What is libertarianism?

[Blaine Simmons]

Sounds like the old anarcho-liberalism to me. I've found some definitions but I'd like to hear it from another fellow man.

5 stars

Thanks

[buford]

Stupdity that declares every man is an island

[Alex]

A moral philosophy where one believes that the initiation of coercion via Violence, Theft, Fraud, and Threats is morally wrong.

We don't believe every man is an island. We just believe that people ought to have the option to secede from governments they don't want to be a part of anymore. That's the principle United States was founded on.

[Demand Destruction]

Republicans that want drugs and pick up prostitutes.

[smartr-n-u]

Progressives have assumed the name "liberal" even though they are diametrically opposed to classic liberal philosophy. Modern classic liberals are now called libertarians.

I'm not familiar with the term anarcho-liberalism, but from the perspective of big govt progressives, that probably makes sense. In the classic liberal left-right scale, on the left extreme is totalitarian govt control and on the right extreme absolute chaos. We accept Hobbes' idea that without govt man's life would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." That there would be no industry or commerce,and that man would forever be at war with one another. Cooperation requires rules of conduct.

One of the first stops on the road from anarchy would be libertarianism which allows individuals the ability to accept or reject govt rules and protections. It's an all or nothing proposition - you can't select from a menu of rules and protections (that's the nature of govt) but you still cannot be compelled to participate against your will.

It's difficult to compete with progressives because progressives tend to gravitate toward positions in big govt (incl public schools), big business, big labor, and "mainstream" media. People with libertarian leanings tend to gravitate toward farming, mining, small business ownership, military service, and alternative media. Progressives have been successful in redefining terms like "liberal", "left and right", replaced natural God given rights with govt provided civil rights ("social justice" replaced traditional property rights),etc…