[Small-L]

Let's not get carried away on generalizations:

libertarian (small-l) = people who generally favor free market economic solutions; individual responsibility, both positive and negative; minimum government intervention in personal, private, and business affairs; government restricted to the roles of protecting life, liberty, and property of individuals.

Libertarian (big-L) = a set of nutcases who have taken the above and interpreted it to include anarchy, unlimited access to drugs, totally open borders, and a non-agression foreign policy, and who have little or no hope of being elected.

Republican (big-R) = a group of politicians committed to maintaining the status quo and their own gravy train by huge deficits; unlimited earmark spending; massive growth in government; payoffs to campaign contributors by manipulating the tax code, trade policies, and government contracts; and an interventionist foreign policy to divert attention from the fact that the nation is going bankrupt because of their fiscal largess.

republicans (Small-r) = the legions of myrmidons who follow the Big-Rs simply because of the R after their name, and who lack the willingness or intelligence to question the policies of the Big-Rs, even though they are being played for suckers.

[jjm2111]

Newsflash to all the bots and GOP kool-aid drinkers: WHEN IN POWER WITH BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENCY, THE GOP DID NOTHING TO REDUCE THE SIZE AND SCOPE OF GOVERNMENT!!!!!

Instead we got CFR, Sarbanes-Oxley, No-Child-Left-Behind, amnesty for illegals, massive amounts of pork, etc. etc. If the GOP is going to act like Democrats, let's at least get the real thing.

[Preachin']

"But the relationship today seems more deeply strained than any time in the last 30 years, and a divorce may be forthcoming."

Good. Don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya.

Can I pitch in a couple of suitcases?

[JWinNC]

"Basically, libertarians are allied with the right on economic issues and the left on everything else."

Wow. I didn't know that libertarians were for:

bigger, more intrusive government
gun-control
affirmative action
expansive government "healthcare"
abortion funding
activist courts and judges
embryonic stem cell research funding
government monopoly schools
Nanny-state control over environmental issues (and everything else)
Social Security
invasive use of eminent domain
etc., etc., etc....

jw

[Sunsong]

With the passing of the older generation of Republican leaders who were at least sympathetic to the libertarian message, a new generation of Puritans have taken over the party. They seem to want nothing more than to impose Draconian new laws against drugs, gambling, pornography and other alleged vices. The new Republican Puritans don't trust people or believe that they have the right to do as they please as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. They want the government to impose itself on peoples' lives and deny them freedom of choice

There it is.

[Psycho_Bunny]

Libertarians are Anarchists who bathe.

[the OlLine Rebel]

"Basically, libertarians are allied with the right on economic issues and the left on everything else."


I don't think this is correct at all. Libertarians only side with the Left definitely on "drug freedom", and possibly also abortion freedom (not clear) and definitely porn freedom.

However, typical leftist !$#@$!# like making everyone wear seat belts and helmets and making kids wear suits of armor when playing is NOT a Libertarian bent.

[x]

Consequently, when I first became acquainted with libertarianism, most libertarians tended to associate with those on the left, where they had more in common. But with the end of the Vietnam War and the huge rise of inflation and other economic problems in the 1970s, libertarians mostly tended to drift rightward.

Those early libertarians may have associated with those on the left -- the right probably didn't want to be around them -- but a lot of early libertarians, like Karl Hess and Murray Rothbard actually came from what one would have to call the right wing.

[My2Cents]

I think it would be a helpful to discuss whether libertarianism should even be considered a branch of conservatism. Say what you will about the high-minded goals of libertarianism, but my observation of most living breathing self-identified libertarians on this board leads me to conclude that many are souless amoral narcissists who want government out of their faces so they won't have to pay taxes, can indulge in their pot habit, and consort with prostitutes without fear of government interference. Most I've seen here have no sense of civil responsibility, and are down on the concept of civic virtue. They're impractical and selfish, and, frankly, I'm tired of hearing them each election cycle threatening to boycott the Republican candidate. They should make good on their threat and take a hike. We'll muddle through without them.

[MEGoody]

So go already. They've been threatening this for awhile. As they say in the Nike ads, just do it!

[Triple]

"Basically, libertarians are allied with the right on economic issues and the left on everything else" - author

Hard to recover from such a flawed view, no surprise - this author did not.

(see gun control for example)

[Triple]

"Basically, libertarians are allied with the right on economic issues and the left on everything else" - author

Hard to recover from such a flawed view, no surprise - this author did not.

(see gun control for example)

[JHBowden]

Libertarians share more with socialists at the philosophical level than is commonly assumed. I read a barfer conversion story on DU the other day about a libertarian reading Zinn and Chomsky and converting to socialism. This can happen more easily than one might think.

Libertarians are like socialists in that they believe people are good, and society makes them bad. Except instead of capitalism, the family, law enforcement, and the military corrupting man, they blame government, the family, law enforcement, and the military for corrupting man.

So on law and order issues, on family issues, and war and peace issues, the libertarians will inevitably find themselves closer to the democrats.

Conservatives and classical liberals reject libertarianism and socialism because they each see man as an imperfect being, and build their respective political philosophies using this assumption. As James Madison put it, if men were angels, no government would be necessary.