More on Foucault as a Libertarian

What Libertarian ever said that "the all-important question concerning power is who wields it?"


"The libertarian or “classical liberal” perspective is that peace, prosperity, and social harmony are fostered by “as much liberty as possible” and “as little government as necessary.”

theihs.org/who-we-are/what-is-libertarian/

From the same link, here are some definitions of Libertarianism. None mention the wielding of power.

"Different Takes on the Libertarian Political Perspective:

According to American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition, 2000:

NOUN: 1. One who advocates maximizing individual rights and minimizing the role of the state.
The Challenge of Democracy (6th edition), by Kenneth Janda, Jeffrey Berry, and Jerry Goldman:

Liberals favor government action to promote equality, whereas conservatives favor government action to promote order. Libertarians favor freedom and oppose government action to promote either equality or order.
According to The Machinery of Freedom by David Friedman, Open Court Publishing Company, 1973:

The central idea of libertarianism is that people should be permitted to run their own lives as they wish.
According to Libertarianism: A Primer by David Boaz, Free Press, 1997:

Libertarianism is the view that each person has the right to live his life in any way he chooses so long as he respects the equal rights of others. Libertarians defend each person’s right to life, liberty, and property-rights that people have naturally, before governments are created. In the libertarian view, all human relationships should be voluntary; the only actions that should be forbidden by law are those that involve the initiation of force against those who have not themselves used force-actions like murder, rape, robbery, kidnapping, and fraud."

Bob

So Foucault found no difference between government power, which you cannot escape, and private "power" where you can simply quit whenever you want to?

And once again, where is the "power" in the case of self-employed professionals and their customers? Where is the power in the case of a mutually agreed-to transaction?

Bob

I think I did a pretty good job.

I'm doing work that I really like. I make my own hours. And I haven't called anyone "boss" since March 1981.



Yes, I can see that. But there are two questions.

What form would the resistance take?

If modern power cannot be escaped, can it at least be minimized?

Bob

Foucault was part of a prison reform group in France, he was active in the LGBT movement before it was called that way, and he was a vocal supporter of both Solidarnosc and the Iranian Revolution. So it's not like he was an ivory tower intellectual.


The living human stuff comes in when your entire life is catalogued and categorized, when the only way you can talk about yourself is through these pre-defined, pre-determined labels that slot way-too-neatly into survey data or government records, customer service records and psychological profiles.

It comes in when we are told to look for our "true" selves, but that truth is itself just a lie created for our consumption, so we can shop for the stuff that speaks to our "true selves" like an Amazon customer profile - when really, the way we talk about ourselves should be a creative act, like painting a picture or writing a story.


So, just high falluting artsy fartsy nonsense that nobody gives a crap about.