Libertarianism

{{silver}}{{Politics}}
{{hatnote|Not to be confused with [[Free_will|metaphysical libertarianism]] or [[cultural libertarianism]], or especially civil libertarianism or [[Socialism#Libertarian socialism|libertarian socialism]].}}
{{cquote|One of the more pretentious political self-descriptions is “Libertarian.”﻿ People think it puts them above the fray. It sounds fashionable, and to the uninitiated, faintly dangerous. Actually, it’s just one more [[bullshit]] political philosophy.|||[[George Carlin]]<ref>''Napalm and Silly Putty'' by George Carlin. [https://archive.org/details/napalmsillyputty00carl_1/page/338/mode/2up?q=Libertarian p. 339.]</ref>}}
'''Libertarianism''' is, at its simplest, the antonym of [[authoritarianism]], at least according to some libertarians (e.g., as in the [[Political Compass]]). The term was coined at the end of the 18<sup>th</sup> century (in the sense of ''[[Free will|metaphysical]]'' libertarianism), first being used politically in Joseph Dejacque's letter to Proudhon titled "On the Human Being, Male and Female"<ref>[https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/joseph-dejacque-on-the-human-being-male-and-female On the Human Being, Male and Female] by Joseph Déjacque (1857) ''The Anarchist Library''.</ref> and was used mainly for self-identification with [[Anarchism|anarcho-communism]] and labor movements. In the 20th century, {{wpl|Albert Jay Nock}} {{lived|1870|1945}} and [[H.L. Mencken]] {{lived|1880|1956}} were among some of the first prominent figures in the United States who used the term libertarianism to refer to themselves.<ref>Burns, Jennifer (2009). ''Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 309.</ref> However, [[Murray Rothbard]] was most responsible for popularizing libertarianism to describe a political and social philosophy that advocates [[laissez-faire]] [[capitalism]] as a [[panacea]] for virtually ''everything''.<ref>Cantor, Paul (2012). ''The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture: Liberty Vs. Authority in American Film and TV''. University Press of Kentucky. p. 353.</ref> Non-libertarians view this as synonymous with [[oligarchy|oligarchic]] [[plutocracy]] after the fashion of the American [[Gilded Age]]. Meanwhile, the [[reality-based community]] tends to realize that one cannot just yank [[economic]] concepts [[PIDOOMA|out of the air and magically expect them to work]].

This anti-[[government]] phenomenon is found primarily throughout most Western countries, particularly in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe. The term "liberal" is generally used to define the American and Canadian meaning of neoclassical libertarianism. The word "libertarian" itself generally refers to the general support of individual freedoms, regardless of economic policy. Historically, the term has been associated with [[Socialism#Libertarian socialism|libertarian socialism]] and even sometimes [[anarchism]] in its more extreme case. However, this article mainly covers ultra-[[liberalism|liberal]] libertarianism in the United States, or what's also called "right-libertarianism" (as in "right-wing" not being right).

The US political party most aligned with libertarianism is the [[Libertarian Party]], "America's Third Largest Party",<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081113053920/http://www.lp.org/introduction/americas-third-largest-party Introduction: America's Third Largest Party] ''The Libertarian Party'' (archived from November 13, 2008).</ref> whose candidate obtained  4.5 million, or 3.27 percent, of the vote in the [[2016 U.S. presidential election|2016 presidential election]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170816020647/http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php Official 2016 Presidential General Election Results] (2019) ''Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections''.</ref> This total was greater than their 1 million votes (0.99%) of the popular vote in the [[2012 U.S. presidential election|2012 presidential election]]<ref>[https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/2012pres.pdf Official 2012 Presidential General Election Results] (January 17, 2013) ''Public Disclosure Division, Office of Communications, Federal Election Commission''.</ref> and 0.32% of the popular vote<ref>[https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/2004tables.pdf 2004 Election Results] ''Federal Election Commission''. Libertarian Party gets 0.32% of popular vote.</ref> in the [[2004 U.S. presidential election|2004 presidential election]] (though, if any amount of fairness is to be given to them, first-past-the-post election methods are mathematically predetermined to trend towards a two-party system).<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160106011837/http://electology.org/spoiler-effect The Spoiler Effect] ''The Center for Election Science''.</ref>

There is also an "[[Objectivist]] Party," formed as a spin-off from the Libertarian Party by those who thought that the party's [[2008 U.S. presidential election|2008 presidential candidate]], [[Bob Barr]], was too left-wing,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080819164022/http://www.nolanchart.com/article4501.html 2008: The Five Faces of Political libertarianism] by rtbohan (August 17, 2008) ''The Nolan Chart''. No, really]</ref> a Boston Tea Party ([[Boston Tea Party|no connection]] other than ideological to [[Tea Party movement|that other tea party]]) formed as a spin-off by those who thought the Libertarian Party had become too right-wing on foreign policy and [[civil liberties]] after the LP deleted much of its platform in 2006, and a [[Liberal]] (read: [[classical liberal]]) Party, for people who didn't like the conservative takeover of the party after the 2022 Libertarian National Convention.<ref name="Reason-1">{{Cite web |last1=Doherty |first1=Brian |title=Mises Caucus Takes Control of Libertarian Party |url=https://reason.com/2022/05/29/mises-caucus-takes-control-of-libertarian-party/ |website=[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]] |date=May 29, 2022 |access-date=28 May 2024}}</ref> That, again, due to the arbitrary definition of the word itself, makes little sense, as the general notion of libertarianism specifically emphasized social liberties, with economics having little to do with the definition itself. However, the term "liberal" has primarily been associated with the left due to the moderate left's support of social liberties, which played into the word "libertarian" becoming popularized in the United States to differentiate between the two.

==Critical definition==
[[File:Nolan chart.png|thumb|right|The [[Nolan chart]]. Libertarians are, naturally, at the top, the [[Godwin's Law|exact opposite of Hitler]].<ref group=note>But when the time comes to criticize actual [[Fascism|fascists]], oh well, [[FA Hayek#Support for Pinochet|fuck]] [[Ludwig von Mises#Quotes|it]].</ref><ref group=note>Also, two things to note on this version of the chart: a) they're listing [[communist]]s as being [[Bullshit|less socially authoritarian]] than [[Nazis]], and b) that the Nazis were "[[Social Darwinism|legislating equality]]."</ref>]]
{{cquote|Basically everyone agrees with libertarians on ''something'', but they tend to get freaked out just as quickly by the [[ideology]]’s other stances.|||Seth Masket<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150412213852/http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/ten-miles-square/2014/08/when_everyones_libertarian_no051633.php When Everyone's Libertarian, No One Is] by Seth Masket (August 13, 2014) ''Washington Monthly''</ref>}}
The dominant form of libertarianism (as found in the US) is an ideology based mainly on [[Austrian School]] economics and [[Chicago School]], or neoclassical, economics. The Austrian School relies on normative [[praxeology|axioms]] rather than hard [[empirical]] analysis, primarily concerned with what is ideal instead of "what is". The branch of libertarianism that has had the most success in influencing public policy is largely informed by the Chicago School.

Proponents of modern libertarianism frequently cite the "Non-Aggression Principle" (NAP) as the moral basis of their ideology. The NAP states that everyone is free to do whatever they want with their lives and property, so long as it does not directly interfere with the freedom of others to do the same. Under this rule, one may only use "force" in response to ''prior'' inappropriate force against the life and/or property of oneself or others. Compare and contrast with [[John Stuart Mill]]'s "The Harm Principle". The critical difference between the two is that libertarians entirely oppose the preemptive use of force. By contrast, Mill and other classical liberals believe that the preemptive use of force to prevent likely future harm can be justified, so long as it is for the greater good. Despite this, Mill believed that it should be seen as a last resort. Morally, modern libertarianism, specifically "classical liberals" of the Chicago School, has primarily been influenced by [[utilitarianism]] on an ethical level, which combines both individualist and some aspects of collectivist thought.

