Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Why I'm not a Libertarian
vanity | 08/04/2014 | chuckles

Posted on 08/04/2014 5:37:03 PM PDT by chuckles

I'm 63 years old and in my lifetime, I have been political almost all of it. In my youth, the Viet Nam War was topic one, every day, all day. If you were against the war, you were a Democrat and for the war, a Republican. It was an easy line to see and pretty much lasted through Nixon into the Carter years. During Carter, we were reminded that the economy didn't have to remain bullet proof just because we were Americans. This is where I was intrigued by the fledgling libertarians that had the "pure" economic theory that was almost irrefutable when you had a debate about cause and effect. I was taken for awhile, but then as I dug deeper, I saw flaws, like legalized drugs, a non defense, defense, and a real weakness in the right and wrong God thing. I had watched some of my friends die and go to jail over drugs and I felt if the US wanted to play checkers instead of chess with foreign policy, we would end up with a different flag to salute if we weren't careful. It was the lack of religion that really concerned me though. Many I spoke with were for abortion so the woman could exercise her rights to her own body. I would always retort, "What about the babies rights?" Then it would immediately slide into "If you can kill a baby, you can kill the disabled or mentally deficient." It was about the time DR. Death( or Kevorkian) was big in the news. I had to just call myself a conservative and not libertarian or even a Republican. The moral questions always kept me from going whole hog.

Then the Reagan years and pure bliss for 8 years allowed me to calm down and just make money and raise my family. Bush 41 was weak, but I learned to live with it until Carter. The first drop of the hat and taxes were raised, recession was moving in, and Hillary Care was right in our face. Then Gingrich and the revolution moved in and put Clinton in thumb screws. We had the biggest economic boom I can remember due to Republicans holding just the growth of the government down. It was a living laboratory in front of everyone with what works and what doesn't. Nobody learned a damn thing. Bush 43 came in and we had war, but we also had many years of under 5% unemployment. The war was taxing, but we did mediocre in the money department.

Of course, for whatever reason the wars were unpopular and the libertarians showed up again telling us that everything would be better if we just retreated from Iraq and Afghanistan and came home. Well, here we are, out of both wars and reluctant to pop a cap anywhere.

Obama came in with a bad economy due to Democrats allowing anyone with a pulse to buy a house and Bush got the blame even though he and McCain both had hearings warning of the danger. The average skull full of mush blamed Bush, for whatever reason. They can't really tell you what he did to cause the crash, but hey, he was prez when it happened. Our country was ATTACKED from Afghanistan and Iraq was violating a cease fire for several years when they tried to assassinate Bush 41. Frankly, I don't know what my last straw would be, but trying to kill dad might just be it. We knew he had WMD, had already used them, and was denying inspections for months, even though that was a requirement of the cease fire.

Now there's the history. Today, libertarianism is rearing it's head again, but this time, Young people are coming by the droves and it's scares me. They used to just vote Democrat to legalize dope, you know,......... the most important legislation of all time. Now they hear they will have to pay back the debt and that finally, after 40 years wakes them up to the delima of more food stamps, more debt. But then the old bugaboo comes up of right and wrong. We have already murdered 55 million babies, but now, after 225 years, buggery, is now a right. These mental giants are now saying we have been wrong for thousands of years and misunderstand what God really meant. If you watch any talking head shows, it doesn't really matter what flavor they are, they now smugly proclaim so and so is a bigot or homophobe.

It doesn't matter what channel or what show, it has been settled that gay marriage is coming to America. Just as an example, FNC's Greg Gutfeld is very bright and right on many issues, but he has decided that sodomy is normal, and if you don't like it, get ready to be shunned cursed, and generally ridiculed. He at least isn't against defending America, but he also pushed the legalized drug agenda and apparently thinks it's a right to be hired with drugs in your system, even a cop or fireman. What level of impairment would make "your right" illegal,....no comment.

I will tell you, I'm all with the libertarian economic theory,.....it has been shown to work, for thousands of years. But the reluctance to "get involved" in foreign entanglements, just means the entanglers will be on your shore toot suit. I know the quote from George Washington, but a little more history will show we were fighting the Barbary Pirates almost immediately. The fights with Mexico and Cuba, among others were just because they were close to home, but today, we are a missile away from an attack from almost anyone. You have to stay involved or it will eventually come home to roost. A quick look at ISIS right now shows they are working on a coast to coast Caliphate in the Middle East and eventually, someone in the world will have to do something. Who do you think that will be? As far as I'm concerned, we are, right now, engaged in a perpetual war. It may take several different names with differing players, but make no mistake, the babies born today are raised up to kill the infidel. I don't rejoice when an errant bomb kills women and children, but realistically that's just one less bullet for later. My father knew his bombs from his B-24 were hitting private homes, hospitals and schools, but he knew if he bailed out, there was a good chance a 12 year old would stick a pitchfork in him as soon as he landed in a field.

