Letters to the Editor
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Ron Paul is an inconsistent libertarian
... despite what his backers claim. He wants the federal government to impose a ban on abortion, which most consider a matter of personal liberty.
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Ron Paul is further out of the mainstream than Howard Dean
Aranfell makes a fantastic point about how almost any idealology taken to its extreme almost always butts head with itself. Libertarianism is great on paper, but a disaster in practice. Though I think it's also important for any member of the left or the right to occasionally ask themselves, "What would a libertarian do?" The Libertarian while untenable is always principled.
As for Ron Paul, it's only a matter of time before he goes up in flames. It's too bad, I think he could interject some lively discussion in a three person debate.
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Old Right!
Pretty good article. But for abortion, he is states rights, and for the gold standard, he wants to introduce a gold backed currency to compete with fiat currency.
Also, we aren't all libertarians. Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, Independents, even some anarchist (I've only met one out of 1000s, most want to restore the "Republic" government.)
I think people will be shocked come this January.
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Libertarian and Pro-Life
Abortion is a wedge issue amongst libertarians, but it can be possible to believe both pro-life and pro-choice positions with libertarian philosophy.
On the pro-life end, libertarianism holds that government force is justified in protecting the right of a human being to continue existing, and if, on scientific grounds, one believes an unborn fetus to be a human being, then government force can be justified in the libertarian framework.
On the pro-choice end, if one believes on scientific grounds that a fetus is not a human being then it makes no sense to use government force in protection. In this equally libertarian framework it becomes an ordinary medical procedure that women should be free to undergo.
Personally, I believe the answer is in the middle somewhere. While I believe that nothing significant happens when a fetus comes in contact with the atmosphere (simply an act of transportation of the same organism to different environments) I understand the arguments of many pro-choicers that very early term fetuses are possibly not recognizable human beings and killing them may not constitute a homocide.
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Libertarians
I lean toward some libertarian ideas, but in the end I find them, or at least the implementation, impractical. "Once government gets out of our way, it will all JUST HAPPEN, man! The free market, man!" In their own way, they often sound as hippy dippy as, well, hippies.
I know many libertarians of the computer nerd flavor Leonard describes in his post, and for the most part I find them to be either unaware or ungrateful (or maybe both) of the societal policies that have made it safe for them to sit in a room with their computer 15 hours a day. The free market, man, is just making it happen; bringing it all to them.
But the needs of humans are immediate and primary. When a person is hungry, tired, and cold, and the miraculous power of the free market is working like hell to freeze wages and hiring, shift jobs, outsource, downsize and destroy even the concept that labor is anything more than just another expendable widget to be whittled down to near slavery status — that person doesn't have time to have the free market come up with a solution; they will be dead by the time that happens. That's when the libertarian ideal all comes crashing down; it's a nice dream, but it will never just magically happen, and the lack of an alternate plan, which is where I think my liberal beliefs kick in, will only lead to disaster.
As Bushwack00 said further up the thread, this whole ridiculous notion of the self-made man needs to be done away with, most especially for nerds sitting in their little technology cocoons.
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If there were no big evil government there would be no internet for Ron Paul to leech on
Libertarianism is first and foremost a loyal opposition, a parasitic movement that only exists riding atop of the very organization it purports to loathe.
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Wrong...
.. despite what his backers claim. He wants the federal government to impose a ban on abortion, which most consider a matter of personal liberty.
Wrong... Are all Salon subscribers as ignorant as you?
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Live free in your parents' basement or die!
The rallying cry of internet libertarians nationwide. Heh, heh ... nerds.
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PRO-CHOICE OR NO VOTE FROM ME!
Despite liking a lot of Ron Paul's positions, and libertarian positions in general, I absolutely would NEVER vote for a candidate that was opposed to me having control over my own body (versus government control).
I am talking mainly about abortion, but also any medical control of my body, too. I absolutely do NOT buy into any of the arguments used to justify an anti-choice libertarian; that is an oxymoron to me. Keeping the government off an individual's right to control their own body is a paramount libertarian position that is non-negotiable to me.
I am curious as to the gender divide of Paul's supporters. In my experience choice is a right that men are willing to cast aside much quicker than women are.
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Vote 'em out!
Aranfell: "At least with a government, it's possible to vote them out."
That may have been true once, but with incumbency re-election rates around 98%, it hardly seems to apply to the American system anymore. Heck, even the puppet governments of the Soviet Union occassionally threw someone out, if just for the sake of appearances. But with gerrymandering and other electoral sleight-of-hand, we neither have free markets or free elections. It's the worst of both worlds!
Ask the people of Pakistan how easy it is to "vote out" a government that's corrupt to the core (a condition toward which ours is indisputably heading).
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I cannot believe...
that you would insinuate that the technically savvy are the only ones who would swoon for Ron Paul. Geeks. Libertarians. Whatever. I was a Democrat before I changed for Ron Paul.
It turns out that the internet is used by those who STUDY the candidates closely; catching the details of arguments made in debates. Everytime I pick up a newspaper, I never see Pauls name. Everytime I watch Fox news, I see someone laughing at him or slandering him in order to try and ruin his image amongst voters. Nevertheless, the man has demolished everyone else in the debates! He's winning!
But I never see a newspaper or magazine or television which has lended him credit for his humble heart, superior mind, and incredible will to do what HE ACTUALLY SAYS HE WILL DO!
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/straw-poll-results/
Paul's website posts the outcomes of the straw polls sofar.... and the people are about to wake up about the Special Interests controlled Media of America.