I've stayed out of this thread until now, because over the years I have learned the utter futility in having political discussions with hardcore liberals. It's simply not worth it. Conservatives sometimes have a somewhat better grip on reality and can actually have a discussion where it doesn't immediately devolve into a puddle of histrionics, but not always.
If you are actually interested in learning what libertarians believe, there are many fine and reliable sources all over the internet. RTFM. David Bergland's "Libertarianism in One Lesson" is an excellent primer, but it isn't free. Liberals & Libertarians, even though it hasn't been updated in years, is a good starting place for its FAQs, including one from open source maven Eric Raymond: http://www.impel.com/liblib/FAQs.html. Take the world's smallest political quiz, tho' the site is a bit cluttered: http://www.theadvocates.org/index.html. If you find the female form interesting and need further persuasion to join Team Purple, Libertarian Hotties is a fun site: http://libhotties.com/. I'll, of course, plug Reason magazine too. http://www.reason.com. Plenty of sites out there. I'm happy to answer any actual factual inquiries about libertarianism, and I'm sure Matthew is too, but no, I won't be dragged into a pointless, partisan, bickering, political argument. If anyone actually wants to learn, rather than wallow in self-rationalizing ignorance, please do ask questions, but otherwise, don't bother with a response. > -----Original Message----- > To me the cutting tax (ad nauseum...), small hands off government, > "free" trade concepts are just "me me me" first types trying to make > sure nobody gets in the way of "them getting theirs" and they have been > increasingly motivated in the last 25 years or so to come strongly and > selfishly forward by a trend of increasing American scarcity and > diminishing prospects. > > I wouldn't want to be standing in line for the lifeboats on a sinking > ship with any of these types around. > > That they argue that such policy is best for all of us is just > superficial and insincere BS propaganda ... a slim cover for an > otherwise socially unacceptable self serving philosophy. I'm convinced > that by nature they subjectively don't really give a functional damn > about the good of the whole so debating the economic and governance > points with them makes about as much sense as trying to talk a wolf out > of eating meat. > > If the last decade didn't prove out the bankruptcy of their theories of > governance, I don't know what ever will. > > But I do learn a lot from other types in discussing such matters so I > guess our string is worthwhile. > Betty. for one... you are a treasure trove of information and reason! ************************************************************************* ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *************************************************************************