The younger people that have seen what I've seen, still think they are idealistic and stick to the pure doctrine of libertarianism, but the reality is, wars need to be fought, dope is bad even for the people that don't harm others, and there is such a thing as right and wrong and those morals come from God. If we change morals, what morals will we keep? The morals of Molech and Baal where children were thrown in the fire? The morals of Sodom that was judged by God?

We can cut spending and taxes, and the size of government and agree on a balanced budget and printing money. I just can't embrace a philosophy that has NEVER WORKED.

For those that think it's never been tried, We have a libertarian right now that is allowing the world and the US to disintegrate because he doesn't want to get involved. Just look around and you will see what libertarians have wrought. The drug laws are a mess, and the world is erupting into chaos. The borders are disintegrating and they love it. Nationalism just gets in the way of economics and the adjusting of the wages downward to the lowest common denominator. Just think how grand it would be if we took in the $2 a day people to peel our grapes for us and wash our feet. If Obama would just adhere to their libertarianism in economics. Unfortunately, he is a Keynesian, another failed theory.

There are many libertarians in the Republican party, but that is only because they can't be elected on their own. Rand Paul will draw a percentage from conservatives and cause trouble for real conservatives and sap their money. Make him Treasury Secretary or something, but he will never be president. Right now, the Tea Party is a mixture of libertarians and conservatives. I will vote conservative and pick a candidate out of the Tea Party to do it. Pure libertarianism,.......NOPE!


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Religion; Society
KEYWORDS: democrat; libertarian; libertarians; politics; religion; republican
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100 ... 141-153 next last
To: ansel12

Or you are a fool who can’t understand the argument.


61 posted on 08/04/2014 7:59:30 PM PDT by DManA (mes)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 57 | View Replies]

To: Usagi_yo

You are grossly misinformed as to what the law actually says


Criminal forfeiture is an action brought as a part of the criminal prosecution of a defendant. It is an in personam (against the person) action and requires that the government indict (charge) the property used or derived from the crime along with the defendant. If the jury finds the property forfeitable, the court issues an order of forfeiture.”

The fact that it is misused in the current day says that someone has allowed a law to be overreached and that further court action and congressional action is necessary.

It is the nature of unintended consequences that one set of people living in a time far different than the current one did not mean for the law to be used the way it currently is....e.g. the EPA, the Dept of Education, etc etc etc

It is NOT Reagan’s fault that there are slim buckets misusing a law


62 posted on 08/04/2014 7:59:47 PM PDT by Nifster
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: DiogenesLamp

I think the problem lies with the Ayn Rand followers. Once they flocked to the “libertarian” label, instead of called themselves what they really are (objectivists), a lot of people forgot what the term originally stood for.

Kind of the same way the Marxists tainted the word “liberal”.


63 posted on 08/04/2014 8:04:02 PM PDT by Boogieman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: OneWingedShark
Why not?
Wouldn't this essentially boil down to recognizing that others are their own moral agents and, ultimately, responsible to God?


Not if those "Free moral agents" tried to force their sinfulness onto everyone else by passing laws legalizing the worst of immoral behavior.

Hence your quandary.

Not if you were to consult the Founders, if you could.

They believed in our rights coming from the God described in the Bible.

They furthermore believed in a moral foundation to the culture of the United States as evidenced by their support of laws against Sodomy, Divorce etc. at least at the State level.

They very clearly stated that this governmental system that they had given us was meant to be for Christian nation and if this nation walked away from God it would fail.

Finally, can anyone seriously argue that if the Founders had even the slightest clue that their Progeny would embrace buggery, pervert marriage, and the murder of unborn children that they would not have included amendments to the Constitution forbidding such practices?
64 posted on 08/04/2014 8:04:09 PM PDT by SoConPubbie (Mitt and Obama: They're the same poison, just a different potency)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: ansel12
No, we want laws against abortion and gay marriage etc., not to pass laws accepting such things like you guys have done in the last 50 years.

That's idiotic; here's why:
If the federal government has the authority to define marriage then it has the authority to change that definition. Surrendering that authority to them is a losing proposition.

As for abortion, the reason that it's illegal is precisely because the authority has been surrendered; or do you think that abortion was legal in the majority of States before Roe v. Wade?

