Chomsky's Argument Against Libertarian Capitalism

Unjust distribution of wealth within a societal framework has been shown numerous times to cause wide scale inequality between the wealthy and the middle and lower class. While some argue capitalism causes these issues inherently, others argue that this is the outcome of system, which is ripe for abuse in the attempt to cheat the system for unfair gain. Abuse such as this was brought to a boiling point in events such as the 2008 financial crash, mainly due to actions such as exchanging wealth within the market without putting any wealth into the society. Additionally, libertarian capitalist governments are by definition removed from inferring with private companies management of their productions and the conditions of which the workers that
Since classical liberalism derives from foundational ideas such as this, the system of promotes the most individual freedom in that it bases its claims on natural human rights and abilities to conduct themselves free of intervention. This claim is what Chomsky asserts is the most crucial component to basing an argument against industrial capitalism. Capitalism and free will are simply incompatible to work together and on a fundamental level, does not promote any freedoms or liberties. According to the classical liberalist system, the transfer of labor from nature to product is a natural trait among humans however it does not account for industrialization among modern societies. “Humboldt did not foresee that in a predatory capitalistic economy, state intervention would be an absolute necessity to preserve human existence and prevent the destruction of the physical environment.” (Chomsky, 16). This means that while classical liberist ideas would perhaps be ideal for a truly free society, they simply are compatible with modern living thus libertarian socialism must takes its place. Libertarian socialism stands in accordance with classical liberal principles in that the functions of the stateare repressive and that it should be limited and act in accordance with the people. By still accounting for industrialization by placing the power to run these industries in the people rather than a few technocrat owners, the people of the society have the opportunities to pursue their own individual freedoms therein. Thus libertarian socialism is the most compatible with Classical Liberal ideals, which stress the importance of diversity and free creation