April 26, 2011 2:34PM 

# Is Libertarianism Selfishness? 

By [David Boaz](https://www.cato.org/people/david-boaz) 

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That’s what Michael Gerson, former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, [writes](http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ayn-rands-adult-onset-adolescence/2011/04/21/AFv2JyKE_story.html) in the *Washington Post*. I take a different view in my [new column](http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2011/04/freedom-selfishness-cooperation/) at the Encyclopedia Britannica Blog:

> Libertarians want to live in what [Adam Smith](http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/549630/Adam-Smith) called the Great Society, the complex and productive society made possible by social interaction. We [agree with George Soros](http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/97feb/capital/capital.htm) that “cooperation is as much a part of the system as competition.” In fact, we consider cooperation so essential to human flourishing that we don’t just want to talk about it; we want to create social institutions that make it possible. That is what property rights, limited government, and the rule of law are all about.…
> 
> 
> The American, and libertarian, belief in freedom is not a “mania,” nor is it “selfishness.” It’s a philosophy of individual rights, the rule of law, and the institutions necessary for social cooperation. Read [Locke](http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/345753/John-Locke), [Hume](http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/276139/David-Hume), Smith, [Tocqueville](http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/597857/Alexis-de-Tocqueville), [Hayek](http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/257751/FA-Hayek)—and yes, Rand—if you seriously believe that the philosophy of freedom can be summed up as “selfishness.”

Much more [at the Britannica](http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2011/04/freedom-selfishness-cooperation/).

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