The surprising tale of what it means to be libertarian


I believe that the political landscape can be divided into three major schools of thought; collectivism, conservatism and libertarianism. I was a socialist as a child but as I have grown up and seen how the world actually works and how people behave in different situations, my mind has changed. I am now mainly libertarian but also believe that conservatism has quite a bit to offer. And collectivism? It makes sense here and there, but overall, I think most societies end with far too much collectivism. But what does it mean to be a libertarian? And what are the rationales behind the libertarian mindset? In The Goose with the Golden Eggs I tried to explain this.

After I published The Creative Society I was contacted by various politicians and ended up spending a lot of time in incredibly interesting discussions with some of them about the deeper meaning of politics. I also gave many speeches about society and politics at various political gatherings as well as in the Danish parliament. What became clear to me is that many people – and especially the average voter – has a pretty weak understanding of the political landscape and how politics has shaped the western world.

The keywords in libertarian mindset are in my opinion:

  1. individualism
  2. freedom
  3. productivity
  4. peace
  5. voluntariness
  6. minimal state
  7. decentralization.

The book explains this but also elaborates on such relevant phenomena as moral instincts, game theory, personality analysis, flow-concept, positive psychology, cultural history, sociology, economics, history and much else. I was awarded the Danish Adam Smith Award after the book came out.

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