If there’s one thing that drives free marketeers nuts, it is the idea that people just may have the capacity and desire to make moral judgments for themselves, and to apply them for the collective betterment of society. Libertarians argue instead that the Invisible Hand is the only moral capacity we’ll ever really need. This issue arises because now that John Tierney has stepped into the libertarian slot at the Times (quotas, anyone?), the obligatory columns celebrating the free market have become predictable rants against fuzzy-headed do-gooders. Say what you will about William Safire (Tierney’s illustrious predecessor), he was a columnist of political sophistication and writerly flair.
Libertarianism has apparently come to such a sad turn that it now needs to recycle the strawman arguments of yesteryear in order to affirm the moral infallibility of The Market. Last week’s column (August 30) was a classic. Tierney explained the real culprit for congested highways and air pollution is not the SUV, sprawl or the highway lobby, but…. environmental elitists who drive hybrid cars! The headline captures the cultural resentment disguised as policy analysis: “The Road to Hell is Clogged with Righteous Hybrids.”
Apparently John Tierney, the NYT columnist Bollier is criticising, said:
As traffic slows down [due to the swell of righteous hybrid owners in lanes reserved for carpooling], there’ll be more idling cars burning more gas and emitting more pollution, but politicians will be reluctant to offend hybrid owners by revoking their privilege.
Evidence-free ranting. There's a 6 month waiting list to buy a Toyota Prius in the US and relative ownership volume of hybrid cars is miniscule...
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