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Can the Libertarian party or policies ever work?

Should/Can libertarianism work?

  • Yes of course but first we need to become more known.

    Votes: 18 31.6%

  • Yes but we will never get elected.

    Votes: 5 8.8%

  • No and I'm damn glad of it.

    Votes: 27 47.4%

  • No because we will never get well known/enough votes.

    Votes: 7 12.3%
  • Total voters
    57
R

Rightwing86

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Hey everyone. Please be informed on the party's positions before commenting. I am a libertarian myself. But sometimes I do run into problems. Such as, I believe it is a persons right to take their own life. It is none of my business and if they feel that way so be it. For instance according to my stance Dr. Kavorkian should not have been punished for his actions of assisted suicide. But what would happen in a world where he was not punishd but let's say that someone who was mentally unstable came into the Dr's office and the doc just complied with his task and assisted in his death. Than what would happen? Or what if someone was drunk or mentally incapable of understanding a written contract between two adults that suggested that the husband could beat and rape the wife whenever he wanted? If she signed the contract but than it was found out she was not mentally stable? Who would step in and intervene in this type of situation?

Also if a libertarian could explain to me what the parties position is on going after terrorists who attacked us on 9/11? Would this mean going after the Saudi's since that is where most of them were from? Or would we just sit back and tighten our own borders in hopes of preventing them from attacking us here? I know the Iraq and Afganistan war is not supported at least according to our libertarian homepage. I also know that certain libertarians are split on the war in Afgahnistan not Iraq.

I also know that we only had .5 percent of the Nations vote. Is it even remotely possible we will ever win? Or see our policies take effect? Even in the likes of someone like Ron Paul running as a repub? Anyone know how many votes he garnered? Sometimes it is very depressing to be the minority. Makes me feel hopeless.
 
Hard to say. They worked fine for the first 100 or so years

too many people have become addicted to entitlements and nanny state government which was the intent of the New Deal, Great Society etc. Dems created legions of addicts and going cold turkey would cause major upheavels as the parasites, the addicts and those who pander to them would revolt
 
No, because they don't take human nature into account.
 
The Libertarian party would have to win elections first, and that is not going to happen until they appeal to a larger segment of the population. It will be quite some time till we are ever in a position to find out. My guess is no. Libertarians seem to want to go to a simpler time that simply does not exist any more.
 
No, libertarianism, much like communism, only really works on paper, because it doesn't account for human nature.
 
I doubt libertarian domestic policies will work until they realize that private entities like corporations are just as much of a threat to individual liberty as government. Foreign policy would probably work pretty well. Still, the biggest problem with the libertarians is figuring out to get past winner-takes elections to try and grow the party.
 
libertarians lol
 
Libertarianism combines at least two trait that are not commonly paired in people. On one hand, it rejects conservatism's way of establishing a social order that is overly restrictive in terms of social roles. On the other hand, however, it does not see government as that vehicle which acts to level the playing field so as to limit the potential for exploitation within that social order.

Liberals are more likely to view social justice above social order, so view government as the way to achieve such. Conservatives are more likely to view social order above social justice so are less concerned with the restrictiveness to begin with.
 
molten_dragon said:
No, libertarianism, much like communism, only really works on paper, because it doesn't account for human nature.
Click to expand...

Probably true now. Independence, self reliance and abhoring parasitic tendencies has been bred out of a majority of Americans thanks to the left
 
TurtleDude said:
Probably true now. Independence, self reliance and abhoring parasitic tendencies has been bred out of a majority of Americans thanks to the left
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lol

[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man]Straw man - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]
 
TurtleDude said:
Probably true now. Independence, self reliance and abhoring parasitic tendencies has been bred out of a majority of Americans thanks to the left
Click to expand...

