Don’t Be THAT Libertarian: How Certain Strains Muddy the Message – The Libertarian Republic

LISTEN TO TLRS LATEST PODCAST:

By Caleb Coggeshall

The libertarian movement is still in need of converts, no doubt. However, some who try to spread the message might not always the most qualified to do so. Libertarians themselves can mess the process up and inadvertently turn people away. There are certain donts for the liberty movement and its crucial to keep a few of them in mind.

Note: I am probably as guilty as any fellow libertarian of committing a few of these transgressions.

This person believes that if you take one step out of line, you arent a true liberty lover. Dont like Murray Rothbard? Youre not a real libertarian.

You dont believe that we should completely do away with drivers licenses? Then you dont know what the liberty movement is about.

The purist can also have a knack for deterring potential newcomers, in that they immediately go straight to recommending daunting works such as The Fountainheador Atlas Shrugged.

Unfortunately, this is the one libertarian that sometimes gets the most attention in our society. They advocate legalizing just about every drug under the sun, but shrug their shoulders when asked about the market, individualism, self defense and healthcare. This guy is the reason that many libertarians are falsely accused of just being a bunch of potheads.

I first became familiar with this term when I was in college and one of my classmates described himself as such. This was before I made the move to the liberty movement myself, but even then I remember thinking: What exactly is that? Isnt there just libertarian? Left libertarians muddy the waters when it comes to the freedom movement: theyre pro-gun, to an extent. Theyre pro-market, to an extent. Theyre anti-government, to an extent. Depending on who you talk to, Gary Johnson could be considered as such a person (though I personally think hes just a progressive republican). The man doesnt know how to explain the libertarian movement because he doesnt know what it truly is. He knows it has something to do with freedom (or something like that) and legalizing marijuana.He has managed to confuse people rather than convert them.

When people think of this particular dude, they probably think of V for Vendetta: blowing up government buildings, hacking into the pro-government news channels and murdering politicians. Now these are extreme examples, of course, but nevertheless, there are those in the modern freedom campaign that believe all government programs should immediately be defunded and done away with. And right after that they want the entire government abolished. Now these are not all necessarily bad wishes, the problem is that the burn-it-down person thinks it will all happen overnight. Progressivism took a century or so to take complete hold of our government and society, it will probably take more than one year to eradicate it.

The reason I write this list is because I have experienced infighting within liberty oriented groups and the constant squabbling has done nothing to promote freedom. Sometimes individuals get into petty spats, trying to see who is the more libertarian. People can become so preoccupied with the details that they forget its all about a simple concept: self-governance.

ayn randGary Johnsonleft libertarianismlibertarianismV for Vendetta

Follow this link:

Don't Be THAT Libertarian: How Certain Strains Muddy the Message - The Libertarian Republic