Check out this quote from a Dionne article:

We had something close to a small-government libertarian utopia in the late 19th century, and we decided it didn’t work. We realized that many would never be able to save enough for retirement and, later, that most of them would be unable to afford health insurance in old age. Smaller government meant that too many people were poor and that monopolies were formed too easily. And when the Depression engulfed us, government was helpless, largely handcuffed by this antigovernment ideology until Franklin Roosevelt came along.

Tom Woods Does a great job destroying this argument, and I would urge everyone to read it. However, without even getting into specifics, it’s easy to see how stupid this paragraph is:

“We had something close to a small-government libertarian utopia in the late 19th century.” Libertarians do not claim a free society would be a Utopia. That’s for socialist central planners.

“we decided it didn’t work.” Yes “we” all got together back in the 19th century before we were born and decided this.

“Many would never be able to save enough for retirement” Yeah everybody in the 19th century was worried about “retirement.”

“Most of them would be unable to afford health insurance in old age.” Who the hell ever said this back in our “Libertarian” days? How much did health insurance cost back then E.J.?

“Smaller government meant that too many people were poor” Yes that’s why there were so many poor people in the US in 1950 before the “War on Poverty” compared to the “Big Government” Soviet Union.

“Monopolies were formed too easily” That’s why prices fell during the 2nd half of the 19th century.

“The depression engulfed us” It just came along…no need to ask why.

“government was helpless, largely handcuffed by this antigovernment ideology until Franklin Roosevelt came along.” Yes, Woodrow Wilson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Herbert Hoover were all “antigovernment.”