Under any [[logic|logical]] scrutiny, it becomes evident that the precise definition of aggression is highly subjective and supposes a strict libertarian definition of property.<ref>[http://mattbruenig.com/2014/04/20/fun-game-identify-the-aggressor-in-this-animated-gif/ Fun game: identify the aggressor in this animated gif] by Matt Bruenig (April 20, 2014).</ref> Therefore, the NAP can be used in almost ''any'' way its user intends by changing the definition of aggression to suit their particular [[opinion]]/agenda. For example, throwing someone in prison for massive tax evasion is seen as an act of aggression by the [[state]], whereas [[Statutory rape|raping a thirteen-year-old because the child "consented"]] is not seen as aggression.

==View of government==
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{{cquote|Libertarians secretly worry that ultimately someone will figure out that the whole of their political philosophy boils down to "get off my property". News flash: This is not really a big secret to the rest of us.|||John Scalzi<ref>[http://www.scalzi.com/whatever/002984.html I Hate Your Politics] by John Scalzi (March 22, 2002).</ref>}}
Many libertarians, who do not identify as either classically liberal or more left-wing branches, believe that government is the largest threat to an individual's freedom. For this reason, they are closely associated with opposition to [[gun control]], [[PATRIOT Act|government surveillance]], [[Entitlement program|safety nets]], and [[War on Drugs|prohibitory drug policy]].

The primary functions of government that most (emphasis: ''most'') libertarians believe should be permissible elements of the state are:

*Civil courts to handle contract disputes (including fraud) and handle suits of harm (such as dumping hazardous chemicals on land). 
*[[Criminal]] courts and (sometimes) a prison system. 
*A [[police]] force. 
*A (small) standing army. 

This brand of the ideology, often referred to as "minarchism", is as close to pure anarchy one could get while still getting away with calling themselves "libertarian". This governmental structure is often referred to as a "Night-Watchman State". However, instead of dedicating their lives to defending the lands of Westeros from the Wildlings, these folk focus on dedicating their lives to protecting the lands of [[Western world|Western civilization]] from anyone whom they deem a "statist", whatever that means.

It doesn't end there, of course, because if one moves down the spectrum towards the [[extremism|extremes]], more and more things usually handled by the police and criminal courts are instead handled by civil courts. Eventually, even the civil courts are [[privatized]].<ref group=note>This is known as [[anarcho-capitalism]].</ref> This is a very ironic philosophy and, in a sense, makes so-called "libertarians" who believe in this ideology look extremely incoherent for various reasons. Besides the fact that "anarchism" is ''literally'' the root word of anarcho-capitalism, there are some differences between the latter model and mainstream libertarianism, including minarchism, which is commonly seen as a halfway point.

Libertarianism and anarcho-capitalism are often erroneously associated due to a vast misunderstanding of both philosophies. First, it is essential to understand the difference between both economic structures. "Libertarian" is more of a political label than a specific ideology. In fact, libertarianism is a term that encompasses an extensive range of political ideologies that advocate ''limited'' government on a variety of scales and across the political spectrum. Anarcho-capitalism is a specific school of thought encompassed within the "anarchist" belief system. By definition, anarcho-capitalism is "right-wing" anarchism, although this really only exists on paper. If one looks at anarcho-capitalism, one will realize that it is basically a sham. Anarcho-capitalists will virulently argue against their corporatocratic agenda. Still, if one takes a closer look at their views, one will realize that it is nothing more than crony capitalism, if it can even be considered capitalism. Over time, trusts and monopolies would continue to merge, with a single major corporate powerhouse running the economy, making the laws, enforcing the laws, and levying taxes to help support its upkeep. There is nothing libertarian about this, as libertarianism opposes big government and a regulated economy. Anarcho-capitalism is basically a gateway to a political brand of corporatocracy where worldwide business conglomerates become a stand-in for the state. Anarcho-capitalism is a clever way to label an ideology catered to line the pockets of robber barons, industrialists, and business executives to abolish total protectionism to instill their own personal interests upon those of lower economic status. The whole idea and result of the concept are that abolishing the state enables the opportunity to establish a new state disguised as a private corporation. Libertarians, on the other hand, are generally for the [[free market]], speaking of those on the more moderate to right wings. Competition and consumer choice are critical elements of the free market, as well as an emphasis on small businesses and firms owned on a more local level.

Most libertarians, even those on the hard left, oppose most forms of [[taxation]] (as taxes are "theft of property by force") and any function of government outside of a general wish list. Proving that it is not a singularly consistent ideology relating pure ''policy'', there are often layers of [[hypocrisy]] as they have several things they like over others. Additionally, they are against the use of taxes to deal with [[externalities]], commons, or free-rider problems. Their most common remedy for these problems involves using civil suits to deal with (negative) externalities and, in the case of minarchists, the [[privatization]] of commons, which allows civil suits to handle harms to this private property. Of course, these answers are often woefully inadequate in practice.<ref group=note>Notice how ''neither'' of those address free-rider problems nor the lack of incentives for positive externalities like [[vaccine]]s nor that there is no agent with sufficient power under their model to identify commons and make it privately owned.</ref>

Libertarians advocate extensive individual [[rights]] - an ideological stance that has always been consistent with their core beliefs. Libertarians advocate a [[society]] where "anything peaceful and voluntary" is allowed so long as it does not infringe on anyone else's [[life]], [[liberty]], or property or engender force or fraud. However, the exact nature of a right as "positive" or "negative" differs among libertarians, as some may believe that paying taxes for specific social programs is a necessary evil for the sake of national utility (sometimes a view espoused by both classical liberals and left-libertarians). In contrast, many others on the right believe that the government has no right to take a person's hard-earned money to contribute to programs like healthcare, which, while, in its own way, a fair argument from an individual liberty standpoint, is not necessarily for the "greater good," which has always been a principle of libertarian ethical philosophy. It is to be said that many libertarians are opportunists who hate taxes, often seeing themselves as unique and hip for lambasting taxes to the rest of society when, in reality, everyone hates taxes. Most standard libertarians, left-libertarians, and classical liberals agree that the state and taxes are unfortunate necessities.

All libertarians have an intertwined ethical and moral philosophy derived from Mill's utilitarianism. One should be able to do as they please so long as they don't hurt others or the equally important collective. If one wants to pursue faux pleasure, particularly in the hedonistic sense, they should have a right to live their own life as they please, even if those choices have negative, even harmful, consequences. The idea is that those choices are life's natural learning experiences as a means to do something different in the future. Unfortunately, while a libertarian state (ironically funny words to use together) would (hopefully) never endorse such, actions that can physically and mentally harm the body would be allowed under a free society. For example, one might say [[smoking]] in public is a personal liberty that affects nobody. In contrast, another would say it ''forces'' [[second-hand smoke]] upon those around them, interfering with their own right to not inhale smoke (note that most libertarians who are fed their talking points from [[think tank]]s fall into the former category thanks to second-hand smoke [[denialism]]). This is where a divide would rise between classical liberals, who believe in a minimal state, and minarchists, who believe in a microstate. A classical liberal would most likely appeal to the practical idea that the good of a few people is better for ''overall'' utility as opposed to the individual person's desire to smoke a cigarette at that exact location at that very moment. It inconveniences the non-smokers more than it does the smoker. Mill's liberalism proposed that everyone is entitled to their own self-interest (yes, [[Feminism|women too]]) until they impede another person's right to exercise their own self-interest. The self-interest of classical liberalism, which is also economically applied to policy in Chicago School neoclassicism, differs from the self-interested notions espoused by many run-of-the-mill (No, not John Stuart Mill) conservatives and wingnut libertarians, who seem to misinterpret basic economic and social egoism with egotism. Many minarchists and even [[Paul Ryan|certain Republicans who have never expressed a belief in any libertarian policy or platform in their entire political career]] have this weird fetish with the novel ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'' by Russian-born American author and self-proclaimed "philosopher" [[Ayn Rand]]. Her anti-communist opinions and literal hatred of even the mixed economy of the [[Western world|free world's]] democratic system are semi-understandable, given her homeland's descent into tyranny under [[Stalin]], but she was hardly reasonable. Later on, she garnered a cult of personality that would constantly rave about her half-baked ideology, known as "[[Objectivism]]", which seems to be based on half-baked interpretations of [[Aristotle]]'s (somewhat pro-government and ironically somewhat altruistic) philosophies and bad [[Friedrich Nietzsche]] readings. 

