Clapton is God
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The term "libertarian" has been around for a long time now, but has gained prominence in the past decade due to the Ron Paul Presidential campaigns of 2008 and 2012. (Although, merely wanting to legalize marijuana and let gays get married doesn't make you "libertarian". Sorry Gary Johnson.)
Libertarian is a very broad term. It is not exclusive to those who promote property rights and capitalism as the term was coined in the 19th Century by a communist named Joseph Déjacque. Not all socialism or communism is authoritarian. I think this bears mentioning because many self described libertarians use communism and socialism as if those terms are synonymous with totalitarianism. If what I am writing is foreign to you, I would encourage you to read the writings of anarchists and libertarian-socialists such as Murray Bookchin and even people like Noam Chomsky. The state is not required for their to be socialism. Socialism is the communal ownership of property where the workers own the means and production of labor. You can find examples of this being put into action currently in places like Rojava
There are many examples of types of left-libertarianism in history and in current evens. Mainstream media outlets briefly mentioned at one point that Kurdish women fighters were defeating ISIS in their region, but failed to mention the nature of the revolution happening in Rojava. Anarchism in Catalonia, Spain during the 1930s is also overlooked by the mainstream. Anarchism is a more narrow term than libertarian is in my opinion, but anarchism certainly has libertarian values in it.
It was Lord Acton who said, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". Big government is just as big of threat to your freedom as big business. Libertarians should oppose political systems that give rise to the centralization of power in any arena whether it is government power or private power. It is the centralization of power in any power structure that is a threat to liberty and not just "big government".
Libertarian is a very broad term. It is not exclusive to those who promote property rights and capitalism as the term was coined in the 19th Century by a communist named Joseph Déjacque. Not all socialism or communism is authoritarian. I think this bears mentioning because many self described libertarians use communism and socialism as if those terms are synonymous with totalitarianism. If what I am writing is foreign to you, I would encourage you to read the writings of anarchists and libertarian-socialists such as Murray Bookchin and even people like Noam Chomsky. The state is not required for their to be socialism. Socialism is the communal ownership of property where the workers own the means and production of labor. You can find examples of this being put into action currently in places like Rojava
There are many examples of types of left-libertarianism in history and in current evens. Mainstream media outlets briefly mentioned at one point that Kurdish women fighters were defeating ISIS in their region, but failed to mention the nature of the revolution happening in Rojava. Anarchism in Catalonia, Spain during the 1930s is also overlooked by the mainstream. Anarchism is a more narrow term than libertarian is in my opinion, but anarchism certainly has libertarian values in it.
It was Lord Acton who said, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". Big government is just as big of threat to your freedom as big business. Libertarians should oppose political systems that give rise to the centralization of power in any arena whether it is government power or private power. It is the centralization of power in any power structure that is a threat to liberty and not just "big government".
