Do we just have an anti-authority axe to grind?

[xtravar]

I like to think of my friends as intelligent people. I surround myself with the best.

Yet, when I try explaining libertarian ideals to them, they don't seem very enthusiastic.

One person says, "Not everything is going to turn into 1984. Things are the way they are for a reason."

Another person says, "Our government can work, and it is working, it's just a little slow."

Another: "I don't understand politics. I don't want to try to figure it out. I'm just going to abstain from voting."

This just completely blows my mind. Who doesn't want more freedom?

And most of the time I'm told that I'm anti-authority, that I don't trust authority, etc. Well, don't I have some good reasons for not trusting authority? Or is this some deep-seated childhood issue manifested through libertarian political thinking?

I'm no 9/11 truther or moon landing hoaxer, but I am beginning to think that I'm a little paranoid and un-trusting.

Thoughts?

[spacehabitats]

People are comfortable with the status quo, even when it is killing them.
Change is scary. We settle on a world view that makes sense to us (e.g. Republicans are good, Democrats bad) and stick with it, regardless of the facts.
People stay in bad marriages, even with physically abusive spouses.
We all want to be lead.
We like to think that there are "older and wiser" heads out there who have our best interests at heart.
How else do you explain the absurdities of of public opinion?

I just came back from campaigning in St. Joseph, MO. A town of 70,000 lost 16,000 jobs to factories in Mexico. The place looks like a ghost town.

But economists tell us that globalization and free trade are good, protectionism is bad. So nobody questions McCain or Clinton about their economic "platforms". If they look nice and comforting and just let us go to sleep we're happy.

[Naraku]

One poster in a political forum I frequent said it pretty clearly, "You vote against who you want the least."

I posted a topic in that same forum mentioning Fox's deal with Nevada and a European member actually said there seemed to be nothing wrong with it because Paul can't win, but also acknowledged that the media is the reason he can't win. Far from being aghast and disgusted, he actually said there was nothing wrong with the media choosing who is viable and who isn't, then blacking out their results when they do better than expected.

If you want to know where they want us to go just take a gander over at what's happening in Europe. I know a person in the UK who acknowledges the direction the UK is headed, but at the same time praises the European Union. He said it was good because it makes Europe a superpower and really just expressed a hope they don't try to limit freedoms.

People in Europe have been exposed to such a thorough brainwashing they actually back the Lisbon Treaty on the belief it will be "good for Europe" never bothering to consider whether a corrupt and undemocratic system being given greater power over their lives is a good idea.

People talk about human rights and the UN, but no one ever bothers to look at the part where it says that people can't exercise those rights if it isn't in the interests of the UN.

They don't understand the real meaning of Fascism and what 1984 really is about. Orwell wasn't talking about a system where everyone is watched by cameras and thought police. Indeed, they actually explain how the "proles" the 85% of the population not in "the Party" are given a great deal of freedom because there's no need. Through control of information and the economy the Party only has to say "jump" and "don't jump" to control the people. The people are treated like livestock weening off the teets of the Party and scared into submission.

Orwell was not giving us a glimpse into some Stalinist state that attempted to control everyone directly, Orwell was giving us a glimpse at reality.

[theczar1776]

Libertarianism means, taking responsibility for what you do. You can do as you wish (pretty much,) but you have to take responsibility for what you do, not go crying to the government to fix everything you broke, give you every thing you want, and stop other people from doing "bad" things. Libertarianism is a political system like any other, there are trade offs. I have always thought that, you know, that Europeans have been, oppressed much longer and never truly tasted the sweet fruit of freedom, so they would be much more comfortable with socialism. But Americans, what is going on here! Because socialism is just a sugar-coated version Fascism and Neo-Conservatism is a not-so-veiled version fascism. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE!!
wake up people.