Where are the Libertarians?
POSTED BY: SignyM
UPDATED: Tuesday, December 2, 2025 07:10
VIEWED: 17715
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As for Republicans --- Big Government is like the one Ring. While you don't have it's power you believe that it is evil and pledge to destroy it, but when you have it in your possession you start thinking "yeah I can use this for GOOD!" and before you know it you are half naked, living in a cave and eating raw fish (or is that just Tom DeLay???)
I hate to admit that lately there is something to this. I'd like to think that isn't so, but for about half my party it seems to be so at elast re; the Bush crowd.
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BTW, if you check out these links, you'll find the same people (ACLU, Molly Ivens, etc) complaining about loss of freedom under Clinton as under Bush. So, I don't know where the Libertarians have been but at least the Liberals are consistent.
I'll grant that Molly Ivens is a liberal, but despite Bush claims, the ACLU is a libertarian. They stand up for the right as often as they do for the left.
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Saudi Arabia IS the enemy of the United States. That is to say, everybody in Saudi Arabia who isn't a billionaire hates us pretty much.
This was an excellent point. I would beg to differ on one part though. Those billionaires are organizing a take over of American media and banking, and they have funded a lot of terrorism. I think they, too, are the enemy of the United States.
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Condi Rice and that oil frieghter they named for her...
Actually she has two.
I aqree that there are a lot of viable alternatives up at the moment. I'm not sure about the hydrogen because the ones I've seen rely on storing a tank of compressed hydrogen, it's potentially a bomb. We drive and fly around on bombs all the time. I'd like to see a solution which can't be made to blow up.
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Some Big Problems require a Big Government. For example, fishing stocks depletion can only be resolved through world-wide regulation, which is the Biggest Government of all. Unless you can think of another way to resolve such problems.
I disagree. This can be done by a very small govt. A regulation on fishing caps is simply a law that requires very little enforcement, and could be carried out by the coast guard. Big govt. is not just a matter of how much it constricts civil liberties, it's a matter of how much money it spends, how many people it hires, and how many people's lives are interfered with. Here the only interferences on people's lives would be to large fishing concerns who come close to the limit.
I would add that the majority of these are foreign-owned, and infringing on the rights of foreign concerns to loot your nations natural resources can not be called big govt. If govt. cannot do this, it has no reason to exist.
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HaoLeHaoLe
Good vent.
Where could I find out more about those hydrogen powered cars?
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I am a libertarian. And I am ignored by friends and family when it comes to politics. I still speak my mind, but not much one person can do except refuse to be quiet.
~~~~~
"Funny and sexy. You have no idea. And you never will."
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Where are the Libertarians?
Dating the Librarians 
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Hydrogen powered cars.
We've got some hydrogen buses travelling around London, kicking out that terribly harmful water and all. Your major concern was with the bomb aspect, but I believe that actually at least as safe as normal petrol solutions. Something to do with a honeycomb storage tank.
Fishing stocks.
They aren't your natural resources, strictly speaking, if the fish stocks are in international waters. How does, for instance, the British Navy enforce fishing quotas on Norwegian boats in the North Sea (fished by a number of countries including Britain) without potentially going to war with Norway? Hey we'd win but that's not the point.
More insane ramblings by the people who brought you beeeer milkshakes!
Remember, the ice caps aren't melting, the water is being liberated.
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Originally posted by UnregisteredCompanion:
I am a libertarian. And I am ignored by friends and family when it comes to politics. I still speak my mind, but not much one person can do except refuse to be quiet.
yeah... that pretty much sums it up, doesn't it?
I can't help but reflect on the similarities of being a libertarian, and being a Firefly fan. So many of the same kinds of frustrations.
In each case you have something precious to you, something that (it seems) every living person should value, and you're faced with the painful fact that most people just don't care. Most people don't want liberty, they want safety. Most people don't want challenging storytelling, they want predictable fluff.
