One of my favorite libertarian blog posts is a January 2009 article by John Hasnas titled "What It Feels Like To Be A Libertarian". Hasnas is an associate professor of business at Georgetown's McDonough School of Business, a visiting associate professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center, and director of the Georgetown Institute for the Study of Market and Ethics. His essay has nothing to do with LIBERTARIAN BIOETHICS, but I believe it should be read by every libertarian.
Hasnas compares the internal life of the libertarian to the internal life of Cassandra, the Greek mythological figure. To refresh the reader's memory, Cassandra was the most beautiful daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy. Apollo, the sun god, offered Cassandra the gift of prophecy in exchange for her love. Cassandra accepted the proposal, but then betrayed Apollo by refusing his advances after she had already received the prophecy gift. Apollo retaliated by cursing Cassandra, proclaiming that her prophecies would be accurate but disbelieved by all.
Hasnas is speculating when he relates the internal life of the libertarian to the internal life of Cassandra because Greek mythology does not explicate what it feels like to be Cassandra. Yet the comparison is obviously valid, for we libertarians commonly predict the disastrous consequences of aggression and no one (and I mean no one) believes us. Hasnas succinctly describes the typical mistreatment of a libertarian as the following: "ridiculed, derided, and shunned" and "subject to unending scorn and derision despite being inevitably proven correct by events."
So how does this constant mockery make us libertarians feel? Hosnas, apparently not a psychologist/psychiatrist or a novelist or an introvert, does not provide a comprehensive analysis of the internal life of the libertarian, stating only that "it feels bad" and "means living with an almost unendurable level of frustration." Thus, I have discovered another obvious topic for a blog post.
Hasnas compares the internal life of the libertarian to the internal life of Cassandra, the Greek mythological figure. To refresh the reader's memory, Cassandra was the most beautiful daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy. Apollo, the sun god, offered Cassandra the gift of prophecy in exchange for her love. Cassandra accepted the proposal, but then betrayed Apollo by refusing his advances after she had already received the prophecy gift. Apollo retaliated by cursing Cassandra, proclaiming that her prophecies would be accurate but disbelieved by all.
Hasnas is speculating when he relates the internal life of the libertarian to the internal life of Cassandra because Greek mythology does not explicate what it feels like to be Cassandra. Yet the comparison is obviously valid, for we libertarians commonly predict the disastrous consequences of aggression and no one (and I mean no one) believes us. Hasnas succinctly describes the typical mistreatment of a libertarian as the following: "ridiculed, derided, and shunned" and "subject to unending scorn and derision despite being inevitably proven correct by events."
So how does this constant mockery make us libertarians feel? Hosnas, apparently not a psychologist/psychiatrist or a novelist or an introvert, does not provide a comprehensive analysis of the internal life of the libertarian, stating only that "it feels bad" and "means living with an almost unendurable level of frustration." Thus, I have discovered another obvious topic for a blog post.
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