Harvard Law: Is Libertarianism a Sign of Mental Illness?

[J’raxis 270145]

Is Libertarianism a Sign of Mental Illness?
Posted by Daniel J. Mitchell

I don't know whether this belongs in the comic-relief category or the future-threats category, but the Harvard Law School is having a conference to analyze the "free market mindset." The basic premise of the conference seems to be that people who believe in limited government are psychologically troubled.

The conference schedule features presentations such as "How Thinking Like an Economist Undermines Community" and "Addicted to Incentives: How the Ideology of Self Interest Can Be Self-Fulfilling." The most absurd presentation, though, may be the one entitled, "Colossal Failure: The Output Bias of Market Economies." According to the description, the author argues that the market "delivers excessive levels of consumption." Damn those entrepreneurs for creating so much wealth!

The conference is on 2009-03-07 at Harvard Law School. This event is free and open to the public. Here is the registration form. The talks have Q&A periods, according to the schedule. Sounds like an interesting party to crash...

/I knew there was a reason I quit my job at Harvard...

[Ogre]

well gee, government's primary purpose is to "help" people, so if you oppose that, you must be demented. In fact, you might be so demented that you're dangerous to yourself and others...

[Pat K]

Is Amanda cosponsoring this ?  

[AntonLee]

as if anyone from Harvard Law needs to talk about mental disorders.  The Mighty Mighty Bosstones used to write songs about those people, and they were right.

[Porcupine_in_MA]

This sounds like something from the Onion.

[Moebius Tripp]

Unfortunately, it isn't satire.  This is from CATO.

[Kat Kanning]

They don't want you to own a gun if you've had some sort of "mental illness", no?  Like post traumatic stress...

[Russell Kanning]

at haavad law ... they know that coercion is the way things get done

they seem to be worried that people are thinking along free market lines

[thinkliberty]

Maybe we can all declare mental illness for not wanting to pay taxes and get to live on public assistance.

Anyone that believes in liberty can collect welfare because they don't believe in paying taxes....  That works until there are more liberty lovers than there are people that believe in: you must pay taxes for our depleted uranium bullets crowd. (remember loving liberty and not wanting to pay taxes is a mental illness and that means you get special privileges from the state!)

Eventually too many people will be crazy and the government will have to stop forcing people to pay taxes on things they don't believe in supporting and liberty lovers can go back to work, because they won't be forced in to paying taxes.

They are already paying to keep ed brown from working... Can't a judge just require someone live off welfare and be unfit to work for a living because of mental illness? That way they can keep prisons open for people kill, rape, or rob people and not fill them with people that don't to pay for weapons that kill children.

[Kat Kanning]

They are already paying to keep ed brown from working...

Elaine Brown had a thriving business in West Lebanon.  Now, the building is overgrown with weeds, her other tenants all thrown out.  Who says the government doesn't kill the economy?

[Porcupine_in_MA]

They are already paying to keep ed brown from working...

Elaine Brown had a thriving business in West Lebanon.  Now, the building is overgrown with weeds, her other tenants all thrown out.  Who says the government doesn't kill the economy?