Objectivism and utilitarianism are two completely contrasting philosophies. However, both are often applied to modern libertarianism, and the pro-market factions differ in how their views on the topic are expressed. Classical liberals and moderate libertarians are generally more influenced by utilitarianism and other Enlightenment philosophers, while Objectivism is at the heart of many minarchism circles and paleolibertarianism. It has since found its way into mainstream conservatism for some reason. Some Republicans, including the more religious folk, seem to have some fetish for Rand, seeming to, on their own, have half-baked interpretations of an already half-baked philosophy, also seeming not to take into account that Rand was an [[atheist]] and that [[Irony|Objectivism is not all that compatible with Jesus Christ's teachings]].

Most libertarians, with only a handful of exceptions, are generally opposed to expansionism and preemptive military aggression, with most being somewhat skeptical of globalism. This libertarian belief against the prior use of force extends into foreign policy. This is sometimes referred to as a "non-interventionist" foreign policy. That does not automatically make them [[pacifist]]s, necessarily. Some camps vigorously promote the concept of self-defense and usually accept national defense as one of the few legitimate functions of government. However, they tend to agree that the size of the standing military needs to be drastically reduced.

===Political outlook===
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Libertarianism, as a term, has become a sort of buzzword used to describe anyone who wants to lower taxes and dislikes government oversight, both on the right and left. Many right-wingers often refer to themselves as libertarians precisely because they have some obsessive vendetta against the federal government and, in some cases, the establishments of their own party. This is pretty much "faux-libertarianism", as conservatives are generally opposed on a political level to social liberty, which is the original foundation of the movement. As a result, many people confuse libertarians and these Republicans, many of them paleoconservatives and members of the Tea Party. The difference between the two is simple: libertarians want a limited government, while conservative Republicans want the decentralization of executive power. These Republicans tend to be "anti-federalist", favoring states' rights. Libertarians, on the other hand, simply want smaller government in all respects, both on a federal level and at a state level. To them, letting the states dictate tax policy, choosing to exercise extensive government oversight, dictating social liberty, and having central executive power on its own is the same as the federal government having that kind of power. 

Some more conservative-leaning libertarians, also known as paleolibertarians, often express a mixture of those opinions. Despite (or maybe because of) their extreme reverence for the [[United States Constitution]] (particularly an [[originalism|originalist]] reading of the [[Bill of Rights]]), these paleolibertarians are rarely elected to office. Cynics have suggested that refusal to provide adequate [[pork#Politics|pork]] for their district hurts their chances in congressional elections. Other cynics point out that if they don't win an election in the first place, how can their "porcine provision" skills be tested? Libertarianism seems to function as a platform instead of an actual cohesive political movement these days, mainly because there is no specific set belief system to unite all libertarians, even within the Libertarian Party. Often times libertarians have proven that they have a better chance of being elected when they run as Republicans, as were the cases with [[Ron Paul]], [[Rand Paul]], [[Barry Goldwater]], [[Roman emperor|Emperor]] [[Ronald Reagan|Trajan]], Mike Lee, and another guy whose name our editor has forgotten. In his defense, it looks like he just [[Gary Johnson|had an Aleppo moment]].

The narrow usage of "libertarian" as a label is also a cause, as some who take [[moderate]] libertarian positions are frequently called a "free-market [[liberal]]/[[Democrat]]" or a "pro-____ rights [[conservative]]/[[Republican]]" - or even derisive epithets like "[[No True Scotsman|libt kiddies]]." Often, Republicans and reactionary populists appropriate the term for their own usage. So many wingnuts like [[Alex Jones]] and [[Glenn Beck]] have turned many rational people off from the idea of libertarianism, leading many who are not as politically knowledgeable to think that they are all crazy wingnuts. While this can be the case many times, as some conservatives hate the Republican establishment so much that they want to rebrand themselves as something else, libertarianism has nothing to do with conservatism at all, and it never has. It just so happens that right-wing fiscal policy is more in line with that of libertarianism. Other than that, libertarians are basically just your average Democrat, but less, as they would say, "statist".

Libertarianism is such a broad yet, at the same time, almost stupidly simple concept to understand. Like anarchism and authoritarianism, it only describes a general opinion on how the government should be run on an institutional level. It is very similar to [[atheism]]: just as atheism is not a religion, libertarianism is not one set ideological alignment. When one thinks of an atheist, a particular image may come to mind, such as the "[[Fun talk:World of Warcraft|common neckbeard]]", clearly representing the loudest members of the atheist community. A once-respected [[scientist]] turned reactionary bigot, like [[Richard Dawkins]], may also come to mind. That being said, atheists come in many different forms, with drastically different social and political beliefs, such as these types of folks: [[Richard Spencer|Alt-Right]] Loony Tunes, right-wing shitposters, [[conspiracy theorists]], edgy middle schoolers, [[misogynists]], science nerds, secular [[humanists]], your amiable next-door neighbor, [[Bill Maher|dipshit comedians]], philosophers, intellectuals, progressives, someone's drunk uncle, and [[Social justice warrior|radical progressive types]]. Atheism, to reiterate, is not a religious ideology like [[Fundamentalism|some would have you believe]]. The only thing that unites Atheists is a common lack of belief in a [[deity]] of any kind. There is nothing more to it.

Libertarians come in many shapes and sizes and from different ideological backgrounds. There are conservative libertarians, fiscal right-wingers, more conspiracists, classical liberals, leftists, angry middle-aged white men, weed enthusiasts, registered Republicans, registered Democrats, registered Libertarians, social democrats, Christians, Atheists, progressives, non-progressives, objectivists, utilitarians, and even Marxists. The one thing that unites libertarianism is the common belief in the illegitimacy of the state, but a grounded realization that government is still a necessity as it relates to upholding the social order, all of such being centered around the idea that each and every human being is equal and has the right to pursue a means to exercise personal freedom.

==Inspirations==
{{cquote|Ayn Rand, Rand Paul and Paul Ryan walk into a bar. The bartender serves them tainted alcohol because there are no regulations. They die.|||Miss O'Kistic<ref>[http://archive.ph/7sLEt Ayn Rand, Rand Paul and Paul Ryan walk into a bar. The bartender serves them tainted alcohol because there are no regulations. They die.] by Miss O'Kistic (8:14 PM - 13 May 2014) ''Twitter'' (archived from 17 Dec 2018 15:31:11 UTC).</ref>}}
Many libertarians found the [[political philosophy]] through one of a small number of influential [[Fantasy|fiction]] books. The works of novelist [[Ayn Rand]] (''The Fountainhead'', ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'') and [[Robert Heinlein]] (''The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress'') are often cited. For example, many libertarians in the United States might quote Rand's ''Atlas Shrugged'' when they speak of government:

{{cquote|The only proper functions of a government are: the police, to protect you from criminals; the army, to protect you from foreign invaders; and the courts, to protect your property and contracts from breach or fraud by others, to settle disputes by rational rules, according to objective law.|||Galt Speech,<ref>The Galt Speech is available at [https://web.archive.org/web/20090809235124/http://galtse.cx/ this] hilariously named website.</ref> ''Atlas Shrugged''}}

Not that confusing, right?

Other libertarians may point to such works of non-fiction as ''Libertarianism in One Lesson'' by David Bergland, which posit a clear set of axioms and then delineate how society might follow them and how it would be best for everyone.

Many are the ideological descendants of "classical liberals" (by definition, they could arguably be considered more liberal than the American left). However, many "classical liberals" who do not identify as libertarians per se were decidedly more moderate than the current U.S. libertarian movement in that they were willing to accept more government regulations and taxes.<ref>Stein, Herbert (1994-04-06). "Board of Contributors: Remembering Adam Smith." ''The Wall Street Journal'' Asia: A14.</ref> In light of this, modern libertarianism can be better described as a [[radical]] offshoot of classical liberalism. Classical liberals tend to be more intellectual than libertarians and often align themselves more with the two major parties for practical reasons. They tend to be center-left to center-right, and instead of adhering to the "philosophies" of Ayn Rand, they are more attracted to [[utilitarianism]], particularly the teachings suggested by [[John Stuart Mill]], a socialist, an abolitionist, [[feminist]], and atheist who supported [[LGBT|gay rights]]...over a century before the Civil Rights movement even began. They believe that all men and women are essentially good and that the collective and the individual are equally important. Taxes are essentials, and the greater good trumps individual happiness since happiness can be collective. For instance, a classical liberal would most likely dislike something like [[Obamacare]] due to its statist implications. Still, they would be gladly willing to sacrifice a portion of their wealth to ensure that those who cannot afford healthcare could live the happy and healthy life ''they are entitled to.'' After all, are we not all entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?

