Libertarians’ true identity revealed: Rich conservatives OK with gay people, basically

[DonViejo]

With Rand Paul and the "Libertarian Moment" allegedly arriving, a reminder of who really identifies as libertarian

JIM NEWELL

The New York Times Magazine recently wondered at length if the long-prophecied Libertarian Moment had finally arrived. Why, just look at the prevailing attitudes in America: openness to same-sex marriage and liberalization of drug laws, aversion to long-term overseas military deployments (“wars”), and … um … Obama is unpopular so people hate government regulation now, maybe? Sure. Well, no. As we wrote, libertarianism as a package is going to be a hard sell to the public as long as it dismisses concerns over economic insecurity and insists upon dismantling the regulatory state and large social insurance programs. But hey, it’s great that libertarians and liberals have common ground on and are making headway in social and criminal justice policy.

Who would be the foot soldiers in this Libertarian Moment that’s not really arriving? The usual, well-funded thinkers that have given the “movement” a disproportionately large voice within debates in Washington, D.C., for decades — Reason magazine, the Cato Institute — along with a few MTV VJs from the ’90s. Also: Rand Paul! Rand Paul is the son of a libertarian and is sort of a libertarian himself and is going to be the next president, after all. And then America will finally be the sexy free-market rock ‘n’ roll paradise of libertarians’ imagination. There is a plan, folks.

But any political movement is going to need more than just a few magazines and think tanks and a scion whose political future depends on the extent to which he’s willing to water down his libertarianism. Meaning: Libertarianism needs a lot more libertarians. If libertarianism is going to be the wave of the future, a significant portion of the American populace should a) know what “libertarianism” is and then b) subscribe to it.

Right now that portion is 11 percent — not nothing, but also … 11 percent. That’s the figure according to Pew of Americans who “both say they are libertarian and know the definition of the term.”

more
http://www.salon.com/2014/08/26/libertarians_true_identity_revealed_rich_conservatives_ok_with_gay_people_basically/

[FSogol]

1. Bullshit: "libertarians and liberals have common ground"

[Wounded Bear]

3. Eh, whatever...

there are a couple of issues where there is agreement, although the reasons behind agreeing on a given desired outcome differ greatly, not to mention the means of achieving said aims.

[ecstatic]

10. That's the point

If the reasons and desired outcomes differ, there is no common ground.... unless there's a way to successfully dismantle a law or practice without putting an even worse policy in place.

[Wounded Bear]

2. Basically, what I've always thought...

Libertarians tend to be those who have already made it, are doing well and relatively secure for the future, and who think government's main job is protecting them from all those 'takers' on the bottom.

[apnu]

4. More or less.

The libertarians I know. True Libertarians, not the teabagging astro-turf fools, but actual people who've been Libertarians before it was sexy, even before Howard Stern's silly Presidential run (*cough* I mean publicity stunt). Those people know that too and will admit it.

One guy even likes to joke that being a libertarian means he wants all the government services and protections "for free" he means he want's all the good stuff form government but doesn't have to pay for it. He cracks himself up every time he says it, which is like every day.

I do not know one libertarian that isn't already comfortable and well off. I know plenty of poor and struggling Republicans, but no Libertarian I know is poor.

[Rozlee]

5. Most libertarians I know today are Ron Paul groupies instead of genuine libertarians.

Real libertarians used to believe in a woman's right to choose. Too many of them now parrot Ron Paul's anti-choice stand due to his pandering to the Republican right wing and too many of them are homophobic for the same reason. In all, libertarians just aren't sexy. They're a movement that appeals to mostly young white males, not females and minorities. Reading some of their blogs is like reading a men's rights website, crying about how men are supporting women by signing their welfare checks and handing out birth control pills so we can have irresponsible sex all day and breed like bunnies on crack.

[stevenleser]

7. Both Pauls have pandered to the GOP to gain support. They embraced anti-choice for one

in order to have a shot at getting elected.

Any belief that progressives think they might like is a potential candidate for them to throw under the bus to assuage GOP fears about them.

[Rozlee]

8. If they were genuine libertarians, they'd be in the Libertarian Party.

Republican Libertarians and Republican apologists who claim they're libertarians don't make any sense.

[winter is coming]

6. I always thought it was Republicans who want to smoke pot legally.

[greymattermom]

9. Southern racists

who like to smoke pot. Describes the libertarians I know.

[Matrosov]

11. Most conservatives hate "potheads"

Most conservatives I've come across think those who want to legalize pot are nothing more than hippies that would rather get high all day than work.

Just another reason social conservatives and libertarians aren't best of friends.