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Wednesday 23 August 2017 Brad here. A spectre is haunting libertarianism...the spectre of loyalty oaths. In my on-line persona I have frequently encountered what I call the "denunciation trap" (akin to the "Kafkatrap" described by Eric S. Raymond). The general form is "You denounce A, but not B. Do you support B? Why do you not denounce B? How can you excuse this omission on your part?" Commenters on our forum have alerted me to the most recent infestation of this thinking, an "Open Letter" on a site called "Liberty Against Fascism" denouncing the "alt-right." In the first place, the letter does not define "alt-right," and I'm certainly not going to denounce a group whose vague definition changes from day to day, and person to person. I've seen "alt-right" used to refer to Trump supporters, Breitbart writers, conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians. I'm not going to sign on to a statement that next week might be construed against, say, Ron Paul supporters. In the second place, on principle, I don't sign loyalty oaths....which is what this amounts to. It reminds me of nothing more than the Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade from Catch-22 (the book; not the movie): Captain Black tries to get revenge on Major Major by initiating the Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade, during which he forces all the men to swear elaborate oaths of loyalty before doing basic things like eating meals. He then refuses to let Major Major sign a loyalty oath and hopes, thereby, to make him appear disloyal. The Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade is a major event in the camp until the fearsome Major —— de Coverley puts an end to it by hollering “Gimme eat!” in the mess hall without signing an oath. Here's (literally) the Cliffs Notes version: The satirical treatment of the Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade reflects Heller's contempt for McCarthy and his influence. McCarthy's investigations implied that people must be guilty if they were accused. In the novel, investigators maintain the same reasoning in Clevinger's trial and in the application of loyalty oaths. As Captain Black says, people who are loyal "would not mind signing all the loyalty oaths they had to." As a friend of ours is fond of saying, fuck that shit. Like the Kafkatrap, the denunciation trap is defective by the structure of the argument, and needs no further refutation. In fact, though I have responded here at length, the only response it really requires is a comment referencing the (high) horse its proponent rode in on. So, include me out of the Glorious Libertarian Loyalty Oath Crusade. | |
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