[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_emotion]Appeal to emotion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]
 
Rightwing86 said:
Hey everyone. Please be informed on the party's positions before commenting. I am a libertarian myself. But sometimes I do run into problems. Such as, I believe it is a persons right to take their own life. It is none of my business and if they feel that way so be it. For instance according to my stance Dr. Kavorkian should not have been punished for his actions of assisted suicide. But what would happen in a world where he was not punishd but let's say that someone who was mentally unstable came into the Dr's office and the doc just complied with his task and assisted in his death. Than what would happen? Or what if someone was drunk or mentally incapable of understanding a written contract between two adults that suggested that the husband could beat and rape the wife whenever he wanted? If she signed the contract but than it was found out she was not mentally stable? Who would step in and intervene in this type of situation?

Also if a libertarian could explain to me what the parties position is on going after terrorists who attacked us on 9/11? Would this mean going after the Saudi's since that is where most of them were from? Or would we just sit back and tighten our own borders in hopes of preventing them from attacking us here? I know the Iraq and Afganistan war is not supported at least according to our libertarian homepage. I also know that certain libertarians are split on the war in Afgahnistan not Iraq.

I also know that we only had .5 percent of the Nations vote. Is it even remotely possible we will ever win? Or see our policies take effect? Even in the likes of someone like Ron Paul running as a repub? Anyone know how many votes he garnered? Sometimes it is very depressing to be the minority. Makes me feel hopeless.
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Nobody agrees on a definition of "libertarian". Some people will tell you it's anarcho-communism and others will tell you it's anarcho-capitalism.

I just think we should permit more individual liberty, choice, and responsibility. I think we should adhere to the Constitution and interpret it (when necessary) through the lens of the American Revolution. I think we should promote free market economics as espoused by Adam Smith, the Founders, Hayek, and Friedman.
 
Gander said:
Nobody agrees on a definition of "libertarian". Some people will tell you it's anarcho-communism and others will tell you it's anarcho-capitalism.

I just think we should permit more individual liberty, choice, and responsibility. I think we should adhere to the Constitution and interpret it (when necessary) through the lens of the American Revolution. I think we should promote free market economics as espoused by Adam Smith, the Founders, Hayek, and Friedman.
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Thats pretty far right :p

Friedman is basically an anarcho-capitalist
 
I am always impressed on how intelligent and well informed and idealistic Libertarians are. In my opinion Libertarianism is inhuman; there is no compassion for the human experience within the political philosophy. That's it in a nutshell.
 
No.

Most people don't understand the philosophy and we also have a bunch of muppets running around defending corporatism.

In this day and age it only appeals to those who want to live their life, without being a busy body.
Things are not looking good.
 
EgoffTib said:
Do you have anything to contribute? I'd love to discuss Libertarianism with you.
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He was responding to an insulting post.

You know me, I love to discuss Libertarianism. Why do you think it would work? What do you think are the problems with it?
 
Rightwing86 said:
Hey everyone. Please be informed on the party's positions before commenting. I am a libertarian myself. But sometimes I do run into problems. Such as, I believe it is a persons right to take their own life. It is none of my business and if they feel that way so be it. For instance according to my stance Dr. Kavorkian should not have been punished for his actions of assisted suicide. But what would happen in a world where he was not punishd but let's say that someone who was mentally unstable came into the Dr's office and the doc just complied with his task and assisted in his death. Than what would happen? Or what if someone was drunk or mentally incapable of understanding a written contract between two adults that suggested that the husband could beat and rape the wife whenever he wanted? If she signed the contract but than it was found out she was not mentally stable? Who would step in and intervene in this type of situation?

Also if a libertarian could explain to me what the parties position is on going after terrorists who attacked us on 9/11? Would this mean going after the Saudi's since that is where most of them were from? Or would we just sit back and tighten our own borders in hopes of preventing them from attacking us here? I know the Iraq and Afganistan war is not supported at least according to our libertarian homepage. I also know that certain libertarians are split on the war in Afgahnistan not Iraq.

I also know that we only had .5 percent of the Nations vote. Is it even remotely possible we will ever win? Or see our policies take effect? Even in the likes of someone like Ron Paul running as a repub? Anyone know how many votes he garnered? Sometimes it is very depressing to be the minority. Makes me feel hopeless.
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Well, it depends on how libertarian you want to be. There are two major entities that people choose between to trust: either government or corporations. People who distrust the government want corporations to do everything, while people who distrust corporations want the government to do everything.

