Pale Rider
02-19-2007, 12:26 AM
So this is a Libertarian. Is this good or bad?
The World's Shortest
Libertarian FAQ
The web contains numerous resources on the subject of libertarianism, including some very extensive FAQ's that can be pretty daunting for someone who just wants to know the basics. I have therefore created this short FAQ to cover the topics that (in my experience) come up most often when I am talking about libertarianism to the uninitiated:
What the heck is a libertarian?
What's this I hear about "minarchism" and "anarcho-capitalism"?
Why do libertarians sometimes call themselves classical liberals?
What the heck is a libertarian?
I will offer three definitions:
1. The simple definition. A libertarian is someone who, in general, supports government policies that favor individual liberty in all matters, whether economic, personal, or social.
Libertarians are frequently characterized as "conservative on economic issues and liberal on personal issues." That's not a bad definition, but it's kind of like saying vodka is "half screwdriver and half white Russian." It implies that libertarians are being inconsistent, whereas in fact libertarianism is more consistent than either conservatism or liberalism. I prefer to say, "Conservatives are frequently libertarian on economic issues, and liberals are frequently libertarian on personal issues." (I would also say that conservatives are usually authoritarian on personal issues, and liberals are usually authoritarian on economic issues.)
A list of policies that most libertarians support would include: legalization of drugs, legalization of all consensual sexual acts between consenting adults (including sodomy and prostitution), abolition of government censorship in all its forms (including restrictions on pornography), free trade, noninterventionist foreign policy, abolition of rent control, abolition of the minimum wage, abolition of farm and business subsidies, abolition of arts subsidies, privatization of Social Security, abolition of welfare, and drastic reduction of taxes.
For a decent indicator of whether you are a libertarian according to the simple definition, take the World's Shortest Political Quiz.
2. The more complex, philosophical definition. A libertarian is someone who, as a general rule, supports the non-aggression ethic (or as some people call it, the non-aggression axiom, or NGA). The non-aggression ethic holds, to quote David Boaz's Libertarianism: A Primer, that "No one has the right to initiate aggression against the person or property of anyone else."
Two phrases in this statement bear special emphasis. The first is "initiation of aggression." Libertarians strongly support the right of individuals to respond to aggression against them -- i.e., everyone has the right of self defense. What libertarians oppose is the initiation of force (or aggression) against others.
The second important phrase is "no one." Libertarians believe that no means no. People do not acquire the right to initiate aggression against others simply because they are agents of the state, or because they get the majority of people to agree with them. The key issue is not who uses aggression, but rather the purpose for which it is used. Libertarians believe, for the most part, that aggression is only justified if used to limit the initiation of aggression by others.
3. The crass political definition. A Libertarian (note the capital L) is a member of the Libertarian Party, a national political party in the United States. A libertarian and a Libertarian are not necessarily the same thing, but in general, the LP advocates policies that libertarians (small l) are likely to support.
The LP's official Statement of Principles says, "We hold that all individuals have the right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives, and have the right to live in whatever manner they choose, so long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal right of others to live in whatever manner they choose." That's a pretty good statement of the motivating ideal behind libertarianism. Nonetheless, many libertarians decline to support the LP for various reasons, most often the perception that the LP is ineffective or dominated by especially dogmatic libertarians.
http://www.csun.edu/~dgw61315/libFAQ.html
The World's Shortest
Libertarian FAQ
The web contains numerous resources on the subject of libertarianism, including some very extensive FAQ's that can be pretty daunting for someone who just wants to know the basics. I have therefore created this short FAQ to cover the topics that (in my experience) come up most often when I am talking about libertarianism to the uninitiated:
What the heck is a libertarian?
What's this I hear about "minarchism" and "anarcho-capitalism"?
Why do libertarians sometimes call themselves classical liberals?
What the heck is a libertarian?
I will offer three definitions:
1. The simple definition. A libertarian is someone who, in general, supports government policies that favor individual liberty in all matters, whether economic, personal, or social.
Libertarians are frequently characterized as "conservative on economic issues and liberal on personal issues." That's not a bad definition, but it's kind of like saying vodka is "half screwdriver and half white Russian." It implies that libertarians are being inconsistent, whereas in fact libertarianism is more consistent than either conservatism or liberalism. I prefer to say, "Conservatives are frequently libertarian on economic issues, and liberals are frequently libertarian on personal issues." (I would also say that conservatives are usually authoritarian on personal issues, and liberals are usually authoritarian on economic issues.)
A list of policies that most libertarians support would include: legalization of drugs, legalization of all consensual sexual acts between consenting adults (including sodomy and prostitution), abolition of government censorship in all its forms (including restrictions on pornography), free trade, noninterventionist foreign policy, abolition of rent control, abolition of the minimum wage, abolition of farm and business subsidies, abolition of arts subsidies, privatization of Social Security, abolition of welfare, and drastic reduction of taxes.
For a decent indicator of whether you are a libertarian according to the simple definition, take the World's Shortest Political Quiz.
2. The more complex, philosophical definition. A libertarian is someone who, as a general rule, supports the non-aggression ethic (or as some people call it, the non-aggression axiom, or NGA). The non-aggression ethic holds, to quote David Boaz's Libertarianism: A Primer, that "No one has the right to initiate aggression against the person or property of anyone else."
Two phrases in this statement bear special emphasis. The first is "initiation of aggression." Libertarians strongly support the right of individuals to respond to aggression against them -- i.e., everyone has the right of self defense. What libertarians oppose is the initiation of force (or aggression) against others.
The second important phrase is "no one." Libertarians believe that no means no. People do not acquire the right to initiate aggression against others simply because they are agents of the state, or because they get the majority of people to agree with them. The key issue is not who uses aggression, but rather the purpose for which it is used. Libertarians believe, for the most part, that aggression is only justified if used to limit the initiation of aggression by others.
3. The crass political definition. A Libertarian (note the capital L) is a member of the Libertarian Party, a national political party in the United States. A libertarian and a Libertarian are not necessarily the same thing, but in general, the LP advocates policies that libertarians (small l) are likely to support.
The LP's official Statement of Principles says, "We hold that all individuals have the right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives, and have the right to live in whatever manner they choose, so long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal right of others to live in whatever manner they choose." That's a pretty good statement of the motivating ideal behind libertarianism. Nonetheless, many libertarians decline to support the LP for various reasons, most often the perception that the LP is ineffective or dominated by especially dogmatic libertarians.
http://www.csun.edu/~dgw61315/libFAQ.html