Difference between revisions of "Libertarianism"
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==Positions== | ==Positions== | ||
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In the United States, they are closely associated with opposition to gun control, government surveillance, entitlements, and prohibitory drug policy. They also tend to be civil libertarians. While the American Constitution, particularly the enumeration of rights in the first ten amendments (the aptly named Bill of Rights), supports extensive liberty, Libertarians are rare in elected office; cynics have suggested that refusal to provide adequate [[fun:pork | pork]] to their district hurts their chances in legislative elections. The narrow usage of "libertarian" as a label is also a cause, as someone who takes "moderate libertarian" positions is frequently called a "free-market liberal/Democrat" or a "pro-____ rights conservative/Republican." | In the United States, they are closely associated with opposition to gun control, government surveillance, entitlements, and prohibitory drug policy. They also tend to be civil libertarians. While the American Constitution, particularly the enumeration of rights in the first ten amendments (the aptly named Bill of Rights), supports extensive liberty, Libertarians are rare in elected office; cynics have suggested that refusal to provide adequate [[fun:pork | pork]] to their district hurts their chances in legislative elections. The narrow usage of "libertarian" as a label is also a cause, as someone who takes "moderate libertarian" positions is frequently called a "free-market liberal/Democrat" or a "pro-____ rights conservative/Republican." | ||
Revision as of 20:29, 13 December 2007
Libertarianism is a political position which holds that "the government which governs best is the government which governs least". The term was stolen from anarchists, who were the only people referred to as libertarians before the 1970s. They now push themselves as the real libertarians despite hundreds of years of libertarian-socialist history that says otherwise. Libertarians are not anarchists, however; their lack of concern for the community, their belief in capitalism, and their interest in just enough government to protect their wealth contradicts the anarchist philosophy.
Positions
In the United States, they are closely associated with opposition to gun control, government surveillance, entitlements, and prohibitory drug policy. They also tend to be civil libertarians. While the American Constitution, particularly the enumeration of rights in the first ten amendments (the aptly named Bill of Rights), supports extensive liberty, Libertarians are rare in elected office; cynics have suggested that refusal to provide adequate pork to their district hurts their chances in legislative elections. The narrow usage of "libertarian" as a label is also a cause, as someone who takes "moderate libertarian" positions is frequently called a "free-market liberal/Democrat" or a "pro-____ rights conservative/Republican."
Varieties
There is a distinction sometimes drawn between "small-l" and "big-L". Small-l libertarians believe there is a general blanket term for people who believe in minimal governmental interference in peoples' civil rights, while "large-L" refers to members of the United States Libertarian Party, which espouses a strongly laissez-faire, explicitly small-government platform and therefore leans strongly to the right on many economic issues.
When used in a philosophical sense, a libertarian is simply someone who believes in free will.
Quotes
Many political groups are hostile to Libertarianism, below are some quotations:
- "A Libertarian is just a Republican who takes drugs." -- Bob Black.
- "Libertarians secretly worried that ultimately someone will figure out the whole of their political philosophy boils down to "Get Off My Property." News flash: This is not really a big secret to the rest of us." -- John Scalzi[1]
- "He always pictured himself a libertarian, which to my way of thinking means 'I want the liberty to grow rich and you can have the liberty to starve.' It's easy to believe that no one should depend on society for help when you yourself happen not to need such help." -- Isaac Asimov
- "That's libertarians for you - anarchists who want police protection from their slaves." -- Kim Stanley Robinson
Heroes
Libertarians are known to love Ayn Rand, because she tries to justify Libertarian elitism and greed. Also many of them have jelly for brains. [2]
Many of them also spread Ron Paul propaganda on internet forums in order to encourage people to vote for him.
See Also
- Rugged individualism
- Free market
- Anarcho-Capitalism, the real ideology which this page largely describes
References
- ↑ I Hate Your Politics
- ↑ Rumor has it Rand was not especially fond of the "Libertarian" label, but if it quacks like a duck...