Internet libertarians have been compared to teenagers by using the ''[[argumentum ad cellarium]]'' fallacy. As an anonymous commenter on Charlie Stross's [[Bitcoin]] rant put it, their concerns ''precisely'' mirror those of privileged teenagers:<ref>[http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2013/12/why-i-want-bitcoin-to-die-in-a.html#comment-1836175 Why I want Bitcoin to die in a fire] by Charlie Stross, ''Charlie's Diary''. Comment #98 by richard.ad.melvin (December 18, 2013 18:35).</ref>

{{quotebox|And if you grow up in your parent's [sic] basement, then you are shaped by an environment where the fundamental constraints on what you want to do are shaped neither by scarcity nor malignance, but ''by genuine good intent''. Your relatives probably don't want you to spend all day smoking pot and playing video games; in some cases they will over-estimate just how much of a bad thing that is. And even if they ''are'' right, it's not like anyone facing such hectoring is going to admit it.

Pretty much every libertarian position can be understood in that frame of restrictive but benevolent authority being the root of all 'real' problems. It's a rare parent who literally tortures their kids, so torture is, at best, not a 'real' issue, not a priority. But many make them do stuff for their health, so mandatory health insurance is a big deal. Pretty much no parents kill their child with drones, many read their diaries. And so on.

So to libertarians, Bitcoin is like wages from a fast food job as opposed to an allowance; lets you buy what you want without someone else having a veto. Only money that doesn't judge you can be considered entirely yours...}}

== Tendency towards bigotry ==

Libertarianism, in practice, does not denote an anti-government philosophy as much as a co-optation of left-wing anti-authoritarianism as a means of justifying (or simply denying) the social and economic hierarchies under capitalism under the guise of freedom.

Murray Rothbard famously bragged that the movement stole the word "libertarian" from anarcho-socialists, something left-libertarians like [[Noam Chomsky]] have confirmed.

A 2013 survey by the Public Religion Research Institute found that US libertarians skew to white (non-Hispanics), male and elderly (over age 50) compared to the population as a whole: 94% vs. 66%, 68% vs. 48%, and 62% vs 53%, respectively.<ref>[https://prri.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/110613.Libertarians1.jpg Libertarians By the Numbers: A Demographic, Religious, and Political Profile] by  Joseph Goodman (11.07.2013) ''Public Religion Research Institute''.</ref>

This is evidenced by the fact some of the most rabid sexists, racists, and other bigots claim to be libertarians. This can range from anti-feminism and sexism under the guise of economic analysis (women ''choose'' lower-paying jobs!), justifying racist and [[ableist]] discrimination, or, most commonly, classism and poor-shaming.

The most egregious examples of libertarianism existing with precisely the intention of justifying structures of privilege are as follows.

*The tendency of libertarians to ignore or outright deny the existence of workplace sexual harassment is a commonly observed phenomenon. Over the last decade, libertarian publications like Reason magazine and libertarians like Cathy Young have consistently underplayed or denied rape culture and how said phenomenon manifests itself in corporate structures. As Catharine A. MacKinnon pointed out in her seminal work ''Sexual Harassment of Working Women'', heterosexual male-dominated property structures, if left entirely unchecked and unregulated, will result in hostile work environments and negative social externalities, which will result in a culture of institutional discrimination, ranging from discouragement in specific fields (mainly STEM) to discrimination in promotions. In extreme cases, these corporate structures will create "secret arbitration" mechanisms to ignore the rule of law. This phenomenon is often either completely glossed over and ignored or is justified using pseudo-liberal language like "due process" or using sexist bigotry, a la "Women don't want to be engineers" or "Women just want to be housewives".

*Libertarians often ignore that a vast concentration of wealth ownership will typically result in outrageously high levels of nepotism. In other words, if there are five landlords in town and they all appoint their mediocre sons ([[Donald Trump|ring a bell?]]) as CEOs of their real estate companies, competition doesn't matter, and [[Thomas Sowell]]'s insistence that capitalism produces optimal labor markets doesn't ring true. Given what this means for class mobility, this is often justified using copious amounts of [[classism]] and, if the society has a large brown underclass, racism.
*:Labor rights (job safety or the [[Trade union|right to organize]]) and the rights of [[poor]] or oppressed people are generally ignored. For example, the right-libertarian Canadian think tank {{wpl|Fraser Institute}} ranked Honduras as having the second highest economic freedom in the world in 1975 (after Hong Kong) at a time when Honduras was under military dictatorship. Guatemala, Nicaragua, Paraguay, and Uruguay also ranked in the top 15 countries in 1975 when they were also ruled by oppressive dictatorships.<ref>[https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/EconomicFreedomoftheWorld1975-1995.pdf ''Economic Freedom of the World''] by James Gwartney, Robert Lawson & Walter Block (1996) The Fraser Institute. ISBN 0889751579.</ref>{{rp|64}}<ref>[https://muse.jhu.edu/article/874666/pdf The Trade Union and Labour Situation in Guatemala] by Julio Coj (2022) ''International Union Rights'' 29(3):16-17.</ref>

*Libertarians generally do not offer any solution to the struggles people who cannot find employment face. This often leads to absolutely comically ableist rationales for the issues people with disabilities face in the labor market (in extremes, it results in Ayn Rand calling for disabled people to be segregated).

*Libertarians deny that institutional racism is a thing and believe that being perceived as of color does not have any bearing whatsoever on one's ability to advance in society. When confronted with racial income disparities, libertarians will engage in racist justifications for why this is, ranging from Thomas Sowell's argument of the "democratic plantation" to Christopher Cantwell's scientific racism. Moreover, many libertarians will use model minorities to justify why you should just work hard, ignoring that model minorities also face racism. While they will not be as vigorous as conservatives in defending police brutality, many will not understand the often economic dimensions of this brutality as a means of class warfare.

*Libertarians, while not always [[homophobes]] and [[transphobes]], offer absolutely no recourse for LGBT+ people in a capitalist society filled with queerphobia. They ignore the historic [[ghettoization]] of the queer community for precisely this reason, and contemporary issues like gentrification and pinkwashing by oppressive power structures to just enforce existing hierarchies without compensation for those at the bottom rungs of society.

*Libertarians often vigorously defend [[neoliberal]] neo-[[colonialism]] and outsourcing as morally virtuous and economically beneficial while ignoring the horrible social externalities of extremely low-wage labor and capital flight on economically deprived communities. Moreover, libertarians do not understand how automation will often result in very adverse outcomes for labor.

*Libertarians hate unions. This is not a secret. Moreover, they will often ignore or actively downplay how unions are necessary to counterbalance the above-mentioned factors.

These problems are a ''feature'' of 21st-century libertarian thought, not a bug.

