You will recall that I expressed annoyance with the upcoming “Erroneous Autonomy: The Catholic Case Against Libertarianism" conference to be held at Catholic University. Rick Garnett comments:
The event is co-sponsored, it appears, by the AFL-CIO and that union's President, Richard Trumka, is one of the speakers. (I'm afraid I was not invited to explain that and why the Church's social teachings regarding the dignity of work and the freedom of association do not, contrary to the suggestions of some, provide support for public-employee unionism as it exists and is practiced in the United States. Maybe next time.)
I continue to suspect that the anti-libertarianism campaign of some Catholics who are political progressives often sets up straw men (i.e., attacks as "libertarian" or "Randian" positions that do not depend on or reflect the unsound anthropological premises of philosophical libertarianism). Here's a post I did a little while ago (on the occasion of an earlier CUA conference in this series), that tries to develop this concern.
The earlier post is well worth a read.
