Why libertarianism’s absurd for (and hardly popular with) citizens in this country..

To embrace libertarianism, of any kind, is to say..

‘Forget all the hard-won – very hard-won – gains of the past century, the minimum wage (currently $15.96), the penalty rates, the universal health care system, universal suffrage, universal primary and secondary education, universal access to tertiary education, welfare, pensions, services and subsidies for the elderly and disabled, subsidised pharmaceuticals, the highest level of safety regulations, our fine public institutions: libraries, mail, museums, a publicly funded but independent media network – radio, TV, online – that is second to none in the world, our excellent emergency management systems, our (could be better) foreign aid programme, our national parks and marine parks, sustainable fisheries, management of water on a very dry continent.

Let’s wipe it all away – Death to the State! – and start over.

Yes, it’s fair to say the Right, when in power, tried to implement a partial private health system, still subsidised to an extent, shifted public funds to private schools, fair to say foreign corporations have made inroads, environmental regulations aren’t tight enough to prevent mining, we’re not moving fast enough to renewable energy, company tax is too low, the highest salaries are too high..

So let’s abandon what we do have, what we have, as a population, collectively, carved out for ourselves.  We’ll look out for ourselves and instead rely on private systems set up by people for own gain.. unregulated, unchecked, without restraint of legislation.’

That’s adolescent.