"Why I fled libertarianism and became a liberal."

[pnwmom]

http://www.salon.com/2013/12/28/why_i_fled_libertarianism_and_became_a_liberal/

The night before the 2008 Nevada Republican convention, the Ron Paul delegates all met at a Reno high school. Although I’d called myself a libertarian for almost my entire adult life, it was my first exposure to the wider movement.

And boy, was it a circus. Many members of the group were obsessed with the gold standard, the Kennedy assassination and the Fed. Although Libertarians believe government is incompetent, many of them subscribe to the most fringe conspiracy theories imaginable. Airplanes are poisoning America with chemicals (chemtrails) or the moon landings were faked. Nothing was too far out. A great many of them really think that 9-11 was an inside job. Even while basking in the electoral mainstream, the movement was overflowing with obvious hokum.

SNIP

Then next day, I ran into that same operative at the convention, and I complimented her because Ron Paul delegates were being accepted into the crowd. I added, “We‘re going to win this thing.”

“Bring in the clowns,” she said, and smiled before I lost her in the mass of people.

I will never forget that moment: Bring in the clowns. At the time, I considered myself a thoughtful person, yet I could hardly claim to be one if you judged me by the company I kept. The young lady knew something I had not yet learned: most of our supporters were totally fucking nuts.

SNIP

[MindMover]

1. Could it be because of this reason ...

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/41483660@N04/6657578499/" title="libertarianism-anarchy-for-rich-people , on Flickr"><img src=""

[freshwest]

2. All 24 Types of Libertarians Were There:

[Walk away]

3. This never gets old. I know one of almost all of them! nt

[freshwest]

7. Yes, it stays current because they haven't changed a bit. n/t

[Beartracks]

8. "I can test my OWN food for botulism!" I'd LOL but it's scary that they think that way. n/t

[MindMover]

16. I like your caricatures ... very cool ...

[arely staircase]

4. great quote

Yet I don’t want to gloss over the good things about libertarians. They are generally supportive of the gay community, completely behind marijuana legalization and are often against ill-considered foreign wars, but a few good ideas don’t make up for some spectacularly bad ones.

[Pharaoh]

5. And they question

the shoddy 911 investigation.......

[onestepforward]

6. Edited by me.

I read the thread wrong. It was the subtitle of the article, not the DUer's comment.

[pnwmom]

9. How can you tell?

[onestepforward]

10. Please see above

[blkmusclmachine]

11. Hey,

Do you really trust George W. Bush to tell you the unvarnished truth, or even realize the truth if it was put right in front of his face ??

[Prophet 451]

12. Libertarianism is, in the end...

...a wish that poor people die rather than having to pay taxes to keep them alive. It's a fairy-tale, a con-job, anarchy for people who don't have the balls to commit and want police protection from their slaves. It's probably the most irresponsibly idea in modern history (with the possible exception of the printable gun).

[ErikJ]

13. When Buzz Aldrin decked that guy it was if he did it to all the silly conspiracy theorists for me.

I would do that to all them if I could. Starting with Issa and his endless witch-hunts.

[DeSwiss]

14. The Classical ''Ah-ha'' moment.

- You can't get any better than the Old Standards.....

K&R

[chungking34]

15. Libertarianism can be summed up in one statement

"I've got mine, fuck you". That's libertarian ideology in a nutshell. A truly despicable ideology, I must add.

[calimary]

19. Welcome to DU, chungking34!

Glad you're here! My dad used to joke about it. "IGMFU," he'd say. Which still stands for "I Got Mine, F-U." Such a congenial, generous, compassionate, Christ-centered philosophy, dontchathink?

[Number23]

17. Trying... not to... notice... similarities

Many members of the group were obsessed with the gold standard, the Kennedy assassination and the Fed. Although Libertarians believe government is incompetent, many of them subscribe to the most fringe conspiracy theories imaginable. Airplanes are poisoning America with chemicals (chemtrails) or the moon landings were faked. Nothing was too far out. A great many of them really think that 9-11 was an inside job.

Their saving grace is a complete lack of organizational ability, which is why they are always trying to take over the Republican Party, rather than create a party of their own.

((sitting on my hands))

[pnwmom]

20. That's the basic problem with any flavor of anarchists.

How the heck do you get people organized?

[Number23]

21. But I think the real issue is that they aren't seeking organization as much as invade and conquer

It's too much work to start anything from scratch. Much, much easier to invade structures that are already there and try to push out the current members.

And as this article notes, that's exactly what the libertarians of the right are trying to do. And as anyone that's spent more than five minutes on this web site can see, they are not alone.

[calimary]

18. "Bring in the clowns" indeed. Stinks too bad even for you, 'eh, Edwin?

Amazing piece from this Edwin Lyngar dude.

SNIP

"If you think that selfishness and cruelty are fantastic personal traits, you might be a libertarian. In the movement no one will ever call you an asshole, but rather, say you believe in radical individualism."

SNIP

"The Republican convention didn’t turn me off of libertarians, but I started losing respect for the movement while watching the financial meltdown. Libertarians were (rightly) furious when our government bailed out the banks, but they fought hardest against help for ordinary Americans. They hated unemployment insurance and reduced school lunches. I used to say similar things, but in such a catastrophic recession isn’t the government supposed to help? Isn’t that the lesson of the Great Depression?"

SNIP

"During Obama’s first term, I also went to graduate school for creative writing at progressive college, and I settled into my marriage with my wife, a Canadian and “goddamn liberal.” I can’t point to just one thing that pushed me left, but in Obama’s first term I had a change of heart, moving from a lifelong extreme into the bosom of conventional liberalism.

I began to think about real people, like my neighbors and people less lucky than me. Did I want those people to starve to death? I care about children, even poor ones. I love the National Park system. The best parts of the America I love are our communities. My libertarian friends might call me a fucking commie (they have) or a pussy, but extreme selfishness is just so isolating and cruel. Libertarianism is unnatural, and the size of the federal government is almost irrelevant. The real question is: what does society need and how do we pay for it?"

No shit, Sherlock. Gee, ya THINK????????

Shit - this whole damn thing is one for my quotes file. And he finishes up with a good one:

"If you believe the Johann Wolfgang von Goethe quote “None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free,” then libertarians live in a prison of their own ideology."

I guess some souls really CAN be saved. How 'bout that!

[maxsolomon]

22. SEND in the Clowns.

Sweet Jesus, can no one keep their cultural references straight anymore?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Send_in_the_Clowns