What Is Bleeding-Heart Libertarianism?
Bleeding-heart libertarianism combines support for free markets and limited government with concern for social justice and the well-being of the poor. Part of the Libertarian family.
Definition
Bleeding-heart libertarianism combines support for free markets and limited government with concern for social justice and the well-being of the poor.
Atlas definition: written by The Ideology Atlas. Writers and movements define ideologies in different ways; this is a short working definition. Further reading: Wikipedia: Neoclassical liberalism.
Core ideas
- Markets and property rights.
- Concern for the least well-off.
- Social justice as compatible with libertarianism.
Origins
Academic libertarian writing of the 2010s.
Associated thinkers and leaders
Jason Brennan, Matt Zwolinski
Core ideas, origins and thinkers: Atlas summary.
Where Bleeding-Heart Libertarianism sits on the Atlas maps
| Map dimension | Score (0–100) | Position | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| Economic Collective / planned ↔ Market | 87 | strongly toward market | |
| Social Progressive ↔ Traditional | 18 | toward progressive | |
| Authority Libertarian ↔ Authoritarian | 14 | strongly toward libertarian | |
| National identity Cosmopolitan ↔ Nationalist | 26 | toward cosmopolitan | |
| Foreign policy Non-intervention ↔ Intervention | 11 | strongly toward non-intervention |
All nine underlying dimensions
| Dimension | Score | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Economic ownership Collective ownership ↔ Private ownership | 88 | strongly toward private ownership |
| Civil liberties Civil liberty ↔ State restrictions | 28 | toward civil liberty |
| National identity Cosmopolitan ↔ Nationalist | 26 | toward cosmopolitan |
| Social and cultural values Progressive ↔ Traditionalist | 21 | toward progressive |
| Political governance Democratic ↔ Autocratic | 0 | strongly toward democratic |
| Equality and hierarchy Egalitarian ↔ Hierarchical | 36 | near the center |
| Economic management Free market ↔ State planning | 16 | toward free market |
| Military intervention Non-intervention ↔ Intervention | 11 | strongly toward non-intervention |
| Religion and government Secular state ↔ Religious authority | 10 | strongly toward secular state |
These positions are estimates on the Atlas’s nine-dimension scale, produced by running the tradition’s core principles through the same questions and scoring used for test-takers. They are interpretations for comparison, not objective measurements. How scores are made.
Estimated positions on key questions
| Statement | Position | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Religious doctrine should take precedence over civil law when they conflict. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| People should be free to criticize the government without fear of legal punishment. | Strongly agrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Opposition parties should be free to compete in elections. | Strongly agrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Central economic planning is preferable to decentralized market decisions. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| The means of production should ultimately be owned collectively. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Preserving a historic national majority is a legitimate immigration objective. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Military power should be used proactively when serious external threats are emerging. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Society works best when established social hierarchies are respected. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
| Same-sex couples should have the same right to marry as opposite-sex couples. | Strongly agrees | estimated from doctrine |
| A strong leader who gets things done matters more than following proper procedures. | Strongly disagrees | estimated from doctrine |
Related ideologies
Main differences from the closest ideologies
- Compared with Market Anarchism, Bleeding-Heart Libertarianism sits 9 points further toward market on the economic dimension.
- Compared with Individualist Anarchism, Bleeding-Heart Libertarianism sits 14 points further toward market on the economic dimension.
- Compared with Voluntaryism, Bleeding-Heart Libertarianism sits 10 points further toward progressive on the social dimension.
Figures with the closest estimated positions
Closeness of estimated positions only; this does not mean these people identify with Bleeding-Heart Libertarianism.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Neoclassical liberalism
- Wikipedia: Bleeding-Heart Libertarianism (Wikipedia search)
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Libertarianism
Position last reviewed: not yet reviewed individually.