Freddie Sayers on Sweden, Covid, and Libertarianism
I feel gratitude to Freddie Sayers, for the fantastic discourse about Covid at UnHerd/LockdownTV.
A friend of mine asked me what I thought of Sayers’ recent piece on Sweden, Covid, and libertarianism.
Sayers write:
[T]he Swedish example helps to correct a philosophical error that dominates the Covid-19 debate in the UK and the US: that if you are resistant to draconian policies to counter the pandemic, you must be a die-hard libertarian — at best, devoted to individual freedom over the common good, at worst, straightforwardly selfish.
It is not clear whether Sayers is endorsing a claim that a libertarian is “at best, devoted to individual freedom over the common good.”
He would be hard pressed to find a libertarian of any note who elevates individual freedom over the common good. If Sayers besmirches libertarians thusly, he is in large company. Don’t settle for lagom, Freddie.
Adam Smith says in The Theory of Moral Sentiments: “[N]othing can be more just than that the many should be preferred to the one.”
Yesterday, a student of Adam Smith served the common good, by publishing a piece on Adam Smith and the common good.
If you hear a libertarian say, “I favor individual liberty over the common good,” you probably would see by the context that what she means is “I favor individual liberty over their supposed common good.” In other words, the libertarian is reluctant “to sacrifice the ordinary laws of justice to an idea of public utility, to a sort of reasons of state” (Adam Smith again).
As for the three Swedish words Sayers discusses — njuta, allemansrätt, lagom — let me take them in reverse order.
Sayers relates lagom’s disfavor toward ostentation, but not its disfavor, or at least indifference, toward excellence. Swedish schooling is something of a lagom morass.
As for allemansrätt, I regard it as a violation of liberty, but probably a desirable one. I agree with Sayers on allemansrätt.
Njuta — a verb — is perhaps beyond my knowledge of Swedish. I think of it as enjoying being a creature who participates in such experiences — for example, enjoying being a part of the archipelago life, or enjoying being spouse to such a wonderful person. Perhaps it mixes the sentiments of pride and gratitude.