Self-described libertarians have been explaining to me on Facebook how my criticism of a Supreme Court ruling that puts the most powerful government official in the world above the law is proof that I'm no longer a libertarian.
I forget who said it (possibly the existential comics guy) but someone said "libertarians are just authoritarians who haven't found a preferred dictator yet"
That’s always been mine: libertarians are just Republicans who like weed. They purport to stand outside of the party system but, when it’s time to put an X in a box, they always seem to find comfort with the Republican candidate.
Or they used to be, anyway. I think more and more those guys are just like “wait a minute, I’m rich and white, why am I trying to pretend sociopathy isn’t more fun for people like me?” and go full scale MAGA
As something of a libertarian, these comments make me angry and depressed. A lot of us libertarians just think "It ain't nobody else's business" is an excellent first approximation guideline for government and society. But I can't stop all those other assholes from calling themselves libertarians.
I think part of it is that when formerly powerful groups lose control of the government--men to women, whites to other races, straights to gays--a philosophy of less powerful government starts look pretty good to some former authoritarian types.
"the government shouldn't be able to stop me from being racist/a pedophile/etc. I guess I'm a libertarian
Oh wait, we're in power now? Death to all who would have stopped me!"
That's the flip side of it. I think a lot of rebels are authoritarians who are rebelling not in support of a cause, but because they are not the ones in control. They are authoritarians trying to seize power.
Yeah, thanks. At one time, we would have just called ourselves "liberal," but that term has changed meaning over the decades, so some of us call ourselves classical liberals. But that seems so vague. No good answer, really.
And the thing is, even as a leftie, I’m all for real libertarians! I actually agree with them on some things! Their voices should be heard! But it seems way too many self-professed libertarians these days are just “everything republicans want, plus weed,” which, as a platform, is beyond useless
I come to libertarianism from the left of the '60s - and '70s: Free speech, sex positive, legalize drugs, don't be racist, be tolerant of alternate sexualities, etc. plus economic freedom. So folks like the "I'm a libertarian but we have to stop groomers" people just seem deranged.
The overlap is real. The actually cool libertarians represent a pretty strong overlap with progressives on wars, cops/CJ reform, and drug prohibition. My dream coalition involves lefties and libertarians building out the movement to end the drug war to the point where it's got electoral sway.
I think the problem is most of the "just leave us alone" libertarians are trying to do just that, leaving assholes to bray and scream and cede power to authoritarians.
On one hand, the government stays out of my business, but also there needs to be regulations to keep peoples hands out of my food.
There are very few problems that “the market” can correct. As I often point out, it took the government to end child labor, as we can see by the push today to cripple government so it can be brought back.
Disagree that it's "very few," but the market can only solve problems that the market can solve, and there are many problems that the market can't solve or that it will not solve before unacceptable damage has been done.
I can’t think of a problem that’s solved by the market that isn’t more effectively and efficiently solved by regulation, but that may be a paucity of imagination on my part. Got any suggestions?
It's really just the Two Beliefs:
(1) You can't tell me what to do
(2) I can tell you what to do
"Libertarians" are, in my experience, very often people who say the first part really loud and may not even notice how much they believe the second.
