March 11, 2005 | Libertarians and Lists

Libertarianism is an intellectually attractive mode of political thinking that combines a belief in free markets, an unflagging belief in individual and corporate liberty, and a full dose of skepticism of government power and regulation.

For the best in this train of thought, check out Reason magazine and its Hit & Run blog.

But libertarianism's biggest weakness, from where I write, is its failure to deal very well with issues of power imbalances.

Generally speaking, libertarians consider individuals and corporations as equal players in society (what libertarians call "the market').

So if I don't like being subject to a background screen prior to employment (something I'm sure none of Reason's writers would agree to), I should not apply for a job at Target or Walmart.

That's easy to say in principle, but it is unrealistic for many people in reality.

All that is a long intro to a pointer to an analysis of the role of the Federal Trade Commission by Electronic Privacy Information Center rockstar Chris Hoofnagle.

Privacy Self Regulation: A Decade of Disappointment is a great read -- detailing the unfulfilled promises of the FTC's policy of letting company's self-regulate their information practices. And unlike most policy analyzes, this one comes complete with a super clever cover.

Oh, and in his blog, Hoofnagle points to a marketing list advertised on Direct Marketing News that advertises a list of 6.1 million people who have been determined to be people who like to live beyond their means using credit.

Once again, that's a marketing list.

Yet one more reason why every Congressman and Senator who voted to line the pockets of credit card companies and turn Americans into indentured slaves should be voted out of office.

Posted by Ryan Singel at March 11, 2005 12:11 PM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.secondaryscreening.net/cgi-bin/mt-tb.cgi/129