===Racism===
Some self-proclaimed libertarians espouse [[racism|racist]] views, which often gives them a bad reputation.<ref>[http://www.businessinsider.com/exposing-the-racist-history-of-libertarianism-and-murray-rothbard-2011-10 Exposing the Racist History Of Libertarianism And Murray Rothbard] by Gary Anderson (Oct 3, 2011, 4:19 PM) ''Business Insider''.</ref> Although of [[Jewish]] origin himself, [[Murray Rothbard]]{{efn|Not the bad guy from ''Swan Lake''.}} has been suggested to have possibly sympathized with [[white nationalism|white nationalists]], [[paleoconservative]]s, and anti-state right-wing populists, many of whom ''claimed'' to be "libertarian". However, paleoconservatism is not a libertarian philosophy, and Rothbard was not a libertarian but an anarcho-capitalist who did nothing to advance the libertarian movement influenced by folks like Friedman.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160817040354/https://beinglibertarian.com/something-libertarians-must-admit-murray-rothbard-sucked/ Something Libertarians Must Admit: Murray Rothbard Sucked] by Charles Peralo (August 9, 2016) ''Being Libertarian''.</ref> Indeed, many libertarians oppose [[civil rights]] laws for violating their "freedom of association".<ref>[https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/07/why-libertarians-oppose-civil-rights Why Libertarians Oppose Civil Rights], Nathan J. Robinson, ''Current Affairs'' 19 July 2020</ref>

===The South will rise again===
Different strains of libertarians have been arguing about the [[American Civil War]] for years. Rather than the Union versus the [[Confederate States of America]], it is "cosmotarians" and "liberaltarians" (i.e., socially liberal libertarians) versus [[neo-Confederates]] (e.g., [[Lew Rockwell]] and [[Ludwig von Mises Institute]]).<ref name=weiner>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2013/07/10/the-libertarian-war-over-the-civil-war/ The libertarian war over the Civil War] by Rachel Weiner (July 10, 2013 at 3:46 p.m. EDT) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> This argument flared up in 2013, when {{wpl|Jack Hunter (radio host)|Jack Hunter|,}} who was then a staffer for libertarian Senator [[Rand Paul]] of [[Kentucky]], was a member of the extremist neo-Confederate group [[League of the South]], which advocates for secession from the United States.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2013/07/09/rand-paul-aide-has-history-of-racial-comments/ Rand Paul aide has history of racial comments] by Rachel Weiner (July 9, 2013 at 12:05 p.m. EDT) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> Peculiarly, Neo-Confederates view their liberal brethren as "intolerant, hypocritical and pro-war".<ref name=weiner/> Here is one case where the ''[[National Review]]'', ''[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]'' magazine and the [[Cato Institute]] (even despite a previous 2010 purge of liberaltarians<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100825154801/https://slate.com/blogs/blogs/weigel/archive/2010/08/23/a-purge-at-the-cato-institute.aspx A Purge at the Cato Institute?] by David Weigel (August 23, 2010 2:05 PM) ''Slate'' (archived from August 25, 2010).</ref><ref>[https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2010/08/a-liberaltarian-purge/ A Liberaltarian Purge?] by Joseph Lawler (8.24.10) ''First Things''.</ref>) seemed reasonable in their opposition to the neo-Confederates.<ref name=weiner/>

In the antebellum South, there were obvious libertarian aspects. The leaders, who were wealthy landowners, formed an oligarchy. They ensured that the government protected property (which then included [[slaves]]) foremost, after all property rights were specified in the [[United States Constitution]]. They prioritized property rights over individual rights and freedom such as was written in the Declaration of Independence ("all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness"). In furtherance of this the Southern leaders insisted that the Federal government should be minimalist: not engaging in economic activity, and restricting itself to "deliver the mails, manage foreign affairs, collect tariffs, maintain a small military force in the West to push back against Comanches, and of course, protect slavery."<ref>''How the South Won the Civil War: Oligarchy, Democracy and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America'' by Heather Cox Richardson (2022) Oxford University Press. ISBN 019758179X.</ref>{{rp|44}}

===Libert''aryan''ism/Austrian [[Hitler|Braunau am Inn]] School===
{{More sources}}
By pure definition, libertarianism is the least compatible political ideology in the history of free society with [[fascism]], [[Nazism]], and [[Joseph Stalin|Stalinism]], given that totalitarians teach that individuals only have worth if they serve the state. In contrast, libertarianism is opposed to the state. However, there have been [[national anarchism|those who seem to espouse both]], as after all, being opposed to the government doesn't mean that you don't support racism, [[sexism]], [[homophobia]], or [[antisemitism]]. Certain segments of the [[alt-right]] identify as libertarian yet also express sympathy for Nazism or [[neo-Nazism]]; the website "[[The Right Stuff]]" (which prominently features pictures of [[Hitler]] and broadcasts a radio show called ''The Daily Shoah'', whose guests have included Christopher Cantwell) is one notable example. Another would be the Holocaust denier and goat blood-drinking [[pagan]] extraordinaire [[Augustus Sol Invictus]], who ran on a libertarian ticket in [[Florida]] for the Senate. That being said, they are incredibly inconsistent in their beliefs. Jonas Nilsson created the ideology "anarcho-fascism" based on libertarianism/small government, as he believed that Mussolini's defeat was because Fascist Italy was hampered by a big government state.

Quite a few libertarians hold to a [[paranoid]] or [[conspiracy theory|conspiracist]] [[worldview]], which may include [[Holocaust denial]] in some cases. This and the relationship between libertarianism and [[Gun nut|gun culture]] may partly explain the appeal of Nazi or Nazi-like ideas to some self-proclaimed libertarians.

Much like orthodox [[Marxism]] (which holds that a "[[dictatorship of the proletariat]]" is a necessary transitional stage between the [[capitalist]] ''status quo'' and true, stateless communism), it is also possible that some people might see libertarianism as the desired end state but believe that fascism (and the [[genocide]] of "undesirables") is necessary as a transitional stage.

==Arguments against strict libertarianism==
While a preference for maximum personal freedom is pretty much universal throughout most of the [[political spectrum]] (though less so on the [[fringe]]s), libertarianism presents several difficulties:

===Philosophical problems===

*Libertarians use natural law to argue for rights. But in the view of social constructivists it is a [[circular argument]]. Libertarians speak of "property" and "contract" as if these [[legal]] ideas somehow had ''meaning'' in the absence of law. Law is what matures mere possession or occupancy into "property". It's what allows your right to your dwelling to persist even when you leave it or don't defend it personally. These rights must be recognized by the consensus of local society to exist. The process that creates that consensus is a government, whether it's arrived at formally with pomp and circumstance by legislators and kings or an ''ad hoc'' discussion around the campfire. That consensus may be expressed more or less formally, but it necessarily includes definitions and limits.
In the [[fun:real world|real world]], they're actually property privileges, not property rights.

*The aforementioned "Non-Aggression Principle" isn't quite as clear as many libertarians make it sound. Libertarians support force to hold up a system of property. This system required force to be created (ask any [[American Indian Holocaust|indigenous person]] in a European-colonized country) and required force to be maintained. Take fraud, for example. If a man is found to have lied to his health insurance company about a pre-existing condition, the police (in libertarian parlance, "Men with Guns") will use force against him. Libertarians call this "retaliatory force" and frame the acts by the sick man as initiating force which makes for a nice game of [[Cognitive dissonance|mental gymnastics]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090227171824/http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=arc_ayn_rand_the_nature_of_government The Nature of Government] by Ayn Rand (December 1963) ''The Ayn Rand Center''. Here's Ayn Rand] blathering on about how force is okay sometimes but only if she likes it.</ref> You may ''not'' use the same rationalizations to frame [[racism]], [[sexism]], or [[Reaganism|union-smashing]] as force (and their solutions as retaliatory force) since [[Hypocrisy|those are things libertarians are okay with]].

===Hidden and uncountable costs===
*Strict interpretations of freedom offer little incentive to remedy [[income inequality|problems]] created by [[Social class|social stratification]]; in particular, the principle of "personal ownership" often leads to a [[blaming the victim|blame-the-victim mentality]] (e.g., Rand's use of the term "[[parasite]]" to describe those dependent on public services).

*In a strict libertarian world with no welfare programs, people with disabilities that rendered them unemployable or unable to work who did not have families or a benefactor willing to support them financially would essentially be doomed to starve to death, become a prostitute, or turn to theft 
and drug dealing
 for survival. As automation, [[globalization]], and [[artificial intelligence]] continue to make more people unemployable and labor less valuable, entire swaths of the population will essentially have to choose between death and debt slavery. Unemployed parents would not be able to keep their children and would have to allow wealthy people to 
enslave
 adopt them if they couldn't make a livable wage.

