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View Full Version : As briefly as possible... What does "libertarian" mean to you?




Starks
07-10-2007, 08:32 PM
I'm not sure if I understand the whole thing even after reading about it.

manuel
07-10-2007, 08:35 PM
Someone that wants very little government. One who believes in maximum freedom.

thomaspaine23
07-10-2007, 08:36 PM
I'm not sure if I understand the whole thing even after reading about it.

Short answer : "don't tread on me"

Slightly longer answer : "I am responsible for my own actions, no one has any right telling me how to live my life, nor do I have the right to tell them how to live theirs."

rockfree33
07-10-2007, 08:37 PM
Limit government to maximize personal liberty, freedom and power. A big government expands its power by infringing on personal liberties.

TheConstitutionLives
07-10-2007, 08:37 PM
Liberty + Barbarian = LIBERTARIAN ;)

RonPaulGetsIt
07-10-2007, 08:38 PM
One who cherishes liberty, ie our founding fathers. The consitution is the roadmap. Just obey it.

angrydragon
07-10-2007, 08:40 PM
Thomas Jefferson

austinphish
07-10-2007, 08:40 PM
If someone's action does not violate anyone else's rights then that action should be legal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCVlfTIOwaM

ChrisM
07-10-2007, 08:43 PM
Minarchist

remaxjon
07-10-2007, 08:51 PM
That I know whats best for me. Not you, not anyone but myself and 100% not the government

DisabledVet
07-10-2007, 08:55 PM
OF the people....FOR the people and BY the people.

SWATH
07-10-2007, 08:55 PM
As it has been described to me: A Libertarian is a Constitutionalist without the religeous agenda.

cajuncocoa
07-10-2007, 09:04 PM
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..."

Bryan
07-10-2007, 09:07 PM
Live and let live.

quickmike
07-10-2007, 09:10 PM
Thats simple..........

I dont tell you what to do and you dont tell me what to do.

As long as I dont steal from you, kill you, or do damage to your property, you have no right to tell me or anyone else how to live our lives.


Pretty simple.

atilla
07-10-2007, 09:11 PM
libertarians are those people who check out books to you and shelve the books when you bring them back to that big building downtown.

giskard
07-10-2007, 09:42 PM
No Big Brother constantly breathing down your neck.

Starks
07-10-2007, 09:44 PM
So, a libertarian believes that the scope of government should never expand beyond what is in the constitution unless duly amended?

aravoth
07-10-2007, 09:46 PM
It means leave me the hell alone.

scbissler
07-10-2007, 11:22 PM
non-agression and strong property rights

Harald
07-10-2007, 11:28 PM
all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, among them is the right of self-ownership, everything else follows from it.

torchbearer
07-10-2007, 11:33 PM
Socially liberal, Fiscally conservative.

torchbearer
07-10-2007, 11:34 PM
Live and let live.

Laissez Faire!!!!! Louisiana Libertarian motto.

Capitalism
07-11-2007, 12:04 AM
So, a libertarian believes that the scope of government should never expand beyond what is in the constitution unless duly amended?

No, I don't think that is it. A libertarian is opposed to the initiation of force. Of course, different people will interpret that different ways. But a libertarian would not have supported alcohol prohibition just because they amended the Constitution.

As a libertarian, I only support the Constitution because it protects my freedom most of the time. If the Constitution had been written by Bill Clinton or Rudy Giuliani, I wouldn't have any use for it.

Capitalism
07-11-2007, 12:06 AM
Socially liberal, Fiscally conservative.

Be careful. So-called conservatives have greatly expanded the federal budget, and liberals want affirmative action and government-funded abortions as part of the social agenda.

torchbearer
07-11-2007, 12:15 AM
Be careful. So-called conservatives have greatly expanded the federal budget, and liberals want affirmative action and government-funded abortions as part of the social agenda.

As a sociologist, I use those terms as dictionary defined.

Silverback
07-11-2007, 12:17 AM
1.The initiation of force is the definition of a criminal act.

2.Government exists only to enforce that principle.

3.Because government is force, and must initiate force to exist, it is a necessary evil, and if it exceeds that limited mandate it becomes a criminal enterprise.

The libertarian philosophy is well represented in the Declaration, in fact you can go through it point by point.

1. unalienable rights, life, liberty, etc.

2. to secure these rights governments are instituted among men.

3. follwed by a list of the overreaches of the British government.


