Politics
Out of context: Reply #12526
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- luckyorphan0
I was rightly called out earlier by deathboy for my jab at the libertarian platform:
"define what is the libertarian setup your talking about and then say whats misguided. be interesting."
That's a fair note. Allow me to elaborate:
On one hand, I applaud the libertarian value of individual liberty as a core political ethic. Individual liberty is one of the central tenets that led to the creation and preservation of modern democracy.
However, I find that the general libertarian outlook is to apply that concept of liberty so far as to absolve the individual of any responsibility to a larger community, be it local, national or global.
For instance, in terms of foreign policy, libertarians generally promote non-intervention. In other words, citizens should not be concerned beyond academic interest about what happens outside of the borders of this nation. If there is a despot killing millions of people, the libertarian stance is to not intervene whatsoever, until there is a direct threat to the nation.
We've seen recently how this overarching concept of absolute freedom can lead to the acceptance of discriminatory and racist behavior. The libertarian response to such mob rule or minority abuse would be to simply allow the chips to fall as they may.
I don't understand the libertarian stance on war, either. The general libertarian stance is that gov't can do no right. However, when it comes to war, libertarians seem to think that gov't can execute that just fine. Combine that with a non-interventionist foreign policy, and it's a head-scratcher.
But the Libertarian position is not all wrong. The Libertarian Party position on drugs is to repeal prohibition altogether—a stance that is at least consistent with individual liberty. They also were among the loudest critics of the USA Patriot Act.
I hope this explains where I'm coming from, deathboy. Please let me know if I got anything wrong.
- And feel free to respond in kind—unlike Fred McWoozy, who likes to call people out and then run when they respond.luckyorphan