Abortion laws in the U.S. before Roe.

Red     Illegal. (30)
Purple  Legal in case of rape (1)
Blue    Legal in case of danger to woman's health (2)
Green   Legal in case of danger to woman's health, rape or incest, or likely damaged fetus (13)
Yellow  Legal on request (4)

That looks a lot better to me than the situation we have today.
65 posted on 08/04/2014 8:05:32 PM PDT by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 52 | View Replies]

To: Nifster

Apparently you just skimmed over my original post. Go reread it please.

In particular PAY ATTENTION to the part where I say Reagan can be forgiven for it because he did called for it in all earnest.

Did you even really read the post? Because reply #1 you didn’t seem to know what you’re talking about and reply #2 you’re all a sudden an expert and assume I know nothing about it. I know plenty.


66 posted on 08/04/2014 8:08:00 PM PDT by Usagi_yo (I don't have a soul, I'm a soul that has a body. -- Unknown)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 62 | View Replies]

To: SoConPubbie; Blueflag
Unless I am misunderstanding your post, you cannot be a social libertarian and a moral conservative Christian.

Those two characteristics cannot co-exist in the same body.

Yeah I was kind of wondering about that myself.

67 posted on 08/04/2014 8:08:04 PM PDT by verga (Conservative, leaning libertarian)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Usagi_yo
I think of all the accusations of treason against Obama on FR, only one comes close and it’s not Benghazi.

IMO Fast & Furious, it's definitionally State Sponsored Terrorism, aids [physically arming and providing legal protections] the cartels which can be considered enemies of the Several States.

68 posted on 08/04/2014 8:08:24 PM PDT by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 56 | View Replies]

To: DManA

Evidently you just don’t know how to respond to the facts, the feds have areas of control that involve federal laws and policies also, such as in the military, employment and immigration.


69 posted on 08/04/2014 8:09:13 PM PDT by ansel12 (LEGAL immigrants, 30 million 1980-2012, continues to remake the nation's electorate for democrats)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 61 | View Replies]

To: OneWingedShark
This is why I'm working for the Tea Party. I'm as disappointed as you are, but I'm not going to sit home. If the social conservatives sit home, what doe you get for Republicans?....Chris Christy? If you send the financial conservative packing, what's left but John MCCain. If you leave the border security people out, what's left but Marco Rubio. We have to build the Republican Party.

The reason I wrote this in the first place was to say I've been here before. The party is splitting right now and we will get Hillary unless we come together. I was there when the "Silent Majority" was born. If someone says they are for Pat Robertson, the squeals and squawks would be horrendous, but do you want to but up with a Christian, or live with Hilary pulling the levers? The Second Amendment folks are as reliable as anyone on the planet. Do you want to "make a deal" with some NE liberal so we can all get along? The libertarians are so pure they can't stand a Christian saying he doesn't want to watch 2 men kissing on TV. Libertarians have been searching for Mr Perfect for 50 years and are still waiting. In the mean time half of them vote Dem so they can burn flags, kill babies, and smoke dope( as long as it doesn't affect someone else, of course).

No I'm not happy with the Republican Party. That's why I'm a conservative, not a Republican. We must work from the inside to build the party and not just toss good voters under a bus. I do agree with Sarah Palin, however. If the party doesn't come together soon, The Tea Party should be hatched. We handed the House to Republicans, and gains in the Senate, and then got NO committee chairs as the Tea Party. That was bad enough, but now we have Rove and others that treat the Tea Party like Democrats. I'm not optimistic. How many establishment Repubs would vote Tea Party to save the country? Makes me shiver. Libertarians must choose either economics or social issues. If you speak to the average college libertarian, they are voting for legal dope over almost all other issues. They pay no taxes and many have no job. They vote for gay marriage, dope and abortion over any economic reason. Sometimes the vote Dem just because us old farts vote Rep. It would e interesting to have an accurate poll on Rand Paul on FR. I bet he wouldn't get 15%, but they will hang there to the bitter end.

70 posted on 08/04/2014 8:09:26 PM PDT by chuckles
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]

To: OneWingedShark

At the federal level, marriage issues and abortion also have to be decided on, for instance in the military, federal employment and immigration and foreign policy.

Never support a social liberal, non God fearing candidate at ANY level of office, because not only will he be pushing left wing social politics, but he might someday reach the Congress, or Senate, or Presidency and be making federal policy.