You can scream from the rooftops until you're hoarse, but in the end they still won't care. Your show will be canceled and they'll vote in another republicrat to piss away what freedom we have left.
Now I'm depressed...
SergeantX
"Dream a little dream or you can live a little dream. I'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it." Aesop Rock
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SargeX- sorry to bring up such a depressing topic. I was wondering where the usual Bush apologists are. They're awfully quiet these days. 
Come out, come out wherever you are!
BTW- I'm finding I have more in common with real Libertarians (as opposed to fascists in drag) than I thought. DT, SargeX- Do you suppose there could ever be some sort of uniting on common issues between lefties and Libertarians and conservatives?
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Please don't think they give a shit.
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Find a few like minded people and stand for office, any office, local school board, local council anything. If you have a better way then you can demonstrate that by action. No you won't get a President anytime soon but it's better than whinging.
Evil exists because good people do nothing. If you really believe that things are bad then try to change them, don't just talk about changing them and then complain when nothing happens.
A good target would be these redistricting events that make more and more congressional seats "safe" for one party or another. No seat should ever be "safe" if someone wants to remain our representative he should have to work his ass off to keep his job, just like the rest of us do. Governments should fear their people, not the other way around.
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Originally posted by Fletch2:
Find a few like minded people and stand for office, any office, local school board, local council anything. If you have a better way then you can demonstrate that by action. No you won't get a President anytime soon but it's better than whinging.
Evil exists because good people do nothing. If you really believe that things are bad then try to change them, don't just talk about changing them and then complain when nothing happens.
A good target would be these redistricting events that make more and more congressional seats "safe" for one party or another. No seat should ever be "safe" if someone wants to remain our representative he should have to work his ass off to keep his job, just like the rest of us do. Governments should fear their people, not the other way around.
I've actually been quite aways down that road. Even ran for local office. It resulted in mostly frustration, as I mentioned earlier.
The alternative I recommend is to live free despite the government. Its much easier than most imagine and I think it may have a more positive effect than the traditional political approach. Our rulers maintain power through a very fragile thread - much more tenous than most imagine.
I'm reminded of a cartoon by B.Kliban. It shows a king speaking to his people from a balcony. The king says, "I'm the king and you have to do what I command or else I can't be king anymore!". That's pretty much all there is to it. They only have power because we do what they tell us. "Just say no."
SergeantX
"Dream a little dream or you can live a little dream. I'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it." Aesop Rock
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"Do you suppose there could ever be some sort of uniting on common issues between lefties and Libertarians and conservatives?"
Not really. Because ideas come from pholosophies. The philosophies of these 3 groups are incompatible.
~~~~~
"Funny and sexy. You have no idea. And you never will."
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Originally posted by SignyM:
DT, SargeX- Do you suppose there could ever be some sort of uniting on common issues between lefties and Libertarians and conservatives?
This was one of my biggest sources of frustration with the Libertarian party itself. They were pretty lax in attempts to attract traditional liberals.
This was disappointing because I always felt liberals, in general, had a better understanding basic libertarian principles than the conservative republicans - even though the conservative republicans were more likely to take an interest in Libertarian politics.
It seemed a lot of conservatives were happy to call themselves libertarians when the issues were cutting taxes or pulling back on the welfare state, but when it came to really respecting the rights of people to live as they wished, were less enthusiastic. (gay marriage and drug legalization, for example)
On the other hand, Liberals, even though they seemed to have a greater respect for real individual liberty, couldn't let go of their pet 'big government' projects and saw Libertarians as a direct threat. From my way of thinking, it was an easier task to show liberals how their big gov solutions were counterproductive than to convince self-righteous conservatives that it was ok if their neighbors did drugs.
Ultimately though, it was just an uphill battle to get people to consider ideas that weren't already part of the mainstream. Most people get scared when they get the feeling they are thinking for themselves and that was the hardest barrier to overcome.
SergeantX
"Dream a little dream or you can live a little dream. I'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it." Aesop Rock
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