A sensible Anarchist at the GOP Convention

[Otto]

Very good...


"(...) Insofar as he is a man of principle, the principle seems to be
is that rich people should not pay taxes. His fidelity to this
principle is beyond reproach, which raises certain moral questions.
Paying taxes, after all, is one of our very few civic obligations. By
refusing to release his tax returns, Romney is likely trying to keep
embarrassing tax dodges out of public view; he is certainly
communicating to like-minded wealthy people that he shares their
commitment to doing nothing that could possibly help the United States
government. The rationale that Ryan’s ideology provides for this
unpatriotic behavior is that taxing rich people hinders the market.
Rather than engaging in activist politics, such as bailing out General
Motors or public schools, our primary responsibility as American
citizens is to give way to the magic of the marketplace, and applaud
any associated injustices as necessary and therefore good.

This is where Ryan comes in. Romney provides the practice, Ryan the
theory. Romney has lots of money, but has never managed to present the
storyline of his career as a moral triumph. Ryan, with his credibility
as an ideas politician, seems to solve that problem. In the right-wing
anarchism that arises from the marriage of Rand and Hayek, Romney’s
wealth is proof that all is well for the rest of us, since the laws of
economics are such that the unhindered capitalism represented by
chop-shops such as Bain must in the end be good for everyone.

The problem with this sort of economic determinism is that it is
Marxism in reverse, with the problems of the original kind. Planning
by finance capitalists replaces planning by the party elite. Marx’s
old dream, the “withering away” of the state, is the centerpiece of
the Ryan budget: cut taxes on the rich, claim that cutting government
functions and the closing of unspecified loopholes will balance
budgets, and thereby make the state shrink. Just like the Marxists of
another era, the Republican ticket substitutes mythical thinking about
the economy for loyalty to the nation.
(...)
http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2012/aug/28/grand-old-marxists/