--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Libertarians are not the brightest lights…" description: "\"“Libertarians are not the brightest lights in the candelabra, a fact that is evident from the alternatives they tend to offer to public prevention of p..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/980/michael-lind-42817_abuse_libertarians-are-not-the-brightest-light_2705263.jpg" --- # Libertarians are not the brightest lights in the… ![“Libertarians are not the brightest lights in the candelabra, a fact that is evident from the alternatives they tend to offer to public prevention of private abuses. For example: if you don’t like working a hundred hours a week for twenty-five cents a day, then find another employer! It is obvious…” quote by Michael Lind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/980/michael-lind-42817_abuse_libertarians-are-not-the-brightest-light_2705263.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/980/michael-lind-42817_abuse_libertarians-are-not-the-brightest-light_2705263.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/980/michael-lind-42817_abuse_libertarians-are-not-the-brightest-light_2705263.jpg) > ““Libertarians are not the brightest lights in the candelabra, a fact that is evident from the alternatives they tend to offer to public prevention of private abuses. For example: if you don’t like working a hundred hours a week for twenty-five cents a day, then find another employer! It is obvious to intelligent people, if not libertarians, that more generous employers will price themselves out of a market whose standards are set by the most rapacious.”” [Michael Lind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lind/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Libertarian proposals often ignore power imbalances, leading to unrealistic market solutions that favor the most exploitative actors. **In simple terms:** Libertarian ideas can overlook exploitation. Key Takeaway Consider power dynamics in economic policies. Themes politics economics justice Mood critical analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - policy analysis - labor rights - business ethics Key Concepts market theory power structures Questions to Reflect On - What safeguards protect workers from exploitation? - How can policy balance freedom and fairness? A Different Perspective Idealism may ignore practical constraints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abuse/) [Alternatives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alternatives/) [Cents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cents/) [Employers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/employers/) [Evident](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evident/) [Example](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/example/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Five](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/five/) [Generous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generous/) [Hours](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hours/) [Hundred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hundred/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Intelligent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligent/) [Intelligent people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligent-people/) [Libertarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/libertarian/) [Libertarianism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/libertarianism/) [Libertarians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/libertarians/) [Libertarians Brightest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/libertarians-brightest-2763936/) [Libertarians Generous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/libertarians-generous-2763937/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Obvious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obvious/) [Offers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/offers/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People Libertarians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-libertarians-507365/) [Prevention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prevention/) [Private Abuses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/private-abuses-2763938/) [Standards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/standards/) [Twenties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twenties/) [Twenty five](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twenty-five/) [Week](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/week/) ## Related quotes > [Like many people, most Libertarians feel empathy and sympathy for less fortunate people. 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Both disliked government. Both were driven by a fantastically nostalgic conviction that a country…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-andersen/libertarianism-used-to-have-a-robust-left-wing-as-well-both-disliked/) [Kurt Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-andersen/) > [I don't agree with the libertarians. I want my security first. I'll deal with all the details after that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trent-lott/i-don-t-agree-with-the-libertarians-i-want-my-security-first-i-ll/) [Trent Lott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trent-lott/) > [Libertarians are liberals who like markets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-wilkinson/libertarians-are-liberals-who-like-markets/) [Will Wilkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-wilkinson/) > [A libertarian is a person who believes that no one has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force against another human being, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/a-libertarian-is-a-person-who-believes-that-no-one-has-the-right/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [In order for an act to be a crime, libertarians say, someone must be harmed - there must be a victim. Anything that's peaceful,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-banister/in-order-for-an-act-to-be-a-crime-libertarians-say-someone-must-be/) [Scott Banister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-banister/) > [As Barbara Streisand discovered, adopting a militaristic posture against a tech-savvy mob of civil libertarians is not going to be of much help: Many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeny-morozov/as-barbara-streisand-discovered-adopting-a-militaristic-posture/) [Evgeny Morozov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeny-morozov/) > [Libertarians believe consenting adults have the right to do whatever they choose, except band together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emo-philips/libertarians-believe-consenting-adults-have-the-right-to-do-whatever/) [Emo Philips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emo-philips/) > [“This reduction of 'society' to a thin membrane of interactions between private individuals is presented today as the ambition of libertarians and free marketeers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/this-reduction-of-society-to-a-thin-membrane-of-interactions-between/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [The minimum that most minimalists want leaves in place just the institutions who protect their interests. 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A pacifist is like a Christian Scientist who is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lind/for-realists-war-is-like-surgery-a-painful-and-dangerous-activity/) [Michael Lind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lind/) > [Where was the libertarian right during the great struggles for individual liberty in America in the last half-century? The libertarian movement has been conspicuously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lind/where-was-the-libertarian-right-during-the-great-struggles-for/) [Michael Lind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lind/) [Explore all 10 Michael Lind quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lind/) ## More Abuse quotes > [I wrote when I was a young teen, but I didn't put an eye on the available markets until I was seventeen. 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