Maker Faire: Where Libertarian Dreams Come True

Jennifer Burns is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Virginia.

Maker Faire: Where Libertarian Dreams Come True

Wednesday, 26 May 2010 08:51

I spent part of last weekend at the Maker Faire in San Mateo, CA, a two day event showcasing a mindboggling array of technology and artistry, from futuristic robots to retro steam powered trains to re-engineered clothing. Somewhere between displays on composting toilets and distributed power systems, it occurred to me that all of this was a libertarian fantasy come true. Here in reality were all the dreams of the 1970’s libertarian ‘zines: a way to finally get off the grid, on the land, away from “the man,” to be totally self-sufficient and independent of larger structures of power and coercion. The hitch is that most of the makers there, I’d wager, were folks of the left, not of the right. If any one set of values united them, it was environmentalism, or more specifically the quest to use natural resources more efficiently and with fewer damaging side effects (e.g. externalities). Thumping under all of this was a quasi-apocalyptic theme that would have seemed familiar to any Tea Partier, militia member, or science fiction buff: how are you going to take care of yourself and your family when our world changes irrevocably for the worse?

All of these connections and missed connections started me thinking on the theme of left-libertarianism, or how the libertarian ethos or spirit can really be said to transcend partisan boundaries. As those of you know who read my book Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right, one of my major arguments in that book is that Ayn Rand served to pin libertarianism to the right through her advocacy of unregulated capitalism and her long history of political collaboration with conservatives and others on the right. Today, Rand might be more influential than ever, but libertarianism is evolving rapidly and even approaching the political mainstream. As such, we’re bound to see some shifts and changes.

The ways libertarianism might look in the 21st century was the subject of a panel discussion I organized last month at the University of Virginia. Our theme was “Libertarianism: Left or Right?” and it featured professors from UVA, Johns Hopkins, and two scholars from the Cato Institute. I’ve got plenty of notes and will write up some reflections soon so you can get a sense of the conversation. Stay tuned…

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