for accidentally calling Will Wilkinson a “statist” in my post yesterday, since it seems to have annoyed Will and it was not my intent to call him a statist. So I went and reread my post and discovered I didn’t call him one, even by accident. Beyond that, I will await his longer response.
Update: From a reader:
I’m puzzled by your latest on him. As I read his post, he’s not saying you said he’s a statist. He’s saying he is a statist (i.e., not an anti-statist, like conservatives).
Me: That’s not how I read him. I take him being sarcastic about an accusation he thinks I made, which I didn’t.
Update II: Maybe I’m wrong. From another reader:
Wilkinson wasn’t being sarcastic when he said, “I’m a statist!”; he was taking you to mean, essentially, “anarchist” by “anti-statist”, and he pointed out that he is in favor of a state, albeit a limited one. Hopefully there’ll be a further dialogue to clarify what exactly you meant; at this point, I feel like the two of you more or less agree about what you’re talking about, and you’re just getting confused by each other’s terminology.
Update III: From a friend:
Wilkinson is not being sarcastic, at least not in the way that you think. He’s pretending not to know what you meant by “anti-statist.” It’s a really [redacted] rhetorical ploy, and one I’m surprised to see from him. As a libertarian, I’m sure he’s gotten the “What, you don’t think we should have any government at all?” line from liberals a thousand times.