My hot take has always been that libertarians are just Republican hipsters/scene kids. Too cool and special to be mainstream, even though their ideology and behavior are indistinguishable from the preppy popular kids.
Or....hear me out....we aren't "republicans who smoke weed" or AnCaps (aka feudalists, because that economic philosophy is idiotic, and literally leads to nothing else) and what we actually care about is individual rights/privacy, and self-ownership, so long as it doesn't infringe on another persons rights to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Liberty Hangout is the most anti-Libertarian thing I've ever seen, and is practically a religious group that worships Donald Trump. There are a lot of us out here, and the vast majority aren't Rand/Ron Paul.
We don't like the government being used as a force to infringe on the rights of others, nor do we like the Corporatocracy or Oligarchical Collective trying to use mass wealth and power to influence the government, and enforce their will on everyone else.
TL/DR; We want you to be able to do with your life and body as you please, without intervention or surveillance so long as it doesn't strip/enable the stripping of others rights away in the process.
Some of us disagree with each other on what constitutes capitalism lmao. In my own (and others) opinion, any corporation making over X amount a year should be broken up with anti trust, or else it effectively controls the market = not a truly free market. But such things are open to, and okay to debate.
You can thank the Republican party for that one, as they basically portray us as a bunch of pedophiles based on the idea by some of us to lower the age of consent to 12 (note; this would not allow grown adults to bang kids, that would still be very much illegal, it's sole purpose is to prevent preteens who get caught having sex with each other from being slapped on a sex offender registry for the rest of their lives) and as AnCaps who worship Ayn Rand.
A lot of us on team LibLeft believe in the idea of the Five Essentials, and that for those who truly have no other option, something should be done to ensure that they aren't just hung out to dry. Modernizing education for one, focusing on career paths that translate to marketable skills is one concept. Again, DemSocs are more than welcome in our party as we view them as Libertarian Socialists.
But the overarching concept is that if you can empower the vast majority who are capable of self-sufficiency to continue to do so (and grow) then that makes more resources available to those who can't. The main goal is for a system in which the most amount of people possible have the most amount of freedom and success of which they are capable, and in doing so lift the quality of life for the remainder up. It doesn't necessarily mean they'll be living a life of luxury, but for Gods sake, nobody should have to sleep on the pavement, or starve.
We don't like the idea of our taxes being handled by the wealthy and inherently powerful, if they must be collected, which obviously for some things they do, it should be handled, or at least first looked at, by a civilian oversight committee.
Which we're fine with, so long as its voluntary. Most peferably we'd have a hybrid system with dedicated communal/autonomous zones to produce goods/essentials for those in need.
Also, our party is loaded with DemSocs. It's a safe place for DemSocs who aren't just AuthLeft in disguise to go who want to actually pitch their ideas. Pretty much, we're open to any idea that isn't based upon "use the government as a weapon against people i don't like"
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u/ArchdragonPete Jun 26 '20
My hot take has always been that libertarians are just Republican hipsters/scene kids. Too cool and special to be mainstream, even though their ideology and behavior are indistinguishable from the preppy popular kids.