Libertarianism and r/K

                                  

Paradoxically, I have found that Libertarians are both the best and worst of people at calculating costs.

In matters of economics, you will seldom find a group of individuals better educated in the discipline than Libertarians. 

The Consequentialist school of Libertarianism in particular demands at least a basic understanding of economics to be able to formulate arguments centered around the favorable outcomes to be expected when following Libertarian ideology. Ask any Layman Libertarian to explain the Broken Window Fallacy or to debunk Paul Krugman's latest call for deficit spending and you will undoubtedly receive a well formulated essay response explaining costs:

Hidden costs, opportunity costs, variable costs, negative externalities, etc.

These astute calculations immediately cease when Libertarians are asked to compare the cost of their evolutionary strategy over others.

To begin with, many Libertarians have yet to realize they have a unique evolutionary strategy differentiated from Liberals (r-selection) and Conservatives (K-selection). Part of this myopia originates in the Libertarian reverence for the primacy of the Individual; each of us atomized individuals free of the constraints of collective action, thus incapable of expressing any particular evolutionary strategy. 

However, Individualism itself was cultivated within a larger cultural movement of the 19th century that promoted a linear sociological evolution, usurping Traditionalism and cyclical views of history, challenging social mores and norms, and ultimately beginning the gradual decline of the Western Family which just now reaches its Nadir.

It is therefore easier to understand Libertarianism as a modern addendum to this broad sociological change of the 19th century; one firmly grounded in evolutionary psychology.

The time preference of a Libertarian as it relates to this evolutionary psychology is also easily definable. While a Liberal prefers the immediacy of resource acquisition in the present (high time preference), and a Conservative's perceived horizons can extend far beyond their lifetimes (low time preference), the Libertarian trends toward a middle path. For Libertarians there is no greater calling than entrepreneurship and their values are aligned to carrying forward the life cycle of their businesses at all costs. Both the low and high time horizons are relegated to at most occasional indulgences within the time constraints and demands of a business. Libertarianism is thereby differentiated in its evolutionary strategy by its unique time preference and its adherence to principles and ideas that reflect this particular time preference. 

It is worth recognizing that while these different strategies may be defined in very broad and generalized categories, they nonetheless form a  useful starting point for evaluating  incongruities between Libertarianism and r/K. In the next segment I will analyze these incongruities and explain how they impact the viability of forming Libertarian polities.