Libertarian Purity Test by Bryan Caplan

the corner, NRO ^ | unknown | bryan caplan

[Tribune7]

Got a 70. I'm a medium core libertarian.

[Dan from Michigan]

83 - 51-90 points: You are a medium-core libertarian, probably self-consciously so. Your friends probably encourage you to quit talking about your views so much.

[bobo1]

I got an 82.

blessings, Bobo

[Trinity_Tx]

78 here... Sheesh, I forgot how extreme one has to be to be a purist.

[OrthodoxPresbyterian]

I'm happy with my 98...

But just for fun, I took this test again as “Levitical Israel” according to the Law of Moses.

Questions 1-30

all -- YES, except...
Question 22 –- NO (e.g., cannabis was not prohibited in Mosaic Law, but Adultery and Sodomy and so forth were).

Levitical Israel had no Post Office, Public Welfare (private welfare was commanded but without legal penalty) Military Draft, etc.

Questions 30-50

all -- YES, except...
Question 50 –- NO.

Levitical Israel had no real Laws or Public Financing for any of this stuff.

Question 50 was a toughie because I believe that the Israelites were not, after the Total Wars to secure Israel, to intentionally kill civilians in defensive wars (the only kind they were allowed once Israel was secured)… but, I figured, if Samson was willing burn down the Philistine’s crop-fields -- he was willing to accept collateral damage to any enemy workers in the fields.

Questions 51-64

51-53 -- YES
54-56 -- NO
57 -- YES
58 -- NO
59-60 -- YES (Levitical Israel’s Law was a Mass Voluntary Contract with God and had no standing army or military budget, but rather a Militia voluntary-mustered in time of Defensive War)
61-64 -- NO. (There was a standing Judiciary, which was pretty much all the "State" they had... but which was not to be abolished.)

And so, “Levitical Israel” according to the Law of Moses scored -- an impressive 119

I think that even a lot of Conservatives would be shocked at how Libertarian was the Law of Moses for Levitical Israel (not counting commandments without legal penalties as "laws"; as mentioned above, Private Charity was commanded -- but without any Legal Penalty for being a Scrooge, I didn't count it as a "law" in the modern Punitive sense).

But the truth of the matter is -- aside from stoning for sodomites or beastophiles and the like, or Judicial execution or recompense for obvious Civil Harms, the average citizen would have virtually no contact with any "State" in any sense.

Which is why Levitical Israel scored so high on this test! (And which is why, when God warned Israel "If you appoint a King, he'll take a tenth of your stuff, it was actually intended as a curse! [versus the State's modern takings of....?])

Grist for the mill.... IMHO, you can't go back again. Nowadays, in modern Non-Levitical USA, I do favor a modest standing military to defend the borders and so forth and taxes enough to pay for it, so I'm down at 98.

[luckydevi]

Got a 88

[OrthodoxPresbyterian]

Oops... #50 got coded as a "Yes". Assuming that should actually be a "No", Levitical Israel scores only a 116.

Mea maxima culpa.

[Maximilian]

According to Bryan, Murry Rothbard is the paradigm of libertarian virtue. According to nearly everyone else, he was a kook. Likable and intelligent, but a couple tacos short of a combination plate.

Really? I hadn't heard that about Murray Rothbard. I am very impressed with his writings. Haven't encountered anything that falls in the "kook" category. And you may want to consider that although he was Jewish, he was also a Thomist. He thought that the Aquinas Realist philosophy was the only intellectual basis for society.

BTW, I scored 109. Pretty close to the example of "Levitical Israel" in the other post.

[OrthodoxPresbyterian]

BTW, I scored 109. Pretty close to the example of "Levitical Israel" in the other post.

Wow, that's pretty impressive. Where'd you and Moses differ (if I may ask)?

[Maximilian]

Assuming that should actually be a "No", Levitical Israel scores only a 116. Mea maxima culpa.

That's even better then - even closer to my score of 109. While I wasn't consciously imitating the Old Testament, and I'm not a "Biblical Reconstructionist" like Gary North or his father-in-law, R.J. Rushdoony, I oppose the Libertarian tendencies to focus on pot, sex and money, while supporting the initiative to virtually eliminate the federal government. As Joe Sobran pointed out, if you cut back the Federal Government to the size it was as late as 100 years after the founding, you could run the whole shebang on a billion dollars. That's just chump change even for a small state these days.

[gcruse]

I think anyone who scores high on this is an anarchist. Libertarians are probably fifty or lower.

[Maximilian]

Wow, that's pretty impressive. Where'd you and Moses differ (if I may ask)?

I just went through and answered the questions very quickly, so I'm not sure. But I do agree that stoning the sodomites is one of the few legitimate purposes of government.

[Maximilian]

I think anyone who scores high on this is an anarchist. Libertarians are probably fifty or lower.

Probably true. Most of the people who call themselves libertarians just want to take drugs legally and f**k around without any consequences. They're mostly morons when it comes to the real issues of government power and money.

[OrthodoxPresbyterian]

I just went through and answered the questions very quickly, so I'm not sure. But I do agree that stoning the sodomites is one of the few legitimate purposes of government.

Hmm!! Why so, would you say?? (Obviously, it was commanded in Levitical Israel, but I don't see the same equivalence for Gentile nations under Romans 13 Law -- and it does put a damper on evangelistic Conversions if you stone the buggers first, but that's [I recognize] not a legit Civil argument in itself).

Other than that, I'd enjoy discussing your answers some time. If you just noted which few questions you answered "No" (obviously you agreed with Moses and answered #22 as "No"), I'd be interested.

FWIW, my own Libertarianism is Calvinist-derived (d'uh, check the screen name) but of the "Nymeyer" variety rather than the "Rushdoony".

[Trinity_Tx]

gcruse: "I think anyone who scores high on this is an anarchist. Libertarians are probably fifty or lower."

Max: "Probably true. Most of the people who call themselves libertarians just want to take drugs legally and f**k around without any consequences."



lol... Ya think?

...sure hope my mother never reads this.

[billybudd]

I got a 92 too!

[vpintheak]

Fiat money is pretty whacky. If a dumb a$$ wants to do drugs, let them kill themselves, stop wasting our money fighting a losing battle.

[A CA Guy]

I have never heard an English phrase so elegantly delivered.

[vpintheak]

Is that sarcasm, or pure adulation?

[FierceDraka]

I got a 74

I guess my opposition to open borders and advocacy of a strong military shot my score down.