I want to learn more about the Libertarian perspective. Looking for sources!

[mikkel_the_dane]

@Quetzal

My way of doing is, is to always include the ideal of the "free trade" when I analyze any human interaction, but because I have been taught to look for harm in more ways than above and also am good as spotting asymmetrical human relationship, I only use the the ideal of the "free trade" as one tool and not the only tool to analyze human relationships.
If you look closer into any ideology you can learn to spot the over-generalization of any aspect of a limited form of human behavior and how that is then turned into the corner-stone form which everything else follows.

Regards
Mikkel

 

[Quetzal]

As a reminder, this post is not for debates. This is for informative posts only.

 

[Nakosis]

I came across this video and I enjoyed watching it. It occurred to me that I don't know much about it:

Does anyone else have some good vids explaining this political wing? Tagging our in-house libertarian @Revoltingest.

Speaking for myself, I feel people should be free to choose their own life/livelihood as long as it is peaceful and honest. We should not use the group to enforce theft from other individuals. I suppose I am at heart anti-authoritarian in that no one has greater authority over my life than myself.

The enforcement of the group onto the individual is a form of slavery. While we can ask others to help protect our rights, we cannot ask others to enforce what we believe to be right onto other folks.

When power is given to a group over an individual, there is no guarantee the group will have the best interests of the individual in mind. The group made slavery legal. The group seeks war and conflict for its own interest, not the interest of the individual. Nothing good ever comes from giving power to the group over the individual.

 

[amorphous_constellation]

I sometimes watch the libertarian youtuber styxhexenhammer666, who has thousands of videos, though most of the time I'm done after a minute or two. I actually watched him before he was famous by the way, and I liked the content better at that time, it seemed more novel

The Libertarian position represents the ultimate faith in human nature, where social and economic freedom is highest. I am skeptical of human nature, so I don't inhabit that part of the political compass

 

[Father Heathen]

Libertarian and communism share one thing in common; they presume that everyone will play fair and nice.

 

[Father Heathen]

Just check the size of their wallets !

And they're not `liberal` at all !

Supporting gay marriage and cannabis legalization is liberal, no?

 

[epronovost]

Who doesn't claim to have ideals?
The real question is....
Which ideals suit oneself?

No, I would say the real question what ideals produce the intended results the most reliably and the most popular forms of "right-wing" libertarianism are more often then not catastrophic failures.

 

[Tambourine]

Are you asking about the original Libertarians, who started out as a movement of anarchists and economic leftists in the 19th century, or the corporate American variant?

What is Libertarian Socialism?

What is Anarchism? (a comment)

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

Are you asking about the original Libertarians, who started out as a movement of anarchists and economic leftists in the 19th century, or the corporate American variant?

What is Libertarian Socialism?

What is Anarchism? (a comment)

Or Anarcho-capitalism - Wikipedia.

 

[SomeRandom]

Libertarian and communism share one thing in common; they presume that everyone will play fair and nice.

This is why I stop short of being in support of communism. I kind of like the idea of a classless society and breaking down hierarchal structures, but I’m far too cynical to believe it can be implemented successfully.
Maybe I can become an anarchist lol

 

[Tambourine]

This is why I stop short of being in support of communism. I kind of like the idea of a classless society and breaking down hierarchal structures, but I’m far too cynical to believe it can be implemented successfully.
Maybe I can become an anarchist lol

If you already think that communists and libertarians make naive assumptions about human nature then I've got some bad news for you about Anarchism...

 

[SomeRandom]

If you already think that communists and libertarians make naive assumptions about human nature then I've got some bad news for you about Anarchism...

Oh no!!

 

[Tambourine]

If you really don't like governments or, really, other people in general, I recommend Max Stirner - in my opinion, one of the boldest, most radical, but also one of the most consistent thinkers of the entire egoist/individualist libertarian branch.

Stirner is also far less tedious to read than most of the right-wing libertarians like Rothbart or Rand, while basically making similar but more well thought out arguments.

 

[Revoltingest]

Yes, they suit you. I get that. But from there it doesn't follow that your ideals suit me or in reverse. The fun start if we have to comprise or fight.

I'm not trying to convert you.

 

[Revoltingest]

No. The question is: What works best to advance the quality of life for all citizens of a society?

If that goal suits you, then you ought to
consider which philosophy best advances it.
I pick libertarian.

 

[Revoltingest]

Idealism is different the just having ideals. Number 1 definition: the practice of forming or pursuing ideals, especially unrealistically. "the idealism of youth"

Is Libertarianism an attainable and sustainable ideal? No. It's unrealistic. Pie in the sky sort of fantasy, which assumes everyone will choose the right thing, without harm to others. While that may be the case in an Enlightened world, 99% of humans are not there yet. Remove all restraints of the present order, and watch what happens. It won't take long for it to all fall apart. Might makes right, and warlords will assume rule. Now your freedom is toasted underneath the warlord and his rules.

You might not understand how idealism works for other people.
For me, I pursue ideals. I don't expect ideal results.
Tis not the simplistic thing that some critics of libertarianism
make it out to be. I smell straw.

 

[Revoltingest]

No, I would say the real question what ideals produce the intended results the most reliably and the most popular forms of "right-wing" libertarianism are more often then not catastrophic failures.

I disagree.
Btw, I sure hit the nail on the head warning
@Quetzal about you Elmer Gantry types.

 

[Revoltingest]

Libertarian and communism share one thing in common; they presume that everyone will play fair and nice.

I assume that people will be exactly who they've been all along.

 

[Revoltingest]

As a reminder, this post is not for debates. This is for informative posts only.

Yeah...good luck with that.
Put "libertarian" in the thread's title, & you'll get 93.8% anti-libertarians.
And I see that only a few of the many have yet arrived.

To get libertarian perspectives, you'd want your thread in the
Libertarian Only forum. Alas, the rules prohibit your doing that.

 

[joe1776]

If that goal suits you, then you ought to
consider which philosophy best advances it.
I pick libertarian.

I can explain my position simply and make sense. Can you?

A society is a cooperative endeavor. Such endeavors offer many advantages for the individual over the completely self-reliant lifestyle. However, they do require that the individual trade in some rights. For example, self-reliant Mountain Man, living in the wilderness, can poop anywhere he likes like the other animals, but if decides to go to town, he enters a cooperative endeavor in which he trades in his right to poop anywhere he likes for greater benefits.

So, in a cooperative society, when the inevitable conflicts between the rights of the individual and the welfare of the group happen, the group's welfare must prevail.

Your turn.