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Libertarians want the freedom to oppress others. They simply want the freedom to take away someone else's freedom. And they don't want the government standing in their way.
Libertarians dislike the government for the same reason that the schoolyard bully dislikes the teacher and the school principal.
Libertarians are rich anarchists they want just enough state power so they can be protected and free to exploit the proletariat but on the same token have the state be so weak that they can't possibly do anything about all the robber barons they have created.
I've talked to some self identified "libertarians" who think it should be against the law to sit/kneel for the pledge/anthem, think it should be illegal to burn the flag, etc... and then I have talked to some other libertarians who actually know what the word "libertarian" means. I think there are quite a few people adopting the title that may be giving it a bad name.
There are a lot of people, including myself who are sort of 'Libertarian-ish".
In that we agree with many of the principals of Libertarianism, but not the whole purist ball of wax.
Mainly for myself, because I don't think a purely Libertarian society is practical in reality as much as it is in theory.
Everyone wants "civil liberties." For the religious right, "civil liberties" means the freedom to teach evangelical Christianity and creationism in public schools. For the libertarian Koch Brothers, "civil liberties" means no minimum wage laws, no labor laws, no safety standards, and no environmental laws. All of those things are restrictions on their freedom.
The key point is this: more freedom and liberty for some often means harm or less freedom for others.
Nonsense. There is only so much free time to go around because there is a lot of work that needs to be done. More freedom for me means less freedom for someone else. Ask Thomas Jefferson's slaves how that worked. More freedom for Jefferson meant less freedom for them.
I don't know a single person who wants government to control every aspect of life. But we should nonetheless be wary of the advocates of "freedom." Who's "freedom"? Theirs or ours?
Name one aspect of your life, one thing you do from the time you get up in the morning until your head hits the pillow at night that the government does not attempt to control, regulate, legislate, tax or otherwise stick it's nose into in some way.
Now.....justify all of that government control piece by piece..
There are a lot of people, including myself who are sort of 'Libertarian-ish".
In that we agree with many of the principals of Libertarianism, but not the whole purist ball of wax.
Mainly for myself, because I don't think a purely Libertarian society is practical in reality as much as it is in theory.
I would consider myself as "Libertarian-ish" too. But I don't identify as "Libertarian". "Center-right" maybe. The extreme anti-government views of some people that are identified as "Libertarian" (i.e. the Koch bros.) are counter-productive and unrealistic. Where I am with the Libertarians 100% is in the area of civil liberties and personal freedom. Here the Libertarians are way ahead of most liberals and conservatives. Though there are some liberals that have a libertarian streak such as members of the ACLU who have been fierce defenders of the freedom of speech for many decades. The late Nat Hentoff is a good example of this group. Also there are many folks who are to the right of center that are strong in this area.
In libertarian society you are only as free as your boss allows you to be.
Ah, the wage slave argument. And this wage slavery is different how under big government oppression? It isn't, you just have more than one master under your own theory. Libertarian society reduces your masters to those you choose to associate with voluntarily, none of whom possess a monopoly on force, violence and the making/enforcing of law.
Now to your wage slave theory. We are all slaves to our hierarchy of needs, first among them being survival. No getting around our need to survive, then for safety, then etc. You can procure for yourself the water, food, shelter, etc that provides that survival (outdoorsman, off-the-grid survivalist, etc) or you can trade for it. Survival is the master, not the people with whom you trade in order to procure the means of survival. On a desert island, there are no bosses, but survival will still be your master. Watch those shows about the lone person living above the Arctic Circle, the 7 day survival deals like Les Miles, etc. No boss, no time cards, no bank accounts, but Master Survival is always there. That's where wage slave theory always gets it wrong. They think the person with the water is your master, when it is your thirst that masters you.
No matter what form of government you have, be it perfect desert island individual liberty or abject totalitarianism, Master Survival demands tribute. Again, you can work for that tribute yourself or you can trade for it. In the libertarian society, you voluntarily trade either your own labor or the fruits thereof for the means of survival. In a totalitarian society, you involuntarily labor to some degree under threat of force/violence, and the trades are made for you ahead of time based on what the controlling power has decided are your survival needs. And all points in between are some sort of shifting on that scale.
I advocate for the society where my labor, my trades and my associations are voluntary and decided by me according to my rational self-interests and needs. You advocate for one where a ruling elite makes all these choices for the masses, takes portions of their labors, taxes their trades and forces their associations and then doles out survival as they see fit in the manner they see fit, under the authority that a monopoly on force and violence have given them.
I like individual liberty models the best. To each their own.
In a libertarian society you are free to be your own boss/owner.
Not if you are living paycheck to paycheck because there are no unions rent controls or other protections that help the working class become the middle or upper class!
Some. Others are conservatives who want the freedom to do drugs and see prostitutes.
LOL, they should just be liberals then lol.
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