No Freedom For You!

Jerry Seinfeld gave us a memorable character in the Soup Nazi back when he had a show on TV, (sorry, I wasn't a big fan but as a chef the Soup Nazi was memorable to me). Now CATO has apparently given us our very own Freedom Nazi and his cry seems to be "No Freedom For YOU!" where the people of Taiwan are concerned. Mr. Carpenter seems to think that Taiwan should avoid independence and they should keep a corrupt government in place because whomever replaces them might just be a balls to the wall freedom lover.

The stance that Taiwan should not declare their independence from the Communist Chinese mainland seems odd when you hear it from a "libertarian" writer in a "libertarian" organisation. Mr. Carpenter seems to think that the threat of upsetting the mainland Chinese government is enough that Taiwan should not assert its independence as a free and sovereign nation. Is this a "libertarian" stance? If it is, it certainly isn't any which I am familiar with. Waving the old "China would go to war" white flag has become rather old and trite as a reason to deny people their freedom and sovereignty. One would think that supporting a free and independent Taiwan would be the libertarian stance, not urging maintenance of the status quo.

Would the PRC really go to war and risk losing their greatest trading partner, the US? Thirty years ago I would have said yes, but with the PRC's economy resting on the good wishes of their customers around the globe it is unlikely that they would choose this particular hill to die upon. It would be a certainty that the US would shut down all trade with China should that happen and other nations would quickly follow. The Naval blockades and sub warfare would halt the flow of supplies that so desperately requires if it is to remain an economic power. China could ill afford any sort of armed conflict over Taiwan's declaration of independence and they'd hardly wish to alienate the world economic community. Mr. Carpenter, and one presumes the CATO organisation seem to think that freedom is something that isn't for everyone. That a hollow threat of war and violence is more than enough reason to caution the Taiwanese against declaring themselves to be a free and sovereign people. And they're a "libertarian" think tank? Hmmm...to quote the great philosopher Inigo Montoya: "I'm not sure that word means what you think it means".

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China, Taiwan, Libertarian, Politics