Later, the Jefferson/Hamilton disagreement was over whether ones rights were inherent, "granted by God" or "Natural", which was Jeffersons position, or derived from the "consent of the governed" or granted by the democratic process, as Hamilton argued and both Democrats and Republicans (well neoconservatives anyway) argue today.

Harry96
07-11-2007, 12:39 AM
In my view, to be a libertarian, one must believe that everyone has a natural right to do as they choose so long as they are not directly violating anyone else's body or property; or, conversely, that no one else has a right to coerce peaceful people.

They would also all agree that, at most, the state should be confined to resolving property disputes, defending the borders -- mostly against incoming military invasions, and prosecuting and dealing with victim crimes like murder, rape, robbery, fraud, etc.

But a lot of libertarians would argue about those details, including whether there should be any state at all. To draw an analogy that most in this society can understand, saying you're a libertarian is sort of like saying you're a Christian -- all Christians, by definition, believe the same basic things about the deity of Christ. But, beyond that, there are different denominations, etc, and they argue about a lot of the details beyond their basic, shared belief.

It's also important to understand that libertarians aren't necessarily libertines who practice or encourage hedonism; they just draw a distinction between morality and legality, and certainly don't see the state as the arbiter of morality.

As an example, I believe all drugs should be totally legal and that there shouldn't even be prescription laws or anything, and that it should be the decision of pharmaceutical companies what to manufacture, of individual sellers what to sell -- and to whom and under what conditions, and of consumers what to put in their own bodies. But I personally have never used recreational drugs, don't condone their use, and would tend not to associate with someone who did use them.

agisthos
07-11-2007, 04:05 AM
The real definition of a libertarian means that you believe indvidual rights are held supreme over collective or group rights.

You are not allowed to use force, threat of force or fraud against a person or their property.

All the political 'isms', socialism, communism, capitalism, conservatism, liberalism, they all mean the same thing ; that the State has the right to enforce it's will over the individual, libertarianism stands alone in saying the State has no such right.

agisthos
07-11-2007, 07:25 AM
"We have talked at length of individual rights; but what, it may be asked, of the "rights of society"? Don't they supersede the rights of the mere individual? The libertarian, however, is an individualist; he believes that one of the prime errors in social theory is to treat "society" as if it were an actually existing entity.
"Society" is sometimes treated as a superior or quasi-divine figure with overriding "rights" of its own; at other times as an existing evil which can be blamed for all the ills of the world. The individualist holds that only individuals exist, think, feel, choose, and act; and that "society" is not a living entity but simply a label for a set of interacting individuals. Treating society as a thing that chooses and acts, then, serves to obscure the real forces at work.
If, in a small community, ten people band together to rob and expropriate three others then this is clearly and evidently a case of a group of individuals acting in concert against another group. In this situation, if the ten people presumed to refer to themselves as "society" acting in "its" interest, the rationale would be laughed out of court; even the ten robbers would probably be too shamefaced to use this sort of argument. But let their size increase, and this kind of obfuscation becomes rife and succeeds in duping the public."

Murray Rothbard

thainoftheshire
07-11-2007, 08:23 AM
A libertarian believes:

1) all acts of primary aggression are evil.
2) the government is developed by the people to purvey acts of secondary aggression--that is, retribution--in a rational, measured, just, and legal way.

rpf2008
07-11-2007, 08:44 AM
Well since "libertarian" isn't "republican" or "democrat" to me it means : someone the mass media is most likely ignoring or white washing in some way. Expect ample amounts of misinformation and disinformation.

maiki
07-11-2007, 09:08 AM
My rights end where yours begin. Small government to help enforce that.

iamso910
07-11-2007, 09:59 AM
Liberty can only be achieved by Self-Government.

Libertariansm is hence the attempt to formulate a societal system of governance and laws that are most effective in rewarding the pursuit of Self-Government.

Self-Government requires taking on risks and responsiblities, on relying on oneself to become capable of achieving one's own desired ends.

In the course of learning to become Self-Governed, one extends himself toward the concepts of individuation, of human perfection.

A libertarian society is one which provides the greatest opportunity for individuals, and hence society to develop evercloser toward perfection.

Economics, or more specifically praxeology, is the study of what means are required to attain various ends (desires). Hence, an understanding of economics is crucial to be able to move toward effective Self-Government. Without Self-Government, their is less opportunity and less incentive to learn what means and ends best benefit an individual.

The *big bang* moment for a libertarian comes when they realize that the goals for the individual, the goals for a society and an ethical formulation of law and behavior are concordant. And the more one learns, the greater is the extent and power of this concordance, evidencing the fact that there is an intelligence behind the machinations of the human world.