The entire argument of Libertarianism is built on assumptions about motives. The argument runs- people only do things out of self-interest. Therefore, people will only elect people from whom they stand to gain, and politicians will do whatever they need to stay in office. This locks them in a mutable indebtedness to, the politician must gratify the majority, the majority wants a free ride. How will they get this free ride? By taking the resources of the rich. “Property Rights” to Libertarian thinkers, it “the right of the wealthy to keep their wealth and get more.”
This thinking assumes the worst motives to people. It does not allow for the possibility of love, compassion, altruism, obligation, duty, patriotism, or concern for the public good. It denies the possibility that we hold highest, that people might serve their country because they love their country. Or that people might help other people because they love other people.
This has created in libertarianism a hatred of all things collective and all sense of obligation- that is the idea that I might serve my country because I have been so blessed to live here. The problem with a sense of obligation is this- “if I serve my country because I have been blessed to live here, then it is implied that any who have lived here have the same obligation.” To the libertarian thinker, this is coercion. And the more people who succumb to this, the more co-ercive it is. If I can attribute the worst motives to the most people, I am free not to serve them, and this is what libertarianism strives for.
The libertarian definition of “property rights” and “rights” in general requires a dismantling of the idea of the social contract, of real patriotism, and ultimately of the Judeo-Christian worldview.
The first Libertarian asked, “am I my brother’s keeper” and expected God to reply in the negative. At the heart of American Libertarianism is racism, privilege, and greed. Libertarian, at the same time appeals to Christian truth, but can in no way be Christian. While it draws on the idea that humanity is fallen and tends to evil it insists that the remedy is to insulate ourselves from others. The Gospel of Jesus Christ envisions a people transformed by the self-giving love of God and the death of Christ on the Cross thereby living lives of kindness, generosity, and altruism. The Gospel would say that this is the remedy for the brokenness of the world, not self protection, but loving engagement. The key, says the Gospel, is Love. “and no one has greater love than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” One key thinker of the Virginia School of economics conversely said America’s problem was that we took the parable of the Good Samaritan seriously.
Libertarianism has done great damage by dressing itself in the clothing of the Church. In it’s understanding of the world, people, race, wealth, and politics, it seems to carry more the spirit of the Anti-Christ.