Posted on 11/07/2007 9:35:46 AM PST by tang0r
Yes, under libertarianism the world is free of authoritarian bitching. However, there’s no such thing as “under libertarianism,” and there never will be, for one simple reason: pure libertarian economics are galaxies away from the American mainstream. Although many Americans—especially the young folks—are receptive to the live-and-let-live philosophy (“do whatever you want as long as you don’t harm anyone else”), the vast majority find hardcore social Darwinism ludicrous. If libertarians want to extend their reach beyond the stoner ghetto, they must accept the fact that civil rights are far more vital than sparing billionaires from inheritance taxes.
(Excerpt) Read more at prometheusinstitute.net ...
I am a social libertarian, but a conservative of foreign policy, hence, conservatarian. Libertarians aren’t taken seriously because they are not interested in defeating islamofascism.
a larryeldertarian?
I agree with Larry about 80 to 90% of the time. I like Larry, I wish he would run for the Senate in California.
I think The Libertarian party would have more general appeal to Americans (who I think are natually libertarian in many outlooks) if it was not so focused on ‘pot for everyone’ and ‘isolationism for America’.
Well, here we go again, time to drum up the usual Libertarian stereotypes, ad-hominem remarks, and the obligatory marijuana pic.
think Ron Paul
Libertarians aren’t taken seriously because they oppose big government and thus very few want to run. This causes very few of their messages to make it to mainstream and only the outrageous ones, ie: drugs and isolationism, make it to the mainstream.
LOL
Question for the class: Why do so many libertarians work for government agencies at various levels?
How about...Armed liberals that don’t want to pay taxes?
The Libertarian Party can’t overcome its own built in destructive mechanisms, any more than the Confederacy could do so during the Civil War, when it was fighting for its existence.
The problem isn’t the ideas, the problem is the hardcore libertarian base won’t acknowledge its inherent flaws as it applies to the average voters as a whole. When its suggested, they behave as if you’ve asked them to renounce ‘God’.
Too many self professed Libertarians would rather ‘die of a theory’ than make realistic adjustments to policy and political stance that would allow a successful national campaign.
Perot, warts and all, demonstrated conclusively a third party candidate, if rational and running on a common sense platform, can indeed be successful. That he managed to accomplish more in basically one calendar year politically than the LP has in its entire existence speaks volumes.
Ron Paul killed the Internet.
Sure, there are kooks who self-describe as libertarians. Certainly the Libertarian Party has a large kook fringe, but the kook percentage in the LP is no larger than that of Democrat Party. If you combine the percentage of crooks and egregious hypocrits with the kooks of the Republican Party, it’s comparable with the LP as well.
I know that’s argument by assertion. I don’t have any data to substantiate my assertions, but the argument in the foregoing paragraph is no less specious than Marty Beckerman’s criticism of libertarianism.
But I agree with Beckerman that “pure libertarian economics are galaxies away from the American mainstream”. Americans want their welfare checks, free medical treatment, free childcare (pre-K to graduate school), subsidies, prohibitions and national preeminence more than they want their liberty.
Fun rant. I didn’t like how he lumped in the Old Right, which actually enjoyed political successes, with libertarianism.
Agreed, although the 'pot for everyone' stereotype is a bit off-base: hyped by WOsD dogmatists in both major parties. The 'isolationism for America' view, however, is a deal-breaker, and the major reason why I could never support Ron Paul for any office.
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.