The Paranoia Czars

My Cato friend Gene Healy hits the nail on the head in his DC Examiner piece on libertarian paranoia.  The paranoia czars are nothing without more laws and/or government. Mr. Nudge himself, Cass Sunstein, makes an appearance with tips on “How to Spot a Paranoid Libertarian.” Healy writes:

Recently, three prestigious academics have argued that you should be especially nervous about “Paranoid Libertarians.” Distinguished historian Sean Wilentz coined the term last month in a New Republic hit piece on Snowden and journalist Glenn Greenwald. These NSA critics “despise the liberal state and want to wound it,” he charged.

Picking up Wilentz’s term, Harvard law professor and former Obama administration regulatory czar Cass Sunstein offered tips on “How to Spot a Paranoid Libertarian.” And, writing at Slate, the University of Chicago’s Eric Posner warned that libertarian paranoia kills: “in fact, the fear of government is far more serious than the fear of flying.”

The three combined for nearly 10,000 words on “Paranoid Libertarians” without ever producing evidence that “libertarian paranoia” is a threat to much of anything besides overweening government.

Wilentz’s article is a comically inept exercise in guilt by association. Liberals shouldn’t make common cause with Snowden and Greenwald, says Wilentz, because, among other things, Snowden gave $500 to the Ron Paul campaign and made disparaging comments about Social Security in an Internet chat room in 2009. Greenwald has (gasp!) written for, and said nice things about, my employer, the Cato Institute.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

Preparing your investments and family for when disaster strikes.

E.J. Smith is the Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH, where he completed course-work in Practical and Defensive Handgun, Conceal Carry Pistol, Shotguns, Precision Scope Rifle and Kidnapping Prevention. E.J. plays a Yamaha Recording Custom drum set with Zilldjian cymbals. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zilldjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@youngresearch.com. Sign up here to receive all the best content from Richardcyoung.com each week.

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