I finally realized why I don't call myself a libertarian

  • Thread starter Thread starter Cyan Connect
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What do you mean when you say the vast majority of libertarians you spoken to are monumental assholes?
 
Then I suppose it's no wonder that you don't call yourself one.

Thanks for the thread!
 
This is truth.

I'm a social moderate and fiscal conservative -- I should be a good constituent for the libertarians, but I have the same experience with the asshole libertarians
 
Bam. This is exactly how I feel. There are very many good libertarian economic ideals, but then they get their balls all tied up because the gov't says they can't discriminate against black people and its like
 
I wish I had a computer handy, I'd love to make an elaboration on red's observational psychology (which has been studied extensively). Maybe another time
 
Well of course not, I'm generalizing with the best of them today. The last time I brought up pragmatism, jas0n caught wind of it and had a hissyfit
 
I've been wondering -- red, what the hell do you do for a living? I can't imagine you're just another 9-5er.
 
There's a massive overlap between my general attitudes and common libertarian attitudes. You'd think I'd adopt the term just for the sake of ease of approximation. Everyone's definition varies anyways.
 
I think most economists generally agree with that position, but I would be careful about using the word "protectionism". The way you're using it, my guess would be you support "protectionism" in cases where only an institution like a government or central bank can correct market failures. But the way protectionism, as I understand it, is normally used is in reference to protecting certain groups via tariffs, price controls and the like. I'd wager most of us (and most economists, from Krugman to Friedman and every Jew between) are against such policies.

Edit - I just read red's quoting of your posts and I guess you are for actual protectionism. So never mind. lolz
 
Having said that, do you mean they are esposing too much of a "pull yourselves up by your bootstraps" philosophy in an arrogant fashion?
 
No, he means it in an anti-free trade way. He's been needling me to find out if I agree for several pages. See above.
 
Well, I'm a research assistant, at the moment

I've been a software engineer for many years, but I could never manage to finish my degree while working full time, so about a year ago I quit, moved across the country, and went back to school full time.
 
big difference is that most libertarians see SOME role for the government, just a vastly reduced one from where things stand today. "Anti-statist anarcho-capitalists" are to the libertarian movement as the far left and far right are to their respective liberal/conservative movements.

Extremists exist in every movement, anarcho-capitalists are our extremists.
 
Most of the Libertarians I know, including myself, believe that many of the government policies limit upward mobility for the poor. We believe in free policies not to spite the poor, but rather for their benefit. We also do not believe that America as a nation would allow the poor to starve in the streets if there was no government intervention.
 
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