"Hawke" wrote in message
...
On 6/3/2011 10:22 PM, Ed Huntress wrote:
"David R. wrote in message
...
On 6/3/2011 8:20 AM, Ed Huntress wrote:
"David R. wrote in message

The Libertarian Party is libertarian right. The libertarian left is
less concerned about economics and more focused on individual
rights, but also less inclined to politics.

The libertarian left and right are more unalike than the
authoritarian left and right. As far as their effects, the Dems and
Reps, as they represent the authoritarian left and right, are
becoming indistinguishable. Lots of bluster and righteous
indignation, but they end up serving the same interests.

David

"Emphasis" is all well and good, but I'm asking about which specific
policies a left libertarian would support or not. Maybe you can clear
it up with few examples. Does a left libertarian support the idea
that we should not have state-supported education, that every parent
is responsible to pay for the education of his kids, in a
private-school market? And, second, does a left libertarian support a
completely free banking market, in which anyone can set up a bank,
issue credit at will and trade in derivatives under the table, with
no government oversight of securities markets? Third, does a left
libertarian support selling food and drugs with no Pure Food and
Drug Act in place, no inspection of meat, and no certification of
pharmaceuticals?

I've noticed you usually read what you reply to, why not this time?

Those are key points of contention between the people who usually
call themselves libertarian and the rest of us.

I don't speak for those who "call themselves libertarian", just myself.

Well, you're calling *yourself* libertarian, so the question is what you
mean by that.

It sounds like your views are like those that used to be called "civil
libertarians." Maybe you guys need a new description that distinguishes
you
from Libertarians. d8-)


It sounds like you're saying that those are "right" libertarian
positions. Are they also left libertarian positions?

I'd be surprised if you could find two left libertarians who would agree
enough on much to be able to say there really are any positions.
Authoritarians have it so much easier since they have leaders to tell
what
their positions should be.

David

You've left it unclear how "authoritarian" you would be about economic
issues. If you don't care, that's one thing. If you oppose all
regulation,
then you're close to what you're calling a "right" libertarian, or a
Libertarian. If you favor some regulation, then you're closer to the
center,
with a strong civil-liberties interest.

That makes it hard to identify what someone means when he says
"libertarian." Maybe the Libertarians will set up a sub-category for you
guys...


I'm pretty sure that you know that most of the guys who are calling
themselves libertarians aren't really libertarians. People who are true
libertarians belong to the party and believe in the party platform. Take a
poll and you find hardly anyone belongs in that category.

What you have instead is a bunch of right wingers who are in essence anti
government, but pretty much only when Democrats are in power. When
republicans are in power you find these same anti government guys
supporting all kinds of intrusive big government policies like war,
deficit spending, and police state expansion.

They're really just conservatives who are anti government when Democrats
run the country. They're whiners who partake from the "socialist" welfare
state as much as anyone else and would not like that to end. They're
libertarians just like we all are libertarians when the government does
something we don't personally want done. You can tell they're not really
libertarians because when it comes to election day virtually all of them
vote straight republican tickets. In reality they're just fair weather
libertarians, meaning they're a libertarian whenever it suits them. But
most of the time they're just conservative republicans.

Hawke

That's a good observation, and pretty close to being spot-on. The "left
libertarian" type that David described, and as Curly describes himself,
would be interesting to observe in terms of their voting patterns.

--
Ed Huntress