What is libertarianism

[asmo]

As more and more people, often fed up by the 2 major parties inside the US, explore libertarianism, we need to be able to share what it is. In short, it isn't a single unified view. The term libertarian is a big tent term for inside libertarianism you will find 3 main groups (and countless smaller ones):

1. Classical liberals - aka the American founding fathers and other philosophical descendants of John Locke (and others). These people want to return to a Constitutional approach to government, or seeing how the Constitution failed to constrain government (like the anti-Federalists said would happen), reduce the scope and powers of the Federal government while still allowing wide state governmental powers. This group has a lot of overlap with small government Republicans. Rand Paul and the current LP presidential candidates probably fit in this area.
2. Minarchists - people who believe that common defense and courts (and maybe some roads and maybe a few other things) cannot be provided voluntarily so we need a government with taxing power to provide them, but all else should be left to the voluntary exchange of the market. This position could summed up by Bastiat in his work "The Law." Ron Paul probably fits best in this area.
3. Anarcho-Capitalists (aka Voluntarists) - people who believe that all things should be left to the market and that there should be no state monopoly on things like civil defense, justice, etc. Government means force and using such force against people who have not done wrong is wrong in and of itself. Rothbard's works are descriptive of this view.

Even inside these groups, there are pragmatists and purists. Pragmatists are much more willing to aid incremental changes that make us more free while purists often refuse to vote or be part of the system.

The Libertarian Party welcomes this variety. While we don’t all agree on the scope of government we’d have in a perfect society, we all agree that there is too much government today and thus are allied in reducing government at all levels. We seek less government and more freedom in both the social and economic realms.

[Joe_K]

Good breakdown.

Velocitas, Opprimere,
Violentia Operandi

[Skip]

Interesting. I guess I learn Minarchist. I think everything should be voluntary except for the things that get the country burned to the ground. Want a social safety net? Pay into and have it, or not and don't; your choice.

But I'd settle for Classical Liberal (assuming no gun control).

[jmg8550]

https://youtu.be/trNtNbmnGUo

[Irving]

Nothing pisses me off more than toll roads.

[Great-Kazoo]

Nothing pisses me off more than troll toads.

[asmo]

For those of you that think voting for the Libertarian is a vote for Hillary (hint: its not)
http://nypost.com/2016/06/11/hillary...t-voters-poll/

Hillary sinks to third place among independent voters: poll

It looks like Hillary Clinton can’t swing the crucial swing vote.
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee took a beating from independent voters in the latest Fox News poll, finishing third behind relatively unknown Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson.
GOP candidate Donald Trump led among independents with 32 percent of the vote, followed by Johnson, a former governor of New Mexico, who got 23 percent.
Clinton pulled in just 22 percent of the independents — a sign many voters are skeptical of the scandal-scarred former first lady and ex-secretary of state.
“This is very bad news for Hillary Clinton,” Republican strategist Susan Del Percio said. “She needs independents to win in November.”
The poll, released Friday, gave Clinton a 3-point national lead overall. She bested Trump 42 percent to 39 percent in a theoretical matchup. But Clinton’s lead is within the Fox poll’s margin of error.
The poll also showed a drop in overall support for Trump, Del Percio noted.
“Both candidates must start to broaden their support beyond their base, and hope that Governor Johnson’s campaign on the Libertarian line does not gain steam.”
Another pollster said Johnson voters could prove pivotal this election year.
“Don’t underestimate the importance of the Libertarian vote,” said Tim Malloy of the Quinnipiac University Poll.
“They are not on the fence — they are not going to budge. And they could make all the difference in a close election.”
Fox’s poll found equal levels of party loyalty among Democrat and Republican responders — so winning independents could equal victory in November.
Meanwhile, in a Harris Poll of unemployed people released last week, half said they prefer one of the major parties’ presumptive nominees: 27 percent plan to vote for Clinton and 23 percent favor Trump.
Overwhelming majorities said they feel insecure (76 percent), angry (72 percent), or desperate (71percent).

[Aloha_Shooter]

For those of you that think voting for the Libertarian is a vote for Hillary (hint: its not)
http://nypost.com/2016/06/11/hillary...t-voters-poll/

Hillary sinks to third place among independent voters: poll


It looks like Hillary Clinton can’t swing the crucial swing vote.
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee took a beating from independent voters in the latest Fox News poll, finishing third behind relatively unknown Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson.
GOP candidate Donald Trump led among independents with 32 percent of the vote, followed by Johnson, a former governor of New Mexico, who got 23 percent.
Clinton pulled in just 22 percent of the independents — a sign many voters are skeptical of the scandal-scarred former first lady and ex-secretary of state.
“This is very bad news for Hillary Clinton,” Republican strategist Susan Del Percio said. “She needs independents to win in November.”
The poll, released Friday, gave Clinton a 3-point national lead overall. She bested Trump 42 percent to 39 percent in a theoretical matchup. But Clinton’s lead is within the Fox poll’s margin of error.
The poll also showed a drop in overall support for Trump, Del Percio noted.
“Both candidates must start to broaden their support beyond their base, and hope that Governor Johnson’s campaign on the Libertarian line does not gain steam.”
Another pollster said Johnson voters could prove pivotal this election year.
“Don’t underestimate the importance of the Libertarian vote,” said Tim Malloy of the Quinnipiac University Poll.
“They are not on the fence — they are not going to budge. And they could make all the difference in a close election.”
Fox’s poll found equal levels of party loyalty among Democrat and Republican responders — so winning independents could equal victory in November.
Meanwhile, in a Harris Poll of unemployed people released last week, half said they prefer one of the major parties’ presumptive nominees: 27 percent plan to vote for Clinton and 23 percent favor Trump.
Overwhelming majorities said they feel insecure (76 percent), angry (72 percent), or desperate (71percent).

... and yet, the libertarians and NeverTrump Republicans in that poll would give Hillary the election. Woodrow Wilson and Bill Clinton both won election by pluralities, not majorities, thanks to the third party vote. Makes you think perhaps that the money Clinton spent on dirty tricks that were exposed to Perot as if it was Bush running them on him was money well spent. Even the article you cited states the impact (emphasized in red).

[Hound]

Many WILL NOT VOTE FOR TRUMP. It is like being asked to cut off your right arm or your left arm when you're not sure what you did to get either cut off to begin with. Trump and Hillary are the same coin, different sides. Why not vote for somebody you can mostly agree with rather than the lesser of two evils. This lesser of two evils approach is why we keep getting the same failures in Government cycle after cycle. If you vote for Trump you might as well just sign over the pink slip to the Replublican party because it will never be relevant again between the ostracizing of minorities, pissing off women, flipping on gun control to flipping on damn near every other topic. The only thing holding back the Libertarian party is the failure of Americans to believe in the process and actually vote for the candidate they most agree with instead of the one they think will win. People need to grow a pair and be true Americans before both the Republican and Democrat parties destroy what that means.

[davsel]

For those of you that think voting for the Libertarian is a vote for Hillary (hint: its not)

Either the D or the R is going to win the election.
A single vote for R nullifies a single vote for D.
A single vote for L does NOT nullify a single vote for D and therefore results in "a vote for Hillary."