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(And the LP never seems to be willing to consider taking one step at a time towards anything, even though that's the only way changes are made in a society that most people are basically happy with.)

You're "basically happy" that between 25% and 40% of your income goes to government of one level or another? Even though U.S. history has demonstrated that a country gets along just fine (is the best country in the world) with less than 10% of a typical person's income going to government at all levels?

You're "basically happy" that the federal government is massively violating the U.S. Constitution?

Why?

I wrote: And the LP never seems to be willing to consider taking one step at a time towards anything, even though that's the only way changes are made in a society that most people are basically happy with.

You replied: You're "basically happy" that between 25% and 40% of your income goes to government of one level or another? Even though U.S. history has demonstrated that a country gets along just fine (is the best country in the world) with less than 10% of a typical person's income going to government at all levels?
Why?

You're putting words in my mouth; I never said that I was happy about any of those things (and, in fact, I am not happy with them).

I said that most people are basically happy with our society, and that is true. They live happy lives, they're prospering, they have a multitude of opportunities. People are not desperate, they are not hungry, they don't feel generally oppressed.

I am opposed to large government, and I have voted for many libertarians in the past (although I will not be doing so again in the foreseeable future). But I am happy with my life. Politics isn't everything, you know.

Populations will not take a chance on sudden change, unless large numbers of people feel strongly that ordinary lives are being massively disrupted. You have to be experiencing desperation to want to live through a revolution.

People will take a chance on small incremental change. They are practical; they are willing to try something out to see how it works.

If you want a libertarian society, try to convince people to make a small change here and a small change there. If they like the result, they may want to try another small step. If they don't like the result, they can undo the change. What people aren't willing to do is to dismantle large parts of our society wholesale until they have direct experience with the institutions that will replace them. And this can only be done step by step.

Societies that have chosen to (or been forced to) make sudden changes have rarely fared well. Look at France in the years after the French Revolution, or Russia after the Communist Revolution.