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Linux-Is-Best OP t1_ivol15r wrote

Reply to comment by Cobrawine66 in 3% of Massachusetts voted for The Green Party by Linux-Is-Best

Libertarians are conservatives on steroids. The fact that they've been growing in popularity in the past has been scary. It's good to see a more progressive alternative gain some ground.

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spitfish t1_ivoolnl wrote

This is a good time to remind everyone of what happened when Libertarians took over Grafton, NH.

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The-Shattering-Light t1_ivpwdk8 wrote

Yeah Libertarianism is an adolescent fantasy that has never succeeded in running a stable and secure society

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BrockVegas t1_ivoscm0 wrote

From my experience, Libertarians are just republicans who don't have the stones to just admit it in current company.

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[deleted] t1_ivpeddm wrote

[deleted]

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BrockVegas t1_ivpezu1 wrote

I just can' t swallow the Laissez-faire take on society that libertarians have. It denies objective reality in favor of warm platitudes.

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SLEEyawnPY t1_ivr5ojc wrote

Right-libertarians have largely made their peace with the idea of a highly authoritarian state. You can have a high degree of economic freedom in a police state, see e.g. Pinochet's Chile. And individual freedoms are a far distant afterthought in their pantheon compared to where property owning & private property rights fall.

That is to say the right-libertarian MO tends to be "To make an omelette you have to break a few eggs", or to have a large degree of economic freedom you still need to have a small and efficient night watchman-type state, whose primary job is (efficiently) performing a disappearing act on undesirables who think right-libertarianism isn't the best way to run things.

>It denies objective reality in favor of warm platitudes.

The last word I would use to describe the right-libertarians I've known is "warm", unless "Kill 'em all, and let God sort them out" qualifies as a "warm platitude."

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jgghn t1_ivoq2vx wrote

Not always. But will agree that ever since the Tea Party the term has been coopted quite a bit. Like when you see a "Libertarian" talking about a strong military and wanting anti-abortion laws.

Just like anarchism there's a spectrum, and participants range from quite left to quite right.

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MoreGuitarPlease t1_ivornzk wrote

I agree with you. It’s too bad that hate has taken over.

As a vet, and an older white guy, I won’t even display my flag anymore. It’s a mark of the facist party now. I can’t beat to be associated with that.

Don’t tread on me is also great in spirit, but if I see that flag now, I know exactly what that person really means that it’s ok for him to tread on whatever he wants.

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jgghn t1_ivourw7 wrote

Exactly. I used to identify as a small-l libertarian and was registered as a capital-L Libertarian. Then I described myself as a "left leaning Libertarian". Then just "left leaning", and now "liberal".

Some of that was because I matured out of the Ayn Rand teenage mentality circle jerk, but most of it was the shifting of the Overton Window in our society & how that term has changed. I still hold opinions that'd make a Progressive cringe and vice versa, but more often than not we'll agree on the same What even if we don't agree on the Why.

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foxhagen t1_ivpkvya wrote

"Democracy In Chains" by Nancy McLean is alllll about the Libertarians. Really good book. And those people can get fucked.

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