Discussion: Pew: What If The Libertarian Movement Doesn't Really Exist?

system1 · August 25, 2014, 5:31pm

Discussion for article #226835

shmoople · August 25, 2014, 6:30pm

Libertarians don’t understand what their supposed ideology entails and/or they’re full of shit? Well slap my ass and call me Sally.

austin_dave · August 25, 2014, 6:38pm

All the libertarians I know just want certain things legal that are currently illegal. None of them wants the Government out of my life, just theirs.

otterqueen · August 25, 2014, 6:39pm

spank There ya go, Sally.

I’ve often wondered if a lot of people who consider themselves libertarian do so because of one leg of the platform (i.e. legalization of pot) or even a few, without any understanding of what the entire platform actually is. This poll seems to confirm that.

I get tired of arguing with self-described libertarians who claim I dislike it because I don’t know what it is. Well, I have a pretty good idea. And I could do quite well in a truly libertarian country. But I still think it’s crap.

chris_b · August 25, 2014, 6:40pm

Of course it doesn’t exist. I’ve been saying this for years now. Libertarians are simply Republicans who are embarrassed to associate themselves with the GOP. So they opt for the libertarian label. Plus they think it makes them sound much smarter and more serious.

Ask anyone of your friends who claim to be “libertarian” who they voted for in the last 5 presidential elections and 80% will say GOP.

If you vote Republican, you’re Republican. Easy, breezy.

austin_dave · August 25, 2014, 6:44pm

I invite self-described Libertarians to see the the government-free paradise that is Lagos, Nigeria.

It’s spectacularly lawless and structureless.

antisachetdethe · August 25, 2014, 6:46pm

Today’s Libertarians, in the ronpaul and randpaul model, are yesterday’s John Birchers.

chris_b · August 25, 2014, 6:46pm

Another point worth mentioning, Randy Paul is not a libertarian. Not even close. Equating him to the movement is pointless.

This article mentions his filibuster of U.S. drone policy. But his stance on using drones is exactly the same stance President Obama has. Dare we call Obama’s policy libertarian? Never.

Likewise, Paul’s op-ed the other day about Ferguson (which I applaud) is almost identical to the president’s stance as well. But put Obama’s name at the end of that letter and it becomes liberal, tree hugging, hippie, America-hating trash from an illegitimate president that just wants the Black Panthers to issue Sharia Law in America.

wrightwingnut · August 25, 2014, 6:46pm

I’m guessing the Birchers and Klansmen are “Libertarian”.

teenlaqueefa · August 25, 2014, 6:47pm

All the libertarians I know are either/and potheads, gun nuts, or embarrassed former enthusiastic Bush supporters.

Edit: Oh, and Randish teens.

antisachetdethe · August 25, 2014, 6:47pm

Great minds and all that.

joefromlowell · August 25, 2014, 6:50pm

I think this is the year that libertarianism really breaks through.

Also, this is the year that American Jews start voting for the Republicans to reward them for being more hawkish on Israel.

Yup, 2002 is really shaping up to be a turning point.

365daysofhorror · August 25, 2014, 6:51pm

Let’s all ask the successful Libertarian governments if it really exists.

gr · August 25, 2014, 6:55pm

I’ve tried to get my arms and head around the libertarian “philosophy” more than once, but with little success.

It wasn’t until I heard someone point out that no country – none, at least in the western world – uses libertarian principles to shape its economy or its laws.

Here, we use it to rationalize corporate depredations.

That is as ye need to know about that “philosophy”.

magical_panda · August 25, 2014, 6:56pm

Hahaha, just as we suspected.
There is no such thing as libertarianism. They’re just Republicans*.

*with a “I’m better than you because I’m ‘independent’” complex.

gr · August 25, 2014, 6:56pm

dave,

And don’t forget Somalia.

autographedcat · August 25, 2014, 6:56pm

A friend once described American libertarianism as “the political expression of borderline autism.”

Most of the time, if you press people who call themselves Libertarians to define their views, it boils down to “All those things that I don’t like? I’m against that.”

iann · August 25, 2014, 6:57pm

So they are all over the place and contradict themselves. How about calling them muddle heads.

teenlaqueefa · August 25, 2014, 6:59pm

When you look up “Libertarian” in wikipedia there is an amazingly confusing array of different types. I wasn’t really surprised.

ryp · August 25, 2014, 6:59pm

For Republicans enamored with it, Libertarianism is just another variation on “screw you, I’ve got mine” conservatism, for a smaller group of mostly young males it’s just a current version of the anti-establishment, “do your own thing” ethos of the 60s. There may be a few thousand Reason readers who can define it more completely, but they would be a minority within a minority.