Posted on 02/16/2009 9:02:28 AM PST by obamaisandrogynous
The always insightful Rich Karlgaard writes in Forbes.com,
“Libertarians (the capital “L” variety) like to map their belief set by something called the Nolan Chart, a quadrant. One axis on the quadrant divides traditional political liberals and conservatives. The other axis divides those who desire freedom from the state from those who want a bigger state.
Silicon Valley, where I live, is home to both political liberals and conservatives–more liberals of late, but not by a huge margin. The lopsidedness occurs on the freedom-statist divide. An overwhelming majority of Valley residents would place themselves on the freedom side and against the state.
Now comes the reckoning. Obama may be the coolest guy ever to hold the office of U.S. president. He may be the personification of an Apple Mac, iPod and iPhone. But this week Obama proved he is a big-state liberal, through and through.
My Silicon Valley friends who supported Obama are weirdly silent about this. I suspect they are in denial, still hoping for the closet libertarian Obama to emerge. Throughout the 2008 campaign, Silicon Valley Obama voters would tell me that Obama was really an economic centrist. Forget his liberal Senate record and Saul Alinsky-conditioned career as a community organizer. Forget the Chicago-style thug politics. That was in the past. Obama did what he had to do to rise. Once in the Oval Office, Obama will really govern more like John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton or Tony Blair.
Say it enough times, and you can almost believe it. Well, sorry about that, you Obamacons. You just got thrown under the bus.”
(Excerpt) Read more at republicanlibertariancaucus.wordpress.com ...
The Obama administration is the worst in U.S. history. To close the funding gap on his trillion dollar spending spree, Obama is going to tax ’small l’ libertarians into submission. Let’s see how cool they think he is then.
I find it hard to believe that any small “l” libertarian ever thought that Obama was a good thing. The man reeks of “1984” and always has. A mesmerizing demogogue who transfixes crowds and stirs the masses to adulation — yeah, that’s what libertarians have been looking for. Not.
There are so many people under Obama’s bus, it’s now outfitted with “monster” tires to accomodate the ever-increasing number of people thrown under it. It’s crowded under there!!!
And I would find it difficult to believe that this poster would know anything about being a small ‘l’ (or even Big ‘L’) libertarian.
http://www.theagitator.com/2009/02/14/illinois-republican-liberty-caucus-coda/
-—this small “l” libertarian-vulgaro-republo-constitutiono-quasi anarchist wasn’t fooled—
.. irrational thinking. Something many of us do, hoping for the best.
Absolutely futile and usually results in a slap in the face.
Fauxbama's got a ways to go to surpass the ineptitude of Wilson, FDR and Carter. I have every confidence that he can be worse than any of those guys given more time and a sycophantic Congress.
Most of them aren’t really libertarians, they’re fiscal moderates and social liberals who just don’t like to call themselves liberals.
Mike Huckabee, that you?
Yeah well, I’d a never seen THAT coming! DuH!
Yeah, well, welcome to the world of liberals, Silicon Valley: you were PUNK'd by a punk with a Messiah complex.
1970's -- I was a Libertarian. I voted for Libertarian Party candidates. I read the literature. Pro-business, seeking very limited government, hey, legal drugs even sounded OK to me, whose business is it anyway?
1980's -- I was a libertarian. That means I was an anarchist. I supported anarcho-capitalism. You don't need government. Voluntary, non-coercive coalitions can solve just about any problem. Give business free rein and if everyone refuses to pay any taxes, we'll be free from tyranny.
Early 1990's -- I realized that I was about the only anarcho-capitalist I ever met in "libertarian" circles. The rest of the "libertarians" were Communists who were eager to force the general population to live in a non-coercive society. A strong central committe of powerful libertarian overlords would ensure that bad guys were dealt with and freedom maximized as we all marched off the the glorious Workers Paradise!
Uhhhhhhhh. Hang on.
So I became a Republican. Small government is better than Big government. The Constitution is a great document. I pay my taxes and I hope that my government mostly leaves me alone, while dealing (responsibly, I hope) with the disruptive forces in our society.
But as far as I'm concerned, "libertarians" are crypto-Marxists. Members of the Libertarian party are all-together different, but still not my cup of tea.
And I hope to God no Libertarian misreads this and thinks I'm calling him a communist. I've tried to be clear and avoid that misunderstanding.
“Fauxbama”
Never heard that before, but I like it.
Some of what you say concerning 90’s libertarians makes sense. There was an article I came across where a “libertarian” thought that children with down’s syndrome should be aborted for the good of society. I thought this was strange because I assumed libertarians were against these types of statements and judgements; more of live and let live philosophy.
The postings are from two different blogs, holmes. The URL you provided is from the Illinois Republican Libertarian Caucus.
I think you're mistaking "anarchists" (which they aren't) for small "l" libertarians.
The author of this piece blows it even on the definition of the "Nolan Chart". One axis measures Personal Freedom while the other axis is Economic Freedom. Libertarians (big or little "l") score high on both axes, facists/marxists/statists score low on both. Theoretically an "anarchist" would score 100% on both.
But having an ex brother-in-law who is now a self proclaimed "anarchist" but who is really a radical communist and has been for thirty years, I can appreciate some of the confusion.
Especially when leftist scum like Whorealdo Rivera and Bill Mahr declare themselves "libertarian".
They're about as libertarian as Karl Marx.
I must concur. I agree with your interpretation of the actual definition of anarchist; but I also agree that every self-proclaimed anarchist (as well as those from the European and American movements of the 1900-20’s) were Marxists. I think the term is as misunderstood and misused as the term fascist. People think ‘anarchy’ means destruction of the state and status quo...
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