Part of the "Critiques of Libertarianism" site.
http://world.std.com/~mhuben/libindex.html
Last updated 01/25/09.
Many libertarians agree with much of the Non-Libertarian FAQ, because its aim is mostly at bad arguments rather than libertarianism. But the Non-Libertarian FAQ also outrages a great many libertarians who happen to treasure those arguments. Here are the known responses on the Web. The quality is generally very low: if you enjoy critical thinking, you will find these criticisms to be mostly laughable, inaccurate, or irrelevant. Libertarians who need their shaken beliefs affirmed, no matter how poorly, will find solace in these.
My normal policy is not to engage in ad-hominem pissing matches with libertarians, but Lazarus Long has been impugning me for quite a while now. So, I'd like to set the following straight, since it illustrates his debate style. Also, this can serve as an example of how argument with him can mire you endlessly, even when he is grossly wrong.
In his
FAS
, he writes:
Incidentally, even though this article was not written at the time
of Huben's e-mail to me, he stated "I'm hardly upset by your
"refutation" or any of the other rather pathetic attempts (and yours
is indeed the weakest by far.)" In other words... although the
refutation had not been written, Huben miraculously claims that it
is the weakest by far.
In an ad-hominem web page titled
Who is Mike Huben
, he writes:
An example of his obsession, and lack of intellectual integrity can be
seen by a visit to his "Critique of Libertarianism" site. He listed a
link to my critique of his Non-Libertarian FAQ, before the critique
had been written, along with a description of what was contained in
the critique. A most impressive stunt, considering that the critique,
not only was not on this site at the time, but hadn't been written.
Now, I'm not known for my psychic powers: how could I have known about his document to criticize it or create a link to it?
Very simple. He had posted it (or an early version) as
Huben's FAS (Frequently Asserted Strawmen).
in talk.politics.libertarian July 2, 1996. He wrote:
This article will appear in full form on my webpage as
http://vaxxine.com/rational/huben-bs-fas.htm within the next few weeks.
I criticized his post by email, and made a link to the URL he had
announced. No magic involved: I was just responding to the
information he made publicly available. I'd like to know how he
construes this as "obsession, and lack of intellectual integrity".
Most of his attacks and his FAS can be similarly handled. However, responding to them just gives him more material to similarly misuse. He likes to misinterpret non-response as his own triumph over the cowardly, but I trust most readers can see that he's a legend in his own mind.
[4/13/99: "Prince Lazarus", age 67, given name Howard Turney, has been hit with an SEC restraining order for his New Utopia internet scam.]
These could be rebutted at greater length (indeed, they already have been in lengthy email to their authors pointing out their errors), but unless I get get many requests for rebuttals, I'll spend the time developing further criticisms rather than being sidetracked.
Copyright 2007 by Mike Huben ( mhuben@world.std.com ).
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