Libertarians, Alpha-Males, Trains and Cars

Interesting Transport Blog posting from Patrick Crozier:

Taking issue with Andy Duncan is one thing but taking issue with Brian Micklethwait (about a posting on this very blog, no less) is quite another. Brian is an über-libertarian with a fine pedigree from whom I have learnt an enormous amount. So criticising something he has written is not something to be entered in to lightly. But I feel I am going to have to because in his posting on Robert Clayton Dean's posting on the Detroit Motor Show he (seems to) make the argument that driving a car is a libertarian thing to do.

This is an idea I violently disagree with. It gets right up my nose. It does so because a) I think it is wrong and b) because by implying that taking the train is a socialist thing to do it alienates a whole bunch of people ie people who take the train who I would rather not alienate. It comes close to saying that being a libertarian means you have to be a flash Harry alpha-male don't-give-a-stuff-about-anyone-else arsehole.

There do seem to plenty of libertarians who do fit that negative stereotype, such as some of these guys, just as there are socialist that are paranoid control-freaks. But not everyone fits into neat stereotypes.

When I first started reading Patrick's blog, I thought the idea of a libertarian who was in favour of public transport was a strange concept. In fact, it seems we agree on a lot of transport issues even though our politics are totally different, such as the fact that the fragmented structure of Britain's railways is completely broken, and we won't see any improvements until ithe industry is completely restructured.

While's I'm pro-rail, it doesn't mean I'm completely anti-car, as some flash Harry alpha-male work colleagues seem to think. It's just that I have no desire to live in a society where it's impossible for anyone to live without a car, a situation that seems depressingly common on the left-hand side of the Atlantic.