The iconography of “Libertarianism”
by Jura Watchmaker, 12 March 2008
Esteemed sister Hak Mao has decided to have a pop at the “Libertarian Party of the UK”. And rightly so given that grouplet’s steaming hypocrisy when it comes to the liberty of vegetable picking and office cleaning Johnny Foreigner and his mates.
If I were unemployed, unskilled and living in Peterborough, I would gladly join our Polish immigrant friends and pick squash for £7 an hour. And if I worked at the Job Centre in that godforsaken hole of an East Anglian town, I would happily withdraw dole benefits from those white non-working class chavs who tell BBC reporters: “I prefer to sign on than do that.”. Let the lazy fuckers feed from the bins out the back of Tescos.
But Hak’s post has set me thinking. My knowledge of the British “Libertarian” right goes back a few decades, and this diminutive and somewhat bizarre cult has always struck me as being a bit stiff-armed and big-booted.
Take its iconography, starting with that of the UK’s “Libertarian Alliance”. Not only is this organisation’s logo almost Nazi in its angularity, but it displays a total lack of aesthetic sense. The image doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in the political philosophy espoused by the group.
And then there’s the new “Libertarian Party” thingy, with its feudal griffin. It is a peculiarly English thing: this dull, quasi-fascistic imagery masquerading as wadical anti-statism.
Elsewhere in the world the image of “Libertarianism” is a little different, though hardly much of an improvement. For example, the “Libertarian International” is for my liking much too fond of pictures of smiley happy “Libertarians” in uniform polycotton suits. They remind me of Scientologists.
I cannot be doing with that kind of thing myself. It’s all very culturally conventional, with 2.2 kids (gifted, of course), immaculately-groomed dogs and suburban box houses.
Now this elegantly-dressed and cultured chap is THE business:
Beards of the world unite!
On a related subject, there was an excellent programme this morning on Radio 4 about the London Poll Tax riot of March 1990. This was late 20th century anarchism’s finest hour, and I hope the Beeb posts a recording of the documentary on its Listen Again thingy.
Wednesday 12 March 2008 at 14:53
that godforsaken hole of an East Anglian town
I live in Peterborough. You are being far too generous with this description.
The documentary was very accurate from my personal experience. Chavs and all.
Thursday 13 March 2008 at 0:24
I have some problems with this post — I may register them the morra (then again I may not).
Thursday 13 March 2008 at 10:41
The sentiment
is just reactionary bollix. Anyone who chooses to live on the depressing, insulting pittance that is unemployment benefit is welcome to it. As autonomists would say it is an important site of exodus from capitalism. No-one in a civilised society should be compelled into employment. When you remove any sense of choice as to what jobs people take on you are attacking their dignity. And an attack on dignity is dehumanising.
I have always been in favour of a guaranteed income for everyone. Anything, and everything, you earn over that income is taxed. Abolish student funding, pensions, unemployment benefit. Just give everyone a guaranteed income. And tax the surplus.But that’s a digression.
To reiterate, compulsion into any work is dehumanising and is a short step from labour camps.
Thursday 13 March 2008 at 11:26
Important site of exodus from capitalism? Not only is that reactionary bollocks, Neil, but it’s casuistical, amoral bollocks.
This is not about compulsion to work for others, but a responsibility to look after oneself. If the chavs don’t want to work in McJobs, then they can use whatever initiative they have to create their own paying work. That is, more than cashing a fortnightly giro, and supplementing this by selling a little weed or fencing stolen stereos.
This is an argument that occupied the new age traveller community in the 80s. Among many travellers there was a realisation that signing-on compromised their autonomy to a degree that they had become slaves of the state they so despised. So the supplementing of dole money with freelance work gave way to full self-employment.
Basic Income schemes have strong arguments for and against. I tend to come down on the for side, but the problems are many, and it will likely not be as bureaucratically simple as its more vocal advocates claim.
Thursday 13 March 2008 at 18:10
Eh? How utterly brainless, to judge an entire political philosophy and movement that goes all the way back to 19th century classical liberal Britain as a “diminutive and somewhat bizarre cult” based on what … pictures on a website? Anyone can do that.
Admittedly, the symbol for the Libertarian Alliance is hardly breathtaking, but then, who cares? It’s just the initials of “Libertarian Alliance” - “L” and “A” - put together. Comparisons to the swastika are plain idiotic. That you put so much importance on clearly irrelevant symbols on the two websites says more about your vacuousness than it does about Libertarianism.
If the only things you can think of to say against the UK Libertarian “cult” are crass, crude comparisons of imagery to Nazism and “quasi-fascism”, with the clumsy implication that those philosophies could ever be remotely compatible, best say nothing at all about it, it’s clearly not your strong suit.
Thursday 13 March 2008 at 19:01
“No-one in a civilised society should be compelled into employment.”
Sure. But nobody else should be compelled to pay for that person’s decision either. Sure, you may choose not to work, but I should be able to choose not to fund your decision.
DK
Thursday 13 March 2008 at 22:04
Shorter DK
“Taxes suck and I hate poor people”.
Did you ever apologise to Tom Freeman for being a thick cunt by the way?
Monday 17 March 2008 at 21:39
Um… WTF?
Monday 17 March 2008 at 21:41
OOPs — got me Toms mixed up maybe?
I remember a thread where that ignorant crypto-nazi got taken to the cleaners by Tom Hamilton…
Monday 17 March 2008 at 22:21
Ah, that explains it. Don’t think I’ve had any run-ins with him myself.
Pity Tom H stopped blogging. He’s fucking sharp.
Monday 17 March 2008 at 22:26
Aye — “Let’s Be Sensible” was fucking excellent - it’s fucking shite when bloggers that you like get proper jobs and have to erase all and any trace of their online existence.
Was one of the best blogs going — I get attached to the ones who have been going since around the time I first started (even the ones I don’t particularly agree with on most things).
Fucking PB job having bastards.