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The defining characteristic of a libertarian is non-aggression, as in the non-aggression principle. They are against the initiation of force - if someone is acting peacefully, isn't harming anyone else, and is minding their own business, you leave them alone. Otherwise you're the bad guy.
There's a variation in how closely certain types of libertarians follow that idea, but that's the basis of the libertarian philosophy. It's really not even a political philosophy, but one that applies to all human interaction.
And going to the social issues that also includes using a Federal Agent to force you to pay taxes and then using that money for someone else's abortion. Or sending a US Marshal should you refuse to bake a cake for people of the same gender wishing to publicly celebrate a union.
And going to the social issues that also includes using a Federal Agent to force you to pay taxes and then using that money for someone else's abortion. Or sending a US Marshal should you refuse to bake a cake for people of the same gender wishing to publicly celebrate a union.
Libertarians tend to believe that you should not lose any rights when you start a business. The freedom of association should remain.
People who have read, say, Ayn Rand, do indeed know.
Or Mieses. Or Friedman.
I do think it's true that many people who call themselves libertarians are confused.
Then again, it's possible that many people who call themselves libertarian think that libertarian means whatever they decide it means. I've never been to a Libertarian party convention, but from what I can see, they're quite entertaining. As well as a real life demonstration of why the Libertarian party is not even close to gaining any real political power.
yeah, exactly. I agree with everything you posted.
People who have read, say, Ayn Rand, do indeed know.
Or Mieses. Or Friedman.
I do think it's true that many people who call themselves libertarians are confused.
Then again, it's possible that many people who call themselves libertarian think that libertarian means whatever they decide it means. I've never been to a Libertarian party convention, but from what I can see, they're quite entertaining. As well as a real life demonstration of why the Libertarian party is not even close to gaining any real political power.
Another aspect is that a very large number of libertarians don't really want political power, but just want to spread the philosophy and influence people through ideas. Larken Rose is an anarchist libertarian who compares it to joining the mafia, working your way up to the mob boss, and turning it into a good and honest organization. It's never gonna happen.
I think you can see how a guy like Ron Paul had a huge influence and put libertarianism a bit more on the map, even though he knew he would never actually win the presidency or accomplish anything in Congress. He said so himself in his farewell speech when he retired.
Tom Woods and Jeffrey Tucker are two big libertarian figures who have discussed this topic a lot. Woods even had Judd Weiss (libertarian VP candidate w/ McAfee) on his show to talk about behind the scenes issues within the party.
Weiss said he thinks of the party as a place to quarantine the "bad" libertarians, let them fight with each other and never get anywhere, and then the good ones can just work outside of politics. I thought that was an interesting take.
I used to think of myself as a libertarian; "Keep your hand out of my wallet, and your nose out of my bedroom".
As I matured, and lived through a couple of financial crashes and some health issues, I realized that we need financial and other regulations, so that now makes me a liberal. ...
Whimsy aside, a liberal would have strong faith in the perfectibility of Man, and in our capacity to rationally build powerful institutions that on the whole aim for (and achieve) good, in particular facilitating this perfectibility. A conservative would be skeptical of Man’s nature, regarding it as being intransigent and corrupt. The conservative would deny the efficacy of perfectibility, and would regard institutions aiming towards that end, as being hopelessly myopic and sinister. Instead, the conservative would rely on tradition, religion and community influence to keep people in check. A libertarian splits the difference, regarding both tradition/community and government/institutions with skepticism, figuring that whether an individual is perfectible or incorrigible, regardless, it is better to leave him/her alone, for the proverbial medicine is worse than the disease.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bawac34618
...a lot of conservatives who are liberal on social issues (gay marriage, marijuana, etc) and against authoritarianism will call themselves libertarians to distance themselves from the Republicans who want a theocracy.
Libertarians = pro open borders.
Conservatives = nationalists, pro US culture.
Excellent point. A libertarian would be skeptical of tribalism, in all of its forms - including the nation. A good example would be the pejorative term "granfalloon" on Kurt Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle" - that is, a phony and artificial bond between people, supplanting genuine bonds. Nations matter in the libertarian sense mostly as right-sizing government.... global government would be too invasive, strictly local government too benighted. But by my reckoning, a modern libertarian would proudly wear the label of "globalist", whether in terms of free-trade and the right of business to move jobs/production to wherever profit is maximized, or the free exchange of ideas across borders.
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