*No matter how many whine about it, governmental regulation often corrects problems that an unregulated free market could not. One example is [[health care]] regulations, such as enforcing [[credential]]ing for physicians to ensure they're not some [[Rand Paul|self-certified]] [[Health freedom|nut in a lab coat]]; making sure pharmaceuticals have the ingredients they say they do and are relatively safe, AND that they work as intended; and ERs being required to treat people regardless of their ability to pay. Another is related to public health: how would [[consumer]]s be able to determine which food vendors would be safe (and therefore, want to exchange [[capital]] with) in a festival experiencing bacterial contamination, besides testing by themselves what while being delicious causes stomach cramps and diarrhea some days later and what while it's not as delicious causes absolutely no problems at all?<ref>[http://archive.ph/UDE6Z If nothing else, cronut burger saga shows value of public health agencies. (How would libertarians handle this?)] by Matt Elliott (7:47 AM · Aug 27, 2013) ''Twitter'' (archived from 6 Sep 2013 06:49:39 UTC). Oh, it's not a market failure! Privatize for efficiency!</ref> And why should businesses take on the risk of preventing [[epidemic]]s?<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/libertarians-ebola-texas-274822 How Libertarians Would Handle an Ebola Outbreak in Texas] by  Victoria Bekiempis (10/2/14 at 4:51 PM EDT) ''Newsweek''.</ref> Many libertarians don't have a coherent answer for what to do to correct these problems in a free market; [[Handwave|they simply insist]] that "competition" will solve the problems or at least make them inconsequential.

*To many libertarians, [[anti-environmentalism|environmental damage is just a cost of doing business]].<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot/2012/jan/06/why-libertarians-must-deny-climage-change Why Libertarians Must Deny Climate Change: I must applaud Matt Bruenig's summing up of the inherent conflict between libertarianism and environmental issues] by George Monbiot (6 Jan 2012 07.26 EST) ''The Guardian''.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120128220633/http://www.criticalreview.com/crf/jf/6%202_3_politics%20or%20scholarship.pdf Politics or Scholarship?] by Jeffrey Friedman (2008) ''Critical Review'' 6(2-3):429-445.</ref> Regulations to stop or correct [[negative externalities]] caused by private companies are seen as "anti-business." Environmentalists are the new socialists.<ref>Oreskes, Naomi, and Erik M. Conway. ''Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth of Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming''. New York: Bloomsbury, 2010; p. 254.</ref> Apparently, not even disastrous economic catastrophes that affect the lives of millions are reason enough to hold the corporations that caused them accountable. For example, [[Rand Paul]] (a professed ardent libertarian) criticized government regulation and enforcement to clean up the millions of gallons of [[oil]] spilled into the Gulf of Mexico as an un-American boot heel on the throat of British Petroleum.<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/21/rand-paul-obama-sounds-un_n_584661.html Rand Paul: Obama Sounds 'Un-American' For Criticizing BP Over Gulf Oil Spill] by Sam Stein (05/21/2010 09:18 am ET Updated Dec 06, 2017) ''Huffington Post''.</ref>

*Like many other political positions, libertarianism is also subject to fundamentalist thinking. In libertarianism, this can lead to figurative and ''[[Somalia|literal]]'' arms races and an attraction to [[fringe]] groups such as the [[tax protester]] movement, calling for the dismantling of [[central bank]]s and resumption of the [[gold standard (economics)|gold standard]].

*Libertarians want to push the government away from the banking and finance industries, often stating banks/depositors/investors should not be bailed out by the government in banking crises.<ref>[https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/4319665/Miron_Bailout.pdf Bailout or Bankruptcy? A Libertarian Perspective on the Financial Crisis] by Jeffrey A. Miron (January 2009) ''Cato Journal'' 29(1).</ref> None would, however, wish their ''own'' funds to evaporate if they had money in these accounts (or investments) and their bank acted irresponsibly. This highlights the often championed "This pain needs to happen for freedom! …but not to me" witnessed in a good amount of libertarian thinking.

*International organizations enforcing universal standards on machinery and telecommunication (such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) would not exist any more. This means that all corporations in these sectors have to come together to form any coherent universal standard. You would be lucky if all corporations abide and agree with it. That basically means that you can't phone some of your friends because the telephone they own is different from the one you are using. You have to entirely re-learn your job because the machine you are using has a notably different architecture from the one you have learned to work with. Such a move would make the life of literally everyone even more complicated and annoying, forcing many people in these sectors to become jobless. It would prevent the formation of many corporate start-ups. Not to mention that the very internet you are viewing this article on probably wouldn't exist, although things such as a Small Office Home Network or a corporate network probably would. Further, if the corporations did cooperate to the extent required in enforcing standards, this could quickly develop into a monopoly (something libertarians deny a free market allows).

===What difference would it make?===
*Libertarian business structures greatly resemble government hierarchies, even military hierarchies in the case of [[Taylorism]]. It seems [[irony|contradictory]] to opine that citizens do not need rulers while maintaining that workers need managers; libertarians claim this is fine because joining a business is voluntary, although some critics of libertarianism would point out that changing jobs is not always possible and that this argument would only be applicable if there actually were an abundance of businesses without such hierarchies who are hiring,<ref group=note>Of course, libertarians always counter with "the state is the sole creator of monopolies." (Good morning, [[Microsoft]].)</ref> and that resigning is not an option because (especially when there is no [[welfare state]]) it may result in them being unable to afford food, water, housing, etc. In other words, this type of "freedom" means "the freedom to choose one's own masters or to starve under a bridge." Maybe not even the last, if all property has been privatized—will homeless people be constantly imprisoned as trespassers?

*What, exactly, is the goal?  The ''selling point'' of libertarianism is its offer of expanded individual liberties to do as you please. The offer is illusory if it, in fact, means that your freedom of action is hindered at every turn by bosses, owners, and other toll collectors. They all can demand money or that you contract away your libertarian freedoms for the privilege of stepping on their lawns. These new gatekeepers of "liberty" can still do stuff like fire you for testing positive for now-legal drugs. If maximizing individual freedom is what you're after, or even securing maximal protection for enumerated liberties, you should realize that your boss is a bigger threat to your freedom of speech or freedom to practice your religious faith than the local police or your local government. In a democratic republic, property rights libertarianism would diminish the sorts of social control that at times have to answer to voters and replace them with social control with no such accountability.

*Libertarians like to ignore specific periods of history, such as the [[Gilded Age]], where libertarian ideas were widespread ("No, it was [[No True Scotsman|crony capitalism]]!"), or recast them as a [[golden age]]. This can lead to lots of lulz, like [[Thomas DiLorenzo|claiming Abraham Lincoln was the spawn of Satan]].

*You are '''''reading this page''''' using [[Internet|something]] initially created by the big, bad gummint. And not only was ARPANET (the predecessor for the internet) developed by and for the [[United States Armed Forces|US military]], but the first non-[[Department of Defense|DOD]] Internet services were in two colleges, including the [[public education|public]] UCLA. The HTTP protocol that makes the Web work? Yeah, that was developed by workers at [[CERN]] (the European Organization for Nuclear Research), almost entirely funded by various governments. HTML, the language that most websites are scripted in (including this one), was also developed by CERN researchers. And that doesn't even get into the various other government-funded technologies that form the foundation of the Information Age, from a nationwide network linking dozens of mainframe computers in a real-time, redundant system (the USAF Semi-Automatic Ground Environment), to NASA's development of the geosynchronous communications satellite. Even the plastic parts of their computers, made with molds cut using Computer Numerical Control machines, directly descended from those developed with Air Force funding in the 1950s. Such technologies were then allowed to be developed further by various corporations (for absolutely no thanks from libertarians, we need not add). 

