Nobel economist Gary Becker did research around 2 or so decades ago that showed that individuals will pay a cost to be racists. It is called the taste for discrimination. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Becker

The premise of libertarianism (at least this model) is that economics is about rational behavior and opportunity cost. That people, if left without government intervention to the greatest extent possible, will make rational choices that lead to their best interest and hence society’s best interest.

The problem is this – Some people (not just white people) are willing to pay additional cost to support their prejudices. They are willing to pay $1.05 even if another business owner who is of the discriminated race may be selling the exact product for $1.00.

When those prejudices are systematic, the majority will make decisions to ‘pay’ for their discrimination, even in the face of greater cost savings or opportunities provided by the group they are discriminating against. When this occurs, you create a social and economic condition of oppression that exists under the guise of lack of government intervention and equal treatment under the law.

The simple and most obvious example of this is work place nepotism. How many people do you know that have gotten a job because of their family position, or relationships that weren’t as qualified as another individual? The ‘boss’ was willing to hire an individual with a weaker skill set set because other considerations were taking that were beyond additional net profit growth.

So libertarianism cannot overcome a social system in which people groups are marginalized by the larger society for whatever reason. Therefore it is equal only in theory and never can be in practice.

In that regard it is very much like communism. An ideology that is only “fair” on paper.

As far the black american community is concerned, Libetarianism is just another false promise of opportunity and equality. Its just like the same BS people once supported back in the 1930s about communism, many blacks were duped that under communism racism couldn’t exist. History has proven that to be a great lie.

True that.

Did you know that the bus company that Rosa Parks was riding that fateful day actually fought AGAINST the segregation laws put into place by the government?

Yeah. They wanted money. That’s how libertarianism works: everyone’s money is the same, so you probably shouldn’t piss off your customers.

Also, anyone who thinks that libertarianism and the Republican Party (no, NOT “Republicanism” — those mean completely different things, you moron) are similar really is an idiot.

Oh well, another waste of time article.

Sorry, your arguments hinge on one giant flaw – that government wasn’t the enforcer of segregation. Jim Crow LAWS were the result of government. They were not the result of small government, they were the result of despotic government. You seek salvation from government…in government. You argue a contradiction.

I mourn what happened to African Americans in our nation’s history. But the answer to peace is not revenge. And peace does not lie in big government. Peace lies in the strong moral fabric of a society that values equality. Equality is not just upheld by law, but by the convictions of a people. If the people themselves do not believe in equality, then it doesn’t matter what the government tries to do, or how big there government becomes, liberty is already lost.