Author David Brin on Dogmatic Libertarians, Transparency, and Uplifting Dolphins

"The issue should not be government. It should not be unlimited and unalloyed idolatry of personal property, which is the path that the libertarian movement has gone down," says David Brin, a science fiction writer and self-identified "heretical libertarian."

Brin sat down with Reason.tv's Tim Cavanaugh to discuss his recent critiques of the libertarian movement, which he believes is being pushed in the wrong direction by dogmatic followers of Ayn Rand and Murray Rothbard.

"Libertarians need to be reminded that, across 6,000 years, the greatest enemy of free enterprise, of market enterprise, innovation, creative competition... have always been oligarch," says Brin.

Brin also discussed the themes of his prescient book, The Transparent Society, which, among other things, predicted a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center before it happened. The interview wraps up with a discussion of the ethics of Brin's Uplift series, which imagines a future in which humans have enhanced the minds and bodies of dolphins and made them equal citizens of society.

About 10 minutes. Interview by Tim Cavanaugh. Shot by Zach Weissmueller, Paul Detrick, and Sharif Matar. Edited by Weissmueller.

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[PrivateAckbar]

He isn't intelligent enough to understand Rothbard. That's the long and short of this.

[informaldissent]

The Austrians and many other libertarians don't care what the textbooks say or what the dictionary says or how 'capitalism' has been used throughout history. They define capitalism as "freedom from the government" and nothing more.

[boohoo746]

the issue should not be govt, it should be about pyramids and authoritarian social structures. Got it!

[Carlos André Góes]

It's funny because the way people comment in this video actually corroborates to Brin's argument on dogmatic libertarianism.

[eirefrance]

Expecting any question of value out of Wolf Blitzer is asking way too much. I'm not even sure he's not just a robot designed by CNN to parody a news anchor/interviewer.

[psikeyhackr]

Libertarians are full of crap. Socialists are full of crap. Capitalists are full of crap.

Planned obsolescence is a 20th century phenomenon. The Laws of Physics do not give a damn about economics. But durable consumer goods DEPRECIATE no matter what. So how much do Americans lose on the depreciation of automobiles every year.

Resistance to Fiziks if Futile. Why isn't EVERYBODY demanding mandatory accounting in the schools? What is competition when the products are too complicated to evaluate.

[PissedFechtmeister]

He clearly misunderstands liberals.

[TheNonAntiAnarchist]

Guy seems like he's made for writing fiction. Maybe he should just stick to that.

[starrychloe]

He's very engaging and intense. I'd like to see a discussion between him and Bruce Lee.

[antoniocostaamaral]

this was painful to watch

[informaldissent]

If they weren't able to save enough to live on by retiring age, then how could they afford to pay into social security? I'd figure the returns would be even higher if they saved independently.

Yes, we have gotten better at just about everything, and helping the poor is included in that. But I don't think the state is necessary for either helping the poor in general or for anti-poverty programs in particular.