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Given how often libertarians are mentioned here, I thought this would be interesting. And maybe there's some people with a lot more insight into what's going on.
A few months back (May 29), the national leadership of the Libertarian Party (the "Big L" political party, not the "small l" belief system) was taken over by a group called the "Mises Caucus". While their platform seems to be a mundane version of a normal platform.
In recent days, there's several state level "rebellions" which seems to indicate that the schism between the old guard and them isn't going away any time soon.
For me, they do seem to tilt at absolutist windmills rather than do stuff they want done - which is a common libertarian flaw. And the implicit emphasis on Mises economics is a huge problem for me. Their stance against vaccination and supporting Trump's allegations of election fraud seem pretty shifty.
OTOH, the previous leadership didn't seem all that interested in libertarianism. Maybe this will shake things up in a useful way?
So what are peoples' takes on this?
A few months back (May 29), the national leadership of the Libertarian Party (the "Big L" political party, not the "small l" belief system) was taken over by a group called the "Mises Caucus". While their platform seems to be a mundane version of a normal platform.
In recent days, there's several state level "rebellions" which seems to indicate that the schism between the old guard and them isn't going away any time soon.
For me, they do seem to tilt at absolutist windmills rather than do stuff they want done - which is a common libertarian flaw. And the implicit emphasis on Mises economics is a huge problem for me. Their stance against vaccination and supporting Trump's allegations of election fraud seem pretty shifty.
OTOH, the previous leadership didn't seem all that interested in libertarianism. Maybe this will shake things up in a useful way?
So what are peoples' takes on this?
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squatcho, n.:
The button at the top of a baseball cap.
-- "Sniglets", Rich Hall & Friends
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 18 2022, @04:54PM
That the big 'L' Libertarians are (despite protestations to the contrary) not libertarians.
Rather, they variations on Anarcho-Capitalists [wikipedia.org]. That is to say, to some degree, lawless, might-makes-right narcissists who would create a new feudal system.
I suppose communities (sized smaller than Dunbar's Number [wikipedia.org]) whose members have relatively equal levels of resources could make such a fantasy work on that small scale.
But on any scale larger than a couple hundred people, this would quickly devolve into fiefdoms and tyrannical, feudalism-like structures.
As a left-leaning libertarian (small l), that sort of organization (as is advocated, at varying levels of implementation, by pretty much all right-leaning libertarians) at scales larger than a few hundred, relatively homogeneous folks, seems destined to lead to a reduction in liberty for most, with those who have the most resources dominating and exploiting those with fewer resources.
The solution, of course, is to focus on maximizing individual liberties mediated by strong government ensuring that the exercise of on individual or group's liberty does not limit or negatively impact the liberty of other individuals or groups.
Maximizing individual liberty at scale requires strong governmental, political and social institutions to ensure that those liberties are protected. This does not mean that the government owns the means of production, nor does it mean that the government creates a "planned" economy.
Rather, it means that the government makes sure (through contract/civil/criminal law and enforcement of same) that all individuals are treated fairly, equitably and equally, regardless of their circumstances.
For the "right-libertarians", this is anathema, as they generally believe that any exercise of power by an individual is acceptable, regardless of impact on those around them, as long as that power is exercised against those with fewer resources.
And so the folks who call themselves (in the new or old incarnations of the Libertarian Party) Libertarian are not really libertarians, but supporters of tyrannical, despotic rule by those with most resources -- oligarchy.