Libertarian folly: why everybody is a social-issues voter

Renew America ^ | 8-9-14 | Selwyn Duke

[a fool in paradise]

If social issues are losing propositions and the government should have no say in such matters why do public votes against same sex marriage do so well among voters of all political parties and why are Democrats pushing their views on social agenda items so hard?

Those who say “social issues are losers are the ballot box” need to prove it. Perhaps they mean certain views on social issues are losing bets but even then they’d be wrong.

[PapaBear3625]

Looking at one group, black voters vote economics well over social issues. Even the most “socially conservative” black voter will vote for the party of affirmative action and welfare, despite it being the party of abortion and gays.

[GeronL]

Isn’t lowering taxes also a moral social issue? Because confiscatory taxes are theft and that is immoral. Every issue is like that.

BTW- already posted

[mountainlion]

Libertarians would be for small to no government so why and where would these social issues of any interest to a libertarian?

[oldbrowser]

There are laws where this is obvious and unquestioned, such as the prohibition against murder. But the same holds true even when the connection to morality isn't so obvious, such as with speed laws: they're justified by the idea that it is wrong to endanger others.

It seems to me that it is a matter of degrees. Many things carried to their logical extreme are nonsensical.

At total liberty you might have murder and pedophilia at the one end and at the other you might have women required to wear burkas and forbidden from leaving the home.

There is a range of behavior that is normal for a culture. That range is defined by the culture and reflected in their laws. It is not the law that creates the culture, it is the culture that creates the laws.

The culture is usually influenced by tradition, religious and other leaders and by celebrities.
Right now in this country religious leaders are AWOL and Hollywood types and leftists of all stripe are running amok.

Libertarians would be those that prefer that they be left alone to live within the normal range of the culture without people pushing for either extreme.

[ConservingFreedom]

Duplicate post: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3190039/posts

[kearnyirish2]

Blacks overwhelmingly vote for Dems even when their lot in life deteriorates as far as it has on the welfare reservations since Obama’s election; definitely among the most short-sighted of voting blocs. Immediate gratification in exchange for a death toll among “civilians” that would be news 24/7 if it were happening in white neighborhoods (heck, even dead Ukrainians get more air-time). Hope it worth the endless stream of funerals...

[C. Edmund Wright]

Isn’t lowering taxes also a moral social issue? Because confiscatory taxes are theft and that is immoral. Every issue is like that.

YES YES YES!!!!!…in fact, ALL government growth is immoral, because it's the theft of money, freedoms, liberty, business opps, etc. I get REALLY angry when people refuse to realize that "taxes and the economy and liberty" ARE moral issues….especially when they play the "mammon" card, which a LOT of Freepers do sadly.

[C. Edmund Wright]

At total liberty you might have murder and pedophilia at the one end and at the other you might have women required to wear burkas and forbidden from leaving the home.

Sorry, but you are confusing "liberty" with "license / chaos." Yes, some libertarians do too - but words mean things. Liberty cannot happen in chaos. That's just mob rule and survival of the fittest. Liberty would protect the rights of those who choose NOT to be murdered or raped.

Your two extremes are NOT a linear continuum - but rather a perpendicular tangent.

[OneWingedShark]

Libertarians would be for small to no government so why and where would these social issues of any interest to a libertarian?

A very good question.
Another question is this: would having a strong libertarian presence in the federal government be a good thing or a bad thing? Especially when you consider their bent towards small-government. (It is certainly more in-line with the spirit in the Bill of Rights than the current Statists occupying government.)

[ansel12]

Libertarians would be for small to no government so why and where would these social issues of any interest to a libertarian?

Because in real life, social liberalism creates and produce, and imports voters that make small government impossible, what do you think happened to America?

[ReformationFan]

Exactly. The socialists/communists have a big investment in making certain social liberalism expands because along with it the government expands.

[RKBA Democrat]

So we have an author who is trying to tar libertarians with acceptance of pedophelia.

I guess that sort of thing plays well amongst the libertyphobes. But let’s not stop there. Let’s bring in cannibalism, necrophilia, and bestiality into it as well.

If you’re going to go to lunatic extremes in smearing people, go all the way.

[Responsibility2nd]

Last time I looked, the original thread was over 200 replies. And no sign of slowing down.

[Responsibility2nd]

Yep. Like drugs for instance.

[highball]

why do public votes against same sex marriage do so well among voters of all political parties

Simple answer: they don't.

Quite the contrary; we've lost the last four public votes on the subject, and even in conservative states the public is split 50/50. Not to mention that the votes we won before that were at sharply and steadily declining rates over the past decade. We've also lost young conservatives, who now favor gay marriage at staggering rates.

This is the problem I have; we spend so much time talking to each other and reinforcing our beliefs that we don't realize when we've lost the country as a whole.

If we can't face reality we have no hope of changing it.

[muir_redwoods]

Any social issue such as pedophilia or beastiality would be anathema to libertarians because they both proceed without the consent of one of the parties. This writer has simply redefined several constitutional issues as social issues and then claimed we are all really social issue voters.

[tophat9000]

The thing is Libertarians ARE getting the government involved in social issues and in an authoritarian progressive manner. Gay marriage is one where the government has become particularly fascistic in imposing this on the people and the Libertarians party cheered it on...the true pure libertarian position on marriage would of be having the government not involved in any marriage even straight marriage ...Gay marriage was an expansion (not contraction) of government involvement in people's life

[ReformationFan]

Exactly. Where are the libertarians coming forward to defend the photographers, bakers, and other business owners who simply wish to enjoy the 1st Amendment right NOT to participate in activities they find abhorrent. Will they stand up for the religious freedom of churches NOT to participate in or endorse these sinful activities?