Question

Many Libertarians point to 19th-century laissez-faire America as the supreme example of how well a society can run under the principles of Libertarianism (freedom and volunteerism). However, I would like to present a more modern version of the Libertarian ideal. That ideal existed in the living rooms of every American of the 1960's: Gilligan's Island.

In review, Gilligan's Island was a tale of a fateful trip that started from a tropic port, aboard a tiny ship. The first mate was a mighty sailing lad, the skipper brave and sure, five passengers set sail one day on a three hour tour. The weather started getting rough, and the tiny ship was tossed. If not for the courage of the fearless crew, the Minnow would have been lost. (Let me repeat: The Minnow would have been lost!) Their ship set ground on the shore of this uncharted desert isle, with Gilligan; The Skipper, too; a millionaire, and his wife; a movie star; and the rest (The Professor and Mary Ann) were here on Gilligan's isle. Yes, this was the tale of castaways that were here for a long, long time, that had to make the best of things -- it was an uphill climb. But, the first mate and his Skipper, too, tried to do their very best to make the others comfortable in their tropic island nest. No phone, no lights, no motor car, not a single luxury. It was like Robinson Crusoe -- primitive as can be. Bottom line: Seven stranded castaways, here on Gilligan's isle.

Got it?

Now let's analyze this situation. Here we have people from all walks of life: some rich, some not; some talented, some not; some blessed, some not; some smart, some not. But all had the same goal: to make life on their little island as good as possible (and to get rescued).

How did they go about making life good on the island? According to current widespread political theory, what should have been done was to create a government that would have overseen all of the castaway's lives. This government would have been for the purpose of redistributing income, protecting any castaway from his own incompetence, enforcing equality, and making sure that no individual castaway performed any activity that did not meet the approval of the others.

The castaways chose not to do this. They chose libertarianism instead. Let me explain:

Even though Thurston Howell III brought along a whole suitcase full of money, nobody else ever made a claim to it. Indeed, everybody recognized that Mr. Howell and his wife Luvey had already achieved a status in life such that they were entitled to live a more luxurious life than the rest. They were even allowed to restrict membership to their country club as they wished. Nobody acted upon their own envy; there was no hatred. Just a sense of happiness for the Howell's in their prosperity, and a feeling that they deservedly could enjoy their wealth as they wished. Indeed, when an impostor tried to fraudulently take Howell Amalgamated (yes, Howell Amalgamated), as well as other capital stocks from the Howell financial dynasty, the other castaways rose up and tried to prevent the injustice. Incidentally, did you ever see the castaways even mention imposing an income tax, or a tax of any kind for that matter, on the Howells? No, for they knew it was wrong -- taxation is theft!

Can you remember even one instance of a bureaucratic, regulatory agency created on Gilligan's Island? I can't. And I can't see any instance of any castaway needing one. All of them volunteered their own skills and abilities to build huts to their own specifications and to their own needs. One hut had an extra room; some chose beds; others, hammocks. They didn't need any bureaucrat to force them to build to the government's hurricane standards, but they decided to do it voluntarily anyway, and with success. No HUD standards, no affordable housing set asides, no EPA rules, no Social Security, no licensing of businesses, no government-enforced charity. And guess what? No problem!

Was a police force ever created to invade the privacy of a hut or to prohibit voluntary transactions? Nope, and there still were no rampant incidences of drug abuse, gambling, or prostitution, even though the opportunity certainly existed. And was there ever a better argument presented which demonstrates that gang warfare does not exist without the economic sustenance provided by prohibition? Was Gilligan, in all his incompetence, ever sued for malpractice or even gross negligence? Did you ever even see a lawyer on Gilligan's Island? Ever see the need for one? And why is that? Because even with the occasional disagreement, the castaways could settle disputes among themselves with civility, integrity, and honor. There was no expectation that a castaway had a duty to his fellow castaways before he had a duty to himself. There was no sexual harassment suit filed when Gilligan "accidentally" yanked off Mary Ann's bathing suit in the lagoon. (Good heavens!) Perhaps that was because Mary Ann had no vehicle available for her to make money from a lawsuit? There was no discrimination suit filed when the girls were prevented from working on the emergency raft which might have saved the castaways from the [assumed] sinking island. And did Gilligan go looking for someone to sue when he accidentally drank the nitro-glycerin? Hell no, and nobody was the worse for it. Yes, at times the castaways had to take up arms to defend against savages, rogue Japanese militants, and the occasional armed gorilla, but no draft of any kind was ever instituted -- when a true threat to life, liberty, and property surfaced, this democratic and free island-nation rose up and volunteered to protect the island and its way of life.

Just what was the result of this South Pacific version of laissez-faire island "chaos"? In just three short seasons on CBS, seven "victims" of a shipwreck -- without even so much as a dime of federal emergency relief aid -- managed to pull themselves out of poverty and establish an ordered, prosperous, and happy society. Without any hint of governmental coercion, each individual castaway ventured out and filled his or her niche in the economy, which all went into benefiting themselves and their community: The Skipper and Gilligan took up manual labor, The Professor concentrated on scientific and technical services, Mary Ann washed clothes and baked coconut cream pies, Ginger provided entertainment (I still think she should have won the Miss Castaway pageant, but I digress...), and the Howells provided capital and financial guidance when needed. This unfettered economy -- without the supposed "wise leadership" of the Federal Reserve to reduce unemployment and control inflation -- built adequate housing, set up geothermal water supplies and natural gas networks, ran outdoor theaters, operated taxi service, created lie detectors and volcano-destroying bombs and batteries and radio transmitters from scratch (and lots of bamboo), constructed a communications system that could actually be seen by an astronaut in outer space, and still had the time to work on various island-escaping capital projects. And it seems like they got to eat lobster every single dinner, for Chrisakes! Yes, capitalism at its finest hour (well, at least, finest half-hour).

Oh, but people just can't seem to leave a good thing like this libertarian utopia alone, can they? No, they can't, and 20th-century Americans couldn't, either. And so, in an attempt to better things by creating a government that intended to take better care of the castaways than what they were doing voluntarily on their own, the castaways once decided to form a government, and elected Gilligan as President of the island. The result? Political corruption, cronyism, abuse of power, and the inevitable government pork-barrel water project. (Remember the one with the well?) Fortunately for the castaways, they realized their foolishness, and disbanded the government. But unfortunately for the viewing audience, the forces against liberty and freedom could not let this shining example of the virtues of liberty and volunteerism (libertarianism) -- contrasted with the ineptitude and folly of a providential government -- remain on the air and disrupt the prevailing indoctrination supporting the Goodness of All Things Governmental, and thus Gilligan's Island was cancelled (just like laissez-faire was cancelled).

And so, the experts say, we cannot have Gilligan's Island again. They say things are too complicated nowadays. They say things weren't as good as the re-runs indicate, and cite the colorization of the first season's episodes as an example. They say we need to grow with the changing times -- to accept things as they are now. I say, "Forget 'Cops' and 'The West Wing' -- I want my 'Gilligan's Island' back!" Sure, the Howells and The Professor and the Skipper and his Little Buddy are long since dead, but their spirit lives on. We can all go back to Gilligan's Island again, this time not by changing a channel on the TV, but by electing Libertarians to office.

...

Actually, folks, it's not comedy -- the vast majority of your actions and your interactions with your neighbors are not and need not be supervised by government. Almost all the rest need not be, also. Just as the society of Gilligan's Island was natural and believable, so can freedom and liberty be with ours. It works, and it will make us happier. Let it be.

#government #community #created #society #movies #money #hell #wife

GlyndonD 7

Answer 1

Your Gilligan's Island analogy is similar to Ayn Rand's Galts Gultch in Atlas Shrugged. A small community of like minded people who believe in individual rights, including property rights, can survive without a government. But, as Thomas Jefferson wrote in the "Declaration of Independence", our government was established to protect individual rights, which requires police, military, and a judicial system. It started as a good system, but has evolved into the mess it is today.

Answer 2

I stopped reading when the OP mentioned a 1960's sit-com. I don't base my belief in god or religion on fantasy; I'm sure not going to do it with society or government.

And this is coming from a person who agrees with more of the Libertarian platform than any other (Dem, Rep, Green, etc).

Answer 3

Its alright if your 7 people. But a population of 335 million is another story. Libertarianism is predicated upon humans self regulating and working for what is best for them. This is predicated on the concept that people realize that what is best for them is best for everyone. Therefore, by acting on their best interests, everybody would benefit.

Unfortunately, humans fail in this capacity, terribly in fact. If the government had not stepped in, Jim Crow would still be alive and well in the south. If the government had not clean air and water standards, the Chattanooga River will still be burning, many more people would eat their windshield because no one made manufacturers put seat belts in cars.

The list goes on. All you have to do is look around at Republicans and corporate leaders to see that what you espouse does not work. Gilligan's Island scenario , while quaint is far too simplistic to describe a modern society. Exceptions do not make the rule and your example is a quagmire of unrealistic exceptions.

335 million are not capable of ruling themselves in an unselfish manner. As pointed out in :The Lord of the Flies", human base instincts are geared to hierarchies and selfishness. With all due respect for your entertaining post, I wholeheartedly disagree.

Answer 4

You fail to mention that the castaways had no economy, so everything was bartered. For better or worse, we have an economy, so you're comparing apples and oranges, unless you're advocating for tanking the economy on the whole, just so we could institute such a catastrophic change. This is pretty much the reason Libertarians will never rise above fringe status. Your inclusion of Gilligan's Island highlights this fundamental problem.

Answer 5

This post and the comments are the best example of libertarians I've seen! Everyone nay-saying everyone else, calling everyone commies and marxists. What a post!

Answer 6

Never liked the show. Did not read your thesis. By the way... look what happened to the 19th century america in the 21st century! I don't watch tv. My Final Answer.

Answer 7

I ought to block you for posting the whole damn song. The whole point of the show was tipping "society" upside down. Where "wealth" was worthless and labor and skills had the real value.

Answer 8

Cash money having no value on a desert island, of course there was no income tax. The economy became one of labor and goods in kind. Yours is a false analogy of the most extreme sort.

Furthermore, many Left libertarians would suggest that the Howells should distribute their wealth back to the people who helped them get that way, e.g. the employees of Howell Amalgamated. But you're clearly a Right libertarian who believes the rich get rich purely by their own virtue.

19th Century America was a time of great robber barons. I don't feel that was an exemplar of how to run an economy for anyone except those in the 1/2% at the very top. But I'm sure the Current Occupant and his cronies would love to return to those policies of governmental non-oversight. (Must be why they're doing their best to do just that through dismantling all oversight of the private sector.)

Answer 9

Of the 7 people pictured, only 4 of them did any real work - Ginger and the Howell's were just a drain on the system and sponged off the other 4 who had to shoulder the workload for all 7 in a survival situation. If this is Libertarianism then it is Lefty Libertarianism where the weakest are still supported by the strongest and most industrious. The Howell's provide no valuable contribution to the group because they have no skills unless you count being obnoxious and freeloading as skills. Ginger might have considered turning tricks for a living but since this was family friendly viewing she just alluded to the possibility but was never shown following through on the promise once she got what she wanted. The other 4 were constantly busting their asses to keep their little community above water, the Skipper and Gilligan shouldered most of that load between them in spite of the fact they were no longer receiving any renumeration, had lost their property in the wreck and had no further obligation to the passengers. Caveat Emptor if you are too cheap to pay for a ticket on a bigger boat with better safety protocols, that's laissez-faire economics for you.

Answer 10

Trying to use Gilligan's Island as an analogy for how to run a country with millions of people in it is like trying to use Horton Hears A Who as an analogy for how to build a skyscraper.

Answer 11

You want convince people that Libertarianism is a realistic political system by drawing parallels Gilligan's Island? Well done. I'm looking forward your analysis of capitalist consumer culture using episodes of Spongebob Squarepants.
If you want a serious discussion, maybe stop living a fantasy world.

Answer 12

The problem with this analogy is scale. Humans are tribal by evolutionary nature. Young nuclear families are usually dictatorships. A community like Gillian’s Island might work best as libertarian, but I don’t know much about the show. An entire nation of millions of people require a different kind of organization. As the nuclear family ages, each person’s voice becomes more equally valued, thus becoming a democracy. Multiple groups of these mature families require representatives or a republic to maintain equal representation in such a large population; most of which you will never meet. And it is this fact that libertarians overlook.

It brings us back to the tribe. We are tribal by nature and care more about our immediate group than the other groups, even those that indirectly affect us. We need social protections in place to protect ourselves from our very natures.

So when you think government is not working, the solution is not getting rid of it, because it was built from the ground up; it addresses the needs of the group that libertarianism can’t. We fix it by making it more accountable to the people it serves; the entire group. Not groups within the groups. Like science, it does its best to remove faulty human bias and error.

Answer 13

Interesting way to look at it, but quite wrong.

Gilligan's Island was not a Libertarian society, but a pure Marxist Communist one. They shared the island's resources equally and supported each other "From Each According to their Ability, To Each According to their Need." They had no need to confiscate and redistribute the Howell's wealth, as it had no value on the island anyway, at least to anyone other than Mr. Howell.

Answer 14

Libertarians are a nightmare. I find it vile. It has nothing to do with personal freedom. That’s the lie, the link they try to make between laissez-faire economics and social freedom and justice. They do NOT go hand in hand, in fact laissez-faire economics is all about profit and property ownership over social justice and human life.


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