*And finally, libertarians' love for the market (and hate for anything else) almost [[Self-fulfilling prophecy|guarantees]] that libertarian parties will continue to be an afterthought.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140226103534/http://votesilvestri.com/8-i-need-a-break-folks I need a break folks.] by Joseph P. Silvestri (14 November 2013 05:01) ''Vote Silvestri''. Here's a Nevada Libertarian Party organizer complaining that he can't corral libertarians for five minutes.]</ref> Many (e.g., Dilorenzo<ref>{{wpl|Constitutional economics#Criticism|See Thomas DiLorenzo's attack of constitutional economics for not being libertarian enough}} (something which is ''already'' quite out there).</ref>) believe that since the [[state]] can do no good, there is no reason to enter [[politics]] (its [[Slippery slope|natural extension]]) because that would mean trying to be elected into a "coercive", anti-[[Social contract#Criticisms of the social contract|consensual]] body.<ref group=note>Again, one must wonder how [[democracy]] or capitalism became a thing, then.</ref> As such, anti-government ethos only finds mainstream favor with right-wing parties that support less state intervention in the economy; of course, this leads to [[Conservative#Social and economic conservatism|tension between libertarians and more moralistic conservatives]].

===Simple?===
{{More sources}}
Systems that attempt to boil themselves down to "a few simple rules" are seldom actually simple; for example, ancient [[Judaism]]'s Deuteronomic reforms started out as just about half of the modern book of [[Deuteronomy]] but eventually grew to encompass the whole [[Torah]], large swaths of the rest of the Jewish [[Bible]],<ref group=note>Or at least the parts such as [[Book of Proverbs|Proverbs]], [[Ecclesiastes]], the bulk of [[Book of Job|Job]], etc., that aren't [[prophecy]], simple narrative, or worship music.</ref> and ultimately to the vast body of commentary known as the [[Talmud]]. Though defined in only sixteen grammatical rules, [[Esperanto]] is quite a complex [[language]] since its rules are defined by established rules in [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] [[linguistics]]. Even some [[sports]] — particularly [[golf]] — have a strong element of [[common law]] in their rule systems.

There is no guarantee that a society built on a libertarian legal structure would remain that way without redeveloping a common law structure or even a statutory structure that codifies all precedents. Given that most societies governed by the [[rule of law]] already have this, it's hard to see what would be accomplished other than a massive reinvention of the wheel.<ref group=note>And this, to a non-libertarian at least, is a best-case scenario. Libertarian theorists haven't convinced their critics that a wholly unregulated market won't lead to neo-[[feudalism]]. This system already exists in some industrial areas and was famously lamented by Tennessee Ernie Ford in his hit protest song "Sixteen Tons."</ref>

The United States, for instance, is technically ''almost'' a truly libertarian country, even today, since the only laws it has are to "adjudicate between free men." Starting with a base, at least at the federal level (after the collapse of the [[Articles of Confederation]]) of a fairly simple Constitution and some [[Roman]] and [[English]] common law, the country's government has evolved as a balance between virtually total liberty and adjudicating the inevitable conflicts that arise between free men (or, in the case of drug laws, [[sodomy]] laws, etc., between the government and ''one'' somewhat unfree man). This adjudication has taken the form of legislation to deal with issues that arose and judicial analysis of the application of such legislation. Of course, 240 years offer many opportunities for "free men" to need adjudication, so now, to self-styled "libertarians," the results look needlessly complicated. Such is life in the [[fun:real world|real world]].

Typically libertarians argue that people should be free to do whatever they like as long as it doesn't hurt others. While this idea may seem very simple at first glance, the problem is that what "hurts" people and what doesn't is very nuanced. For instance, it is common for libertarians to oppose laws that reduce air [[pollution]] even though the latter can have a severe impact on the health of others, even if it is assumed that [[Global warming conspiracy theory|global warming is a gummint conspiracy to justify raising our taxes]]; more so than many direct acts of violence. It is also common for them to oppose laws mandating car drivers to wear seatbelts, even though seeing a person die due to not wearing one can have a major [[psychology|psychological]] effect on onlookers. Similarly, they may oppose anti-smoking campaigns as an unwarranted intrusion on personal liberty while ignoring the financial burden of smoking-related illnesses on private insurance and taxpayer-funded health care.<ref group=note>Again, let us point out that Ayn Rand gave herself lung cancer and then took Medicare payments without blinking an eye, though she kept it secret, despite rationalizing it years earlier.</ref>

===Anti-freedom===
Historian Timothy Snyder has criticized libertarians, particularly American ones, for being effectively anti-freedom:<ref name=onfreedom>''On Freedom'' by Timothy Snyder (2024) Crown. ISBN 9780593728727.</ref>{{rp|215}}
{{cquote|Deniers of [[climate change]] and [[Libertarian paradise|oligarchical escapists]] often call themselves "libertarians." If libertarianism means that liberty is the value of values, then this is a libertarian book. As generally formulated in the United States, however, libertarianism is an ideology of submission to the nonexistent "free market," based on contradictions and lies.}}
Snyder argues that assigning [[freedom]] to the market makes people subservient to the abstraction of the market by denying people the freedom to change how the market operates. The practice of free market ideology denies the possibility of social mobility for the non-wealthy, and the freedom of labor organizing against oppressive working conditions.<ref name=onfreedom/>{{rp|215-217}}

Snyder names [[Charles Koch]] as a prime example of anti-freedom oligarchic libertarianism. Despite claiming to be for [[small government]], through Koch Industries' [[fossil fuel]] wealth, he created a pro-global-warming bureaucracy, and an election-subversion bureaucracy, including the ''[[Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission|Citizens United]]'' case that made running political offices vastly more expensive.<ref name=onfreedom/>{{rp|218}} Snyder recalled [[Czechoslovakia]]n president Václav Havel's view of ideology by pinning libertarianism directly on it as a "bridge of excuses between the system and the individual"; as a "substitute for thinking."<ref name=onfreedom/>{{rp|219}}
{{cquote|Ideology, in creating a bridge of excuses between the system and the individual, spans the abyss between the aims of the system and the aims of life. It pretends that the requirements of the system derive from the requirements of life. It is a world of appearances trying to pass for reality.|||Václav Havel<ref>''The Power of the Powerless: Citizens Against the State in Central-Eastern Europe'' by Václav Havel et al. (1985) Routledge. ISBN 0873327616.</ref>{{rp|30}}}}

==Branches and disputes within libertarianism==
[[File:MoneyForPeople.jpg|thumb|right|Pretty much.]]
{{Libnav}}
While libertarians all generally agree on the premise of the Non-Aggression Axiom, there are internal rifts and disagreements over to what extent the Non-Aggression Axiom applies. On the one hand, the Libertarian Party types (colloquially called "minarchists") advocate minimal government. On the other hand, the market anarchists believe that all the government's services are unjust monopolies, which the free market can handle better if let go of by the state. Market anarchists can be split into "anarcho-mutualists" who believe in a free market but not in capitalism or class and anarcho-capitalists who believe in ''completely'' unregulated capitalism.

There is usually little room between these two, but different branches exist within these umbrella terms. On the Minarchist side of the libertarian ideology, [[paleolibertarian]]s advocate a strong return to the Constitution. They are somewhat conservative in their arguments to preserve [[moral]] law, much like the Old Right [[paleoconservative]]s. [[Ron Paul]], who is often viewed as a libertarian, would more fit the paleoconservative/libertarian framework. Additionally, there exist the [[Georgism|geo-libertarians]] (who advocate simply a tax on all land),<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20041130092603/https://freestateproject.org/about/essay_archive/lvtaxation.php  Libertarianism and Land Value Taxation] by John H. Beck (Last Modified: Jul 13, 2004, 10:03 PM EDT) ''Free State Project'' (archived from November 30, 2004).</ref> neo-libertarians (often regarded not [[No True Scotsman|in any sense]] as libertarians, as their political views conflict with the very principles of the Non-Aggression Axiom - they defend a mixture of traditional libertarian ideas with views more commonly grounded in [[neoconservatism]], such as [[American exceptionalism]] and military interventionism and action to promote America's superiority in the international community), and other branches with their own nuances. On the anarchist side of the spectrum, things tend to be more homogeneous. The major disagreements usually only amount to how to achieve a libertarian society and solutions to [[ethical]] dilemmas.

This ideological division occurs not only externally in political theory but also philosophically. On the one side, there are the [[Deontological ethics|deontological]] natural rights theorists ([[Murray Rothbard]] being the most prominent advocate). On the other are the utilitarian libertarians ([[David D. Friedman]] is often the most associated with this view). A few minority virtue ethicists (e.g. Roderick Long), [[Social contract|contractarians]] (e.g. Jan Narveson), [[nihilist]]s, and radical subjectivists exist within these circles. Still, these views are often in conflict with the general premises laid out by the Non-Aggression Axiom.

