Steve Pinker - Why there are no libertarian countries (video)

Does everyone have the same values? Yes, but libertarianism isn’t one of them. 

Steve Pinker says that in modern societies people support some sort government social provision as they are aware the market can't meet the needs of everyone, for instance, the elderly, young children, and those that have no skills or talents that the market can use. But I think there is another very powerful reason: when the chips are down and you have run out of luck, no one wants to live in a society where, "you're on your own, mate!". Even most conservatives want some sort of social provision in place just in case things really do go badly wrong (what they don't like is people abusing the system, but none of us like that). Plus they know that relying on your family can be very hit and miss as well as it being very embarrassing to go begging. So, this is the reason why there will never be a libertarian state. Well, that's my opinion. KV

Steve Pinker 

Is conflict humanity's natural state? Could we ever agree on a set of values? The knee-jerk response for any student of history would be 'no', but the data tells a different story. Psychologist and author Steven Pinker offers proof in the form of Wagner's law: "One development that people both on the Left and the Right are unaware of is almost an inexorable force that leads affluent societies to devote increasing amounts of their wealth to social spending, to redistribution to children, to education, to healthcare, to supporting the poor, to supporting the aged." Until the 20th century, most societies devoted about 1.5% of their GDP to social spending, and generally much less than that. In the last 100 years, that's changed: today the current global median of social spending is 22% of GDP. One group will groan most audibly at that data: Libertarians. However, Pinker says it's no coincidence that there are zero libertarian countries on Earth; social spending is a shared value, even if the truest libertarians protest it, as the free market has no way to provide for poor children, the elderly, and other members of society who cannot contribute to the marketplace. As countries develop, they naturally initiate social spending programs. That's why libertarianism is a marginal idea, rather than a universal value—and it's likely to stay that way. Steven Pinker is the author of Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress.

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Steve Pinker - Why there are no libertarian countries (video)