taken to welcoming bears on her property for regular feasts of grain topped with sugared doughnuts. If those same bears showed up on someone else’s lawn expecting similar treatment, that wasn’t her problem. The bears, for their part, were left to navigate the mixed messages sent by humans who alternately threw firecrackers and pastries at them. Such are the paradoxes of Freedom.
Both articles are well worth the read.
The great thing about that is from those quotes all I really know is that I can’t even imagine the type of crazy things went. Going to have to read those, thank you!
After reading those and other articles, it’s difficult for me to maintain a straight face when people IRL tell me they’re libertarians. The more I’ve looked into it, the more I can’t help but snicker at its mention.
I’ve put Libertarianism on my mental shelf along with Scientology and Moonies. It’s just batshit insane and naive as fuck.