71 posted on 08/04/2014 8:11:48 PM PDT by ansel12 (LEGAL immigrants, 30 million 1980-2012, continues to remake the nation's electorate for democrats)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 65 | View Replies]

To: ansel12

It is this fact that makes me oppose you big government “conservatives”.


72 posted on 08/04/2014 8:12:55 PM PDT by DManA (mes)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 69 | View Replies]

To: ansel12

We could announce our support for reducing the federal government size and cost by 95% but if we want controls on immigration, drugs, abortion and gay marriage we are “big government” socialists.

Meanwhile real socialists who give way on drugs receive the whole-hearted support from libertarians. You can see the Democrat-libertarian coalition being shown off in Colorado, Washington State and others.

“Brave New World” is the model.


73 posted on 08/04/2014 8:16:37 PM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 69 | View Replies]

To: chuckles

It seemed to me that you were representing that he was adopting a libertarian approach, and, by the way, things are going to hell, therefore, libertarianism is flawed. But he’s doing almost nothing that libertarians would do, so that argument isn’t a good one.


74 posted on 08/04/2014 8:20:27 PM PDT by coloradan (The US has become a banana republic, except without the bananas - or the republic.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: SoConPubbie
Not if those "Free moral agents" tried to force their sinfulness onto everyone else by passing laws legalizing the worst of immoral behavior.

The law does not, and cannot, save; it only condemns.

(Gal 3:19-29)
19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring[i] would come to whom the promise had been made; and it was ordained through angels by a mediator. 20 Now a mediator involves more than one party; but God is one.

21 Is the law then opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could make alive, then righteousness would indeed come through the law. 22 But the scripture has imprisoned all things under the power of sin, so that what was promised through faith in Jesus Christ[j] might be given to those who believe.

23 Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. 27 As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring,[k] heirs according to the promise.

If you are trying to make people righteous via the law then you are doomed to failure; what you need is the power of God unto salvation, Jesus Christ — it is only He who will change hearts.


Leaving that aside for a moment though, by what authority under the Constitution would you have law produced?
Remember that the Constitution was made with a mind to limit the federal government, and by amendment 10 nothing that is not explicitly under the purview of the federal government by the Constitution is to be under either the States or the people.

By asserting that these problems are federal in nature you are asserting that the servant [fedgov] is greate than the master [the states/people].

75 posted on 08/04/2014 8:21:00 PM PDT by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: SoConPubbie
They furthermore believed in a moral foundation to the culture of the United States as evidenced by their support of laws against Sodomy, Divorce etc. at least at the State level.

We are talking about the federal level; right? (At least I was.)

76 posted on 08/04/2014 8:22:02 PM PDT by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: DManA
Let me give you a pop quiz.

If you had to choose one or the other, would you choose legal dope or a 2% tax cut?

77 posted on 08/04/2014 8:22:58 PM PDT by chuckles
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 72 | View Replies]

To: OneWingedShark


No, not at all.

However, God established via the Law in the Old Testament what type of laws a righteous nation should have.

Jesus, in the New Testament stated he had not come to do away with the law, but far from it, he came to establish the law in Men's hearts.

At no place does it state in the New Testament that there are to be no laws supporting the morality of the Bible.

That is primarily a Libertarian construct, not a Christian construct.
78 posted on 08/04/2014 8:23:57 PM PDT by SoConPubbie (Mitt and Obama: They're the same poison, just a different potency)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 75 | View Replies]

To: OneWingedShark
If you are trying to make people righteous via the law then you are doomed to failure; what you need is the “power of God unto salvation”, Jesus Christ — it is only He who will change hearts.

No, not at all.

However, God established via the Law in the Old Testament what type of laws a righteous nation should have.

Jesus, in the New Testament stated he had not come to do away with the law, but far from it, he came to establish the law in Men's hearts.

At no place does it state in the New Testament that there are to be no laws supporting the morality of the Bible.

That is primarily a Libertarian construct, not a Christian construct.
79 posted on 08/04/2014 8:24:10 PM PDT by SoConPubbie (Mitt and Obama: They're the same poison, just a different potency)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 75 | View Replies]

To: OneWingedShark
We are talking about the federal level; right? (At least I was.)

Primarily, however, like I posted previously on this thread, anyone doubting that the Founders would have included Amendments to the Federal constitution outlawing Gay Marriage and Abortion if they knew that their Progeny would be supporting the murder of children and buggery and Gay Marriage, really doesn't know or understand the Founders and their firm Commitment to God.
80 posted on 08/04/2014 8:26:13 PM PDT by SoConPubbie (Mitt and Obama: They're the same poison, just a different potency)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 76 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100 ... 141-153 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson