Libertarians Have Morals, But Won't Coerce

To the editors:



Will Johnston’s thoughtful, nuanced piece on Whole Foods founder John Mackey (“Libertarian Environmentalist?” op-ed, May 3) gave an all-too-rare perspective on an important matter of moral preference: environmentally friendly goods and services. Though libertarians do not endorse using the coercive force of laws to make people kind or moral or environmentally conscience, they often hold very strong personal moral views.

John Mackey is such a libertarian. His social conscience leads him to encourage consumers to purchase environmentally sound products, but he does not wish to impose that choice upon them by force. In fact, libertarians can hold any personal moral view without believing that their stance should be forced upon others. Libertarians can support unions, or workers’ collectives, or a stringent set of religious beliefs, and they can hope that others think the same way, but they seek to persuade, never to coerce.



ALEXANDER N. HARRIS ’08

May 3, 2006





The writer is president of the Harvard Libertarian Forum.