Jimmy Wales, one of the Wikipedia founders, is an Ayn Rand objectivist. Wales denies that his role in promoting Wikipedia is altruistic.
Friedrich von Hayek argued that information is decentralised – that each individual only knows a small fraction of what is known collectively . . . (A)s a result, decisions are best made by those with local knowledge rather than by a central authority.
Friedrich von Hayek argued that information is decentralised – that each individual only knows a small fraction of what is known collectively . . . (A)s a result, decisions are best made by those with local knowledge rather than by a central authority.
Jimmy Wales reconsidered Hayek's essay in the 1990s, while reading about the open source movement which advocated that software be free and available.
Wales was moved in particular by "The Cathedral and the Bazaar", an essay and later book by one of the founders of the movement, Eric S. Raymond, which disclosed "the possibilities of mass collaboration".
When asked if he could trace "the Ayn Rand connection" to having a political philosophy at the time of the interview, Wales reluctantly labeled himself a libertarian, qualifying his remark by referring to the United States Libertarian Party as "lunatics" . . .
An interview with Wales served as the cover feature of the June 2007 issue of the libertarian magazine Reason. In that profile, he described his political views as "center-right."
Wikipedia is useful because it provides a resource that many political writers use to search complex topics that are addressed by subject matter experts.
Conservatives have become distressed by Wikipedia because its ready availability of facts have made it easy to refute political propaganda and disinformation.
Conservatives accuse Wikipedia of having a liberal bias.
Enter Conservapedia, the answer to "liberal" Wikipedia.
Here is the first four lines of a Conservapedia article defining a liberal:
"A liberal (also leftist) is someone who rejects logical and biblical standards, often for self-centered reasons. There are no coherent liberal standards; often a liberal is merely someone who craves attention, and who uses many words to say nothing.[1] Liberalism began as a movement for individual liberties, but today is increasingly statist and, as in Europe, socialistic. Liberalism has changed over the years and degenerated into corruption. "
It should be clear why few people quote Conservapedia because it is hopelessly biased. Even conservatives use Wikipedia to bolster their arguments.
It is interesting that "liberal" Wikipedia was founded by a libertarian of sorts. It is also interesting that although libertarianism glorifies the individual, Wales would found a collaborative Wiki enterprise.
Wales is currently seeking the Republican nomination for the Florida senate seat of Democrat Bill Nelson.
source: Wikipedia
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