Classical liberals tend to be big fans of the argument from evolution. To say that a particular social tradition or market outcome was the result of an evolved process, or an emergent outcome, or a spontaneous order, is to establish a sort of strong presumption in favor of its legitimacy or usefulness. This isn’t meant to be an absolute proof, of course, but it does serve to shift the burden of proof strongly to the advocate of overturning the evolved order.
Yet, some on the political left think there is a contradiction in this approach. Classical liberals and libertarians, they point out, are often extremely skeptical and critical of various political institutions like the FDA or the Labor Department. And yet, they argue, these institutions themselves are part of the evolved political order, emerging over time just as market outcomes or social traditions emerge. Shouldn’t this grant these political institutions the same presumption of legitimacy or usefulness that classical liberals grant in these other cases?
Short answer, no.
But on the off chance you’re interested in a longer answer, let’s shift gears for a second and talk about memes.
I don’t mean memes as the term is usually used today, meaning something like “a picture on the internet with a funny caption.” I mean memes as the idea was originally described by Richard Dawkins – a way to model the spread of ideas as though ideas themselves were alive and used human minds to replicate themselves. If you have a handful...
Hyderabad: BRS leader Aedla Sudhakar Reddy strongly criticised the statements of HYDRAA commissioner A.V. Ranganath regarding the status of Bathukammakunta. The official had claimed that the place...