And there's good reason for this. The sole purpose of a business is to provide a service with the greatest profit. That can be unhealthy and lead to a lot of bad business practices. Who can the people go to for that? Other businesses may not work. So they use the power of law.

I don't think libertarianism will work in this country, not in it's purest form. People want to be able to be their own boss in this country. But libertarianism won't help that. Instead, unethical business practices without the power of government to regulate them will always benefit large corporate entities rather than small businesses. If any small business rises up to compete, corporations can do such things as operate at a loss until they put their competition out of business. This is why we need the government to regulate and put limit on big business, so small businesses have a chance.

I will say one thing, though - of all the conservative philosophies out there, if I had to choose one to live with, Libertarianism would be it.
 
EgoffTib said:
Do you have anything to contribute? I'd love to discuss Libertarianism with you.
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Go ahead, explain to me why libertarianism is the sh1t :D
 
samsmart said:
Well, it depends on how libertarian you want to be. There are two major entities that people choose between to trust: either government or corporations. People who distrust the government want corporations to do everything, while people who distrust corporations want the government to do everything.

And there's good reason for this. The sole purpose of a business is to provide a service with the greatest profit. That can be unhealthy and lead to a lot of bad business practices. Who can the people go to for that? Other businesses may not work. So they use the power of law.

I don't think libertarianism will work in this country, not in it's purest form. People want to be able to be their own boss in this country. But libertarianism won't help that. Instead, unethical business practices without the power of government to regulate them will always benefit large corporate entities rather than small businesses. If any small business rises up to compete, corporations can do such things as operate at a loss until they put their competition out of business. This is why we need the government to regulate and put limit on big business, so small businesses have a chance.

I will say one thing, though - of all the conservative philosophies out there, if I had to choose one to live with, Libertarianism would be it.
Click to expand...

It's a lot more complicated than that.

Libertarians end up defending some corporations because of the nature of the argument and not because we love corporations.

Just remember that libertarianism ≠ corporatism.
 
I don't think a libertarian party will ever be elected. It would be best for libertarians to elect libertarian Republicans. I personally don't agree with the libertarian political view, but much of it I support (like less government)
 
I think "some" libertarian policies would work/be beneficial. Will the libertarian party ever be a force in that they win elections? No. The two party system is too entrenched and well funded. They would be better served to ride the coattails of the respective parties through representatives in the house and senate through both parties. With the exception of far left districts, I think libertarians could covertly run in either party and espouse some ideals that would appeal to the traditional voters in those districts. On the "right" side they could espouse the ideals of fiscal conservatism/smaller government/right to bear arms, and in left leaning districts they could win on platforms of gay rights/abortion/non-interventionist policies.
 
digsbe said:
I don't think a libertarian party will ever be elected. It would be best for libertarians to elect libertarian Republicans. I personally don't agree with the libertarian political view, but much of it I support (like less government)
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Can you explain the difference between a Libertarian and a Libertarian Republican please?
 
WI Crippler said:
I think "some" libertarian policies would work/be beneficial. Will the libertarian party ever be a force in that they win elections? No. The two party system is too entrenched and well funded. They would be better served to ride the coattails of the respective parties through representatives in the house and senate through both parties. With the exception of far left districts, I think libertarians could covertly run in either party and espouse some ideals that would appeal to the traditional voters in those districts. On the "right" side they could espouse the ideals of fiscal conservatism/smaller government/right to bear arms, and in left leaning districts they could win on platforms of gay rights/abortion/non-interventionist policies.
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Give me a break with all of this over exaggerated "far-left" nonsense. No district is far left in the United States comparative to the rest of the world.
 
Z3n said:
Give me a break with all of this over exaggerated "far-left" nonsense. No district is far left in the United States comparative to the rest of the world.
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What is it with you people? When discussing the internal politics of america, we somehow have to draw comparisons to the leanings of "the rest of the world"?

Give me a break. :)
 
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