These People Are Sociopaths

http://www.ginandtacos.com/2011/04/21/doomsday-cults/

Let me see if I can summarize what Ed relates in the above post.

No, I don't think I can.  But I'll give it a try 'cause Mama didn't raise no quitters.

Basically, some "economist" at the Cato Institute (natch) says we should refuse to raise the debt ceiling because the ensuing global economic catastrophe will help rein in entitlement spending.  (Ed gives it a good Fisking.)

There is something psychologically wrong with libertarians.  At some point I think libertarianism will wind up in the DSM-V.  I don't mean the general, "Hey, pot isn't hurting anyone", "government needs to stay off my lawn" garden variety libertarianism, I mean the hard core, Randian, Paul Ryan, Rand Paul type of capitalism red in tooth and claw that basically seems to welcome hardship and catastrophe.

Ed likens them to a Doomsday cult, but I think it's something subtly different.

To me this flavor of libertarian - who hordes gold next to his 50 gallon barrels of water and 50 pound sacks of rice in his survival bunker - is really looking for a chance to show his exceptional nature.

The modern world is a tame place for the libertarian professional.  There is no war, no hunger, no civil strife.  There is only the quiet, quotidian roundabout.

Despite having many advantages over 99% of humanity, the upper middle class/upper class libertarian - who probably works in finance or dentistry or something - thinks that he has an inner Rambo, an inner Chuck Norris.  That he would TOTALLY win on Survivor.  That when the end comes and the zombies swarm over the earth, he alone will thrive and Mary Jean Prettypants - who ignored him all through high school - will finally see his true merit.

Seriously, anyone who think crashing the global economy would be "good for us" has likely never experienced a moment of real hardship - like watching your child starve - or had a moment of human empathy for those who have.

We followed their nostrums about the market into the mess we're in now.  We will watch gas prices rise because they convinced enough people that "the market will sort this out."  They have wrecked the economy and social safety net and will wreck it further if given the chance.

Can't they just go back to playing Dungeons and Dragons?  Is World of Warcraft not good enough for them? Can't they indulge their fantasies without cratering the hopes and dreams of the rest of us?