Libertarianism is a Flawed Philosophy

I'm basing my opening argument on your previous debates on this topic that went woefully unanswered... First off, I believe we need to properly define the libertarian viewpoint. Libertarians are interested in individual freedoms. At the heart of libertarianism is the idea that the individual is responsible for his life, liberty, and property, and that an external influence (government) is only needed with the individual might do something that would create an injustice toward another individual's rights. While it is true that libertarians prefer a smaller government, it is much more accurate to say they prefer a government that runs the country instead of their lives. This is to say that the government has no place telling individuals how to conduct their private affairs (look up Griswold v. Connecticut if that is confusing). Taxes are a necessary evil, even by libertarian standards. The government actually has the right to collect taxes to build roads to distribute the mail, and under the interstate commerce clause, they can collect taxes on all sorts of other things. There's nothing confusing about this. It's the law of the land, which even libertarians are bound by (o.0). Granted, libertarians may take issue with things like income and property tax, which are not found in the Constitution, and any reasonable individual should object there too. Saying Libertarians want the lowest possible taxes is kind of a dumb argument, because EVERYONE wants the lowest possible taxes. The free market leaves some people behind? It is a basic rule of any political or economic system that there are always winners and losers. Your argument here says nothing of the free market in and of itself, but rather claims that Libertarians take from the rich and don't give to the poor. I ask you... what do the poor have so that the evil Libertarians may take from them as well? Also, if the Libertarians take from the rich and give to the poor, how is this at all fair for the rich, who have their money by virtue of merit (past or an ancestor)? It seems to me that you're advocating communism, and we all know how that works - it degrades to socialism, puts power in the hands of the elite few, and furthers the gap between the rich and the poor. Oh wait... that's what you complained about in the first place... hmm... By the way - the Libertarians couldn't have had control of the government in the 20's because the Libertarian party wasn't founded till 1971. Blaming the Depression on libertarianism is pure folly - the cause of the depression was buying stock on speculation, which is a function of the market, not a political ideology. If anything is to "blame" for the depression, it's the companies and stock brokers that tried to artificially inflate the value of their stock. "We need government, as much as Ron Paul hotheads might disagree. We need the FDA. It keeps our food safe to eat. We need the EPA. It keeps our environment nice, clean, and liveable. We need the IRS. It sort of manages our government and keeps it running. We need the FCC. It stops pornography and offensive content from getting on a television that a child could turn on. Yes, reform of these institutions is needed, but we should not get rid of them. Society cannot moderate itself." I'm not sure what the point of that paragraph is. Any libertarian with any sense about how government works will tell you that all those institutions are functional and needed in government today. Your last sentence about societal self-moderation is not really accurate either. The FCC is a societal construct for the purpose of moderating the public space. I would suggest you read the beginning of Plato's "The Republic" - it's all about societal self-moderation. Socrates speaks at quite some length about how different ideas and concepts are not to be allowed in the public space because of the individual reactions they engender. So far, I have seen nothing more than an attack on the capitalist economy and free market, and an erroneous claim that Libertarians are at fault for the Great Depression. I await a rebuttal.