So, I lean libertarian on many things. However, the problem I see with libertarianism is that it posits that people aren't that effected by those around them. Gay sex is fine because it's a personal decision - yeah, I totally agree. Taking on billions in risky loans that cause economic collapse is fine because it's a personal decision - I really disagree.

I hate the idea of paternalism and as someone involved in the small business arena I really wish the government out of my way most of the time. However, people affect others. You buying an SUV increases the aggregate demand for gasoline which raises the price of gasoline and so I pay more at the pump because you bought an SUV. Maybe that shouldn't be regulated, maybe it should. You pollute and lower my standard of living. Maybe it should be regulated, maybe it shouldn't.

The problem is where libertarianism typically draws the line. Shooting me: not ok! Investing in risky stocks that destabilize the economy creating a panic that loses millions of jobs and causes enough chaos in my personal life: that's ok (according to the original poster).

I do have a lot of respect for Milton Friedman - in fact, he argued that one of the functions of government was to combat the neighborhood effect of things like pollution. However, most libertarians I know today aren't so keen on things like pigovian taxes to correct differences between marginal social cost and marginal private cost.

And part of this goes down to freedom of choice. Let's say I decide that a fireworks display would get people together watching it, having BBQs, etc. I could get dominion over the most choice seating from the government, but plenty of people would be able to watch for free - a positive externality. So, there is an argument to be made that this should be subsidized because people won't create enough fireworks displays if they have to pay for it themselves since they can't capture the revenue from the benefits because people can freeload. However, not everyone gets to decide for themselves whether they would appreciate this event. Maybe you hate people and don't want to socialize. Either way, it's unfair to take money from you to pay for something that you might not want.

So, there are two issues: first, there's the issue that I don't want people messing up my life too much. So, there should be (in my opinion) limits on how much stupid risk someone should be allowed to take given that those risks often affect other people. You want to destabilize the economy? No, not ok. Second, there's the issue on how much we should be individuals or how much we should be a society when it isn't such a dire situation. Should the government chip some money into a parade? Should the government encourage community? How far should the government go on pollution? I'm sure no libertarian would argue that the government shouldn't regulate dumping nuclear waste into my drinking water, but what about a coal plant, what about CO2 from cars?

Libertarians aren't foolish people. It's just that often times I find myself thinking, "well, that's fine and good for you, but it doesn't scale." Like, it's fine to let someone like Warren Buffet do whatever the hell he wants. He's responsible, stable, and smart. As we've seen recently, even CEOs commanding many millions a year in compensation aren't able to work without a net.

The problem really is that freedom doesn't exist. There's definitely more freedom and less freedom, but freedom doesn't exist. Why? Because your actions affect me. The fact that some geniuses at Citibank and others screwed up makes it harder for me to switch jobs, means raises are going to be nil this year, etc. The freedom they had took away freedom I had. And so it becomes a balancing act and often I get lectures about freedom as if it isn't such a balancing act.

How do you deal with this balancing act? I don't know. It's hard. You want to maximize happiness. This is probably my biggest beef with libertarianism because freedom != happiness even if there is a strong correlation. Maximizing freedom for freedom's sake just seems silly to me. Anyway, it isn't always clear how to maximize happiness and in some cases you just try to do the best you can and fail. I really hate any pure philosophy. I just don't think any of them apply in life. And libertarianism, in its pure form, just doesn't work. People affect each other. If you're willing to bend libertarianism a bit and keep a strong eye on freedom while making sure you keep in mind how one's actions affect others (both directly and indirectly), I respect you.

Hopefully that was halfway coherent. We'll see tomorrow morning.