Making Libertarianism Work

[WI Crippler]

Any one who has been here awhile knows I have a certain fascination with libertarians. Simply put, they make no sense to me on almost any issue......

One thought I had about this, is that you need to make sure that you are listening to, and interacting with the right kind of libertarians. Its easy to take the extreme ends of a philosophy and apply it to the entire philosophy. Like socialism, social conservatism, neo-conservatism, fascism, etc.... there are arguments to be made, and perspectives to consider. Most of the time its not the ideas that would negatively impact your opinion(because you are someone who listens), but its the communication disconnect by those who are unable to justify their positions in a thoughtful concise manner. Its as though people take offense to alternate ideology, and they start either playing defense or going on the offensive, rather than listening to each other.

In short, if a position is put forth in an idiotic manner, consider the source rather than the ideology itself.

 

[Goshin]

I'm not a full-on libertarian, though I've always been intrested in the philosophy.

Practically, I don't see libertarians being elected in any significant numbers anytime in the foreseeable future.

What I do see, is the presence of libertarian candidates, and the discussion of libertarian ideas and ideals, as a counterbalance to the tendency of both primary parties to be excessively statist, IMO.

Also you mention deregulation of firearms. Do you mean completely, or where does the line get drawn?

As I've said before:

Small arms suitable for self-defense, militia infantry service, sporting purposes, or other lawful purposes; small arms being defined as weapons capable of being carried and operated by one person, and not exclusively designed for indiscriminate mass destruction.

The exact wording might need a little tweaking to make it legally air-tight. I've long figured that an M-16 is fine, a light machine gun is perhaps borderline; and RPG's, grenade launchers and small mortars are arguably out, as their explosive effects are perhaps too indiscriminate.

 

[samsmart]

I'm not a full-on libertarian, though I've always been intrested in the philosophy.

Practically, I don't see libertarians being elected in any significant numbers anytime in the foreseeable future.

What I do see, is the presence of libertarian candidates, and the discussion of libertarian ideas and ideals, as a counterbalance to the tendency of both primary parties to be excessively statist, IMO.

That's my position as well. While I do believe that the government does and should have the power to regulate industries and even nationalize certain industries, I think that there are some industries and areas that the government has no business interfering in. Because I like it when differing political factions maintain a balance of power by conflicting with each other, I'd prefer it if some libertarian candidates made it to Congress just to represent those Americans who are libertarian, and to balance against statists of other philosophies.