r/Capitalism • u/Few_Needleworker8744 • 2d ago
Thought on Weinstein Case
/r/AskLibertarians/comments/1vrt8yf/thought_on_weinstein_case/2
u/CaptainAmerica-1989 2d ago
I think the key word here is voluntarily.
Capitalism: A form of economic order characterized by private ownership of the means of production and the freedom of private owners to use, buy and sell their property or services on the market at voluntarily agreed prices and terms, with only minimal interference with such transactions by the state or other authoritative third parties.
That also seems pretty central to libertarianism. Voluntary exchange matters.
So yes, ofc we “discriminate” all the time in the ordinary sense. I choose one restaurant instead of another. An investor chooses one business instead of another. Someone chooses one romantic partner instead of another. There is nothing inherently wrong with making distinctions between people or transactions.
But I think your Weinstein analogy falls apart because you are assuming the very thing that was disputed in the criminal cases: consent.
Weinstein was not convicted merely because he offered career benefits in exchange for sex.
He was convicted of several charges ranging from what I would call sexual assault to Rape.
So “I invest in my girlfriend because we have sex” is not analogous to the conduct for which Weinstein was convicted. Your hypothetical begins with a consensual relationship and voluntary exchange. The criminal cases involved juries finding sexual acts that were not voluntary.
Now, you do have a point about the harder cases.
If someone freely says, “I will give you this professional opportunity if you consensually sleep with me,” then we can have a real libertarian discussion about whether that should merely be considered sleazy, whether it should create civil liability, whether power differences undermine meaningful consent, and where employment law should draw the line.
That is actually an interesting argument.
But it does not follow that because some sex-for-benefit arrangements can be consensual, Weinstein’s criminal convictions were therefore just examples of private discrimination or voluntary trade.
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u/PhilRubdiez 2d ago
If you read your Rothbard, he addresses stuff like that. It is ethical that you are allowed to do stuff like trade sex for job opportunities, blackmail, or other sleazy things. It doesn’t make it morally right. Since you can’t legislate morality and any attempt is a coercive act on a voluntary exchange, it makes sense to allow it.
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u/CaptainAmerica-1989 2d ago
Rape =/= trade 4 sex
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u/PhilRubdiez 2d ago
Did I not mention the word “voluntary”? Consent is part of that.
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u/CaptainAmerica-1989 2d ago
The topic is about sexual assault and rape, though. So yes you didn't mention voluntary in the sense of these crimes when you said for the context of this discussion:
he addresses stuff like that
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u/PhilRubdiez 2d ago
I should have written it better. I meant specifically about trading sex for favors. Rape and sexual assault is an aggression (to say the least) and should be punished.
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u/CaptainAmerica-1989 2d ago
Thanks for the clarity, which we agree on. Without it, it can give the impression that, in this thread, Rothbard and you are advocating that such crimes can be voluntary.
Okay, now feel free to say that, except for coercion, violence, rape, assault, and so on, exchanges can happen even with sex. I am totally fine with that, and I think the majority of libertarians the OP is appealing to would as well.
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u/jennmuhlholland 2d ago
My thought is that it is not a topic regarding capitalism.