Robert Locke's Marxism of the Right is allegedly a knock-down case against libertarianism. So I'll have to read it carefully. For now, though, just skimming the opening, I note that I've found libertarian ideas attractive, even though I am not on the list of social offenders that starts the piece:

• Free spirits
• the ambitious
• ex-socialists
• drug users
• sexual eccentrics

Oh, maybe I'm a free spirit! What's the opposite of that now? Uh, dogged soul? Dehumanized automaton? A servile? A slave to the system? I wonder if Locke would underhandedly praise those.

And early on there's this corker:

There are many varieties of libertarianism, from natural-law libertarianism (the least crazy) to anarcho-capitalism (the most), and some varieties avoid some of the criticisms below.

Funny thing is, most of the anarchists I know are also natural law enthusiasts! The least crazy and the most crazy are the same!

I'm neither of these, though I'm somewhat sympathetic to sophisticated versions of both. Oh, well.

I have the feeling that it is going to be fun to destroy this writer's attack on libertarianism. In the first few paragraphs I see enough nonsense and sheer prejudice to promise a lot of stupidity to come.

But for now I'll go home and hone my critical knives.

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