The Name of Love
Far Right Nutjob
I've spoken in great lengths on this website about the theoretical problems with Libertarianism, how I think it wouldn't make for a cohesive society, that its understanding of human nature and the State is wrong, etc. But this thread is NOT about that.
This thread is about the failure of libertarianism as a political movement. This failure has been seen multiple times throughout the movement's history. They can't seem to get their people into office or even gain widespread support. This is very odd to me because libertarian principles are, on their face, very hard to disagree with. Liberty, political freedom, voluntary association, the non-aggression principle... who can really argue against that? It's the political incarnation of live and let live, the distilled wisdom of the Enlightenment boiled down into a few simple slogans.
It isn't because it's unpopular. Libertarians have similar numbers in the population to conservatives and liberals. And while self-identified libertarians aren't that common, a large number of people have libertarian beliefs. Yet they lose. A lot.
I'd like to hear you guys' answers to this problem.
This thread is about the failure of libertarianism as a political movement. This failure has been seen multiple times throughout the movement's history. They can't seem to get their people into office or even gain widespread support. This is very odd to me because libertarian principles are, on their face, very hard to disagree with. Liberty, political freedom, voluntary association, the non-aggression principle... who can really argue against that? It's the political incarnation of live and let live, the distilled wisdom of the Enlightenment boiled down into a few simple slogans.
It isn't because it's unpopular. Libertarians have similar numbers in the population to conservatives and liberals. And while self-identified libertarians aren't that common, a large number of people have libertarian beliefs. Yet they lose. A lot.
I'd like to hear you guys' answers to this problem.