===Left-libertarianism===
{{hatnote|See also: [[Socialism#Libertarian_socialism|Libertarian socialism]]}}
The word "libertarianism" was used before the current usage to refer to anarchists, who are against hierarchies brought about by stratified classes and a state controlled by the wealthy [[elitism|elites]] and thus ''opposed'' capitalism. Many call themselves 'libertarian socialists', a philosophy championed by [[Noam Chomsky]]. The use of "libertarianism" to describe anarchy dates back to the late 1850s, with ''Le Libertaire, Journal du Mouvement Social'' being the name of a journal published by anarcho-communist Joseph Dejacque. The term 'libertarian communism' originated in the 1880s when the [[French]] anarchist congress adopted it. As late as 1954, a largely [[anarchism#anarcho-syndicalism|anarcho-syndicalist]] movement named ''The Libertarian League'' was set up in the US.

The current Libertarian Party in the US only came into being in the early 1970s, well over 100 years after anarchists had begun using the term to describe themselves. In the US, to quote Murray Bookchin: 

{{cquote|[The] term 'libertarian' itself, to be sure, raises a problem, notably, the specious identification of an anti-authoritarian ideology with a straggling movement for 'pure capitalism' and '[[free trade]].' This movement never created the word: it appropriated it from the anarchist movement of the [19<sup>th</sup>] century. And it should be recovered by those anti-authoritarians... who try to speak for dominated people as a whole, not for personal [[ethical egoism|egotists]] who identify freedom with entrepreneurship and profit." Many left-libertarians of this school favor [[equality]] as much as liberty and argue for fraternal health societies, [[civil disobedience]] through the black market, non-capitalist free trade and competitive worker co-ops.}}

As late as the 1990s, the ''Libertarian Labor Review'' newspaper promoted anarcho-syndicalism while still using the libertarian label. [[Samuel Edward Konkin III]] labeled his [[underground]]-economy-based "agorism" as left-libertarianism while claiming influence from right-libertarians like Rothbard. The term may also accurately describe Karl Hess, the former [[Barry Goldwater|Goldwater]] Republican and [[Cold War]]rior who aligned himself with Murray Rothbard for a few years, then swung to the hard left during the late 1960s and 1970s and joined the [[New Left]].<ref>Boyd, James. [http://fare.tunes.org/books/Hess/from_far_right_to_far_left.html "From Far Right to Far Left - and Farther - With Karl Hess"], ''The New York Times Magazine'', 12/6/1970</ref>

There are some areas where the more "rational" libertarians and [[liberals]] have overlapping concerns, notably, opposition to [[corporate welfare]] and the [[military-industrial complex]] and valuing [[privacy|personal liberty]] and [[freedom of speech]].

==={{anchor|taxonomy}}A brief attempt at (right-)libertarian taxonomy in the US===
There is a good deal of overlap between these groups, but the hardliners tend to lavish hate on each other:
====Anarcho-capitalists/Rothbardians====
{{More sources}}
{{main|Anarcho-capitalism}}
These are deontological anarchists that adhere to the teachings of Murray Rothbard. Most anarcho-capitalists adhere to the Austrian School, though David D. Friedman opts for the utilitarian Chicago School, despite not being an anarcho-capitalist himself. A few others follow the pure pacifism of Robert LeFevre. Modern examples include [[Adam Kokesh]], who claims the only ''real'' anarchists are anarcho-capitalists, and [[Walter Block]] of the [[Ludwig von Mises Institute|LvMI]].

[[Samuel Edward Konkin III]] described his philosophy of agorism  as an exceptionally concentrated strain of Rothbardianism. Still, Konkin and adherents consider(ed) themselves part of the libertarian left. This may be fair since Konkin coinages like ''[[Kochtopus]]'' have entered the general leftist lexicon. The main problem with anarcho-capitalism is that it advocates entirely eliminating the government, which could lead to corporations and trusts becoming so large that they would ultimately become stand-ins for the state, bringing everything back to square one, as well as having no checks on the power of [[mercenary|mercenaries]]. While their support of the free market is compatible with many other libertarian circles, this distinct possibility puts anarcho-capitalism at odds with most other groups from an ideological perspective, as libertarianism is, at its core, anti-state. Additionally, actual libertarians believe in some degree of government, whereas ancaps do not believe in government. It puts them at odds with the vast majority of anarchists as well, as anarchism in general is staunchly anti-capitalist.

===="Beltway libertarians"====
Also known as [[Fun:Virginia|Novacrats]], these folks are the more utilitarian and are usually associated more with the [[Chicago School]] than the [[Austrian School]]. The term "Beltway" is used as a pejorative by the hardline anarchists, minarchists, and deontological types to paint them as sell-outs because they've gotten some traction in [[DC]]. Prominent Beltway types include [[Thomas Sowell]], [[Nick Gillespie]], and the late [[Milton Friedman]].

==== Anti-feminists and MRAs ====

There exists a very disproportionate number of libertarians in [[Antifeminism|anti-feminist]] communities and vice versa. While there are certainly many libertarian feminists (like Cathy Reisenwitz and Sharon Presley), they're outnumbered many times to one by their opponents.

One of the possible reasons for this is the libertarian belief that the [[Gender_pay_gap|gender pay gap]] is a myth and that gender discrimination is impossible because capitalism is perfect. Another would be the kind of faux anti-authoritarianism many libertarians espouse, namely that using state intervention to lessen the impact of gendered hierarchies that arise under capitalism (affirmative action, fighting the pink tax, woman-specific welfare measures, etc.) is the devil, but using military force to kill anti-capitalists or to steal indigenous land is totally justified. Moreover, libertarianism's recruiting base (young privileged white dudes on the internet) is typically chock-full of limerent, sexually frustrated losers that made up most of Gamergate's membership.

Paul Elam and Christopher Cantwell are stereotypical examples of this in action. Their anti-feminist views are justified using libertarian arguments. The fact libertarianism seems to constantly espouse every anti-feminist issue under the sun (mansplaining the pink tax, denying the gender pay gap, spouting reactionary talking points about rape culture, etc.) indicates the cross-pollination is pretty thorough.

This is not new. Even before the rise of the modern "[[Men's rights movement]]", Rothbard attacked feminism (and anti-racism) in 1973 on stark anti-egalitarian [[race realist]] and sexist grounds.<ref>[https://www.lewrockwell.com/1970/01/murray-n-rothbard/were-not-equal/ We're Not Equal, on Lew Rockwell.] by Murray N. Rothbard (Fall 1973) ''Modern Age'' via ''LewRockwell.com''. The title kind of says it all, really.</ref> It was later part of a larger book he wrote, ''Egalitarianism As A Revolt Against Nature And Other Essays''.

====Crank magnets====
{{main|Crank magnetism}}
These are usually [[Conspiracy theory|conspiracy nuts]], [[Survivalism|survivalists]], [[sovereign citizen]] types, or [[gold bug]]s who think the gummint is out to get them. Also includes some [[white supremacists]] who want to bring back "[[states' rights]]" to resurrect [[segregation]], and [[Dominionism|dominionists]] who wish to restore official [[state religion]]s. Also includes fans of the [[seasteading]], [[micronation]], and vonu movements, "life extension," [[Galambosianism]], [[Liberty Dollar]]s, and pretty much anything from the Loompanics book catalog. May suffer from an excess of [[colloidal silver]] in the bloodstream. [[Alex Jones]] is the epitome of the [[crank]] magnet libertarian.

====Single-issue wonks====
Some take up the mantle of libertarianism because it aligns with their opposition to some federal law they don't like. On the more benign end, this includes activists for [[Prostitution|sex workers]] and [[cannabis]] legalization, who typically overlap with the below-mentioned civil libertarians. While on the crankier end, one may find [[woo]]-meisters, [[Pedophilia|pedophiles]], and peddlers of some form of illegal [[quackery]], who can more often be found with the crank magnets. Another example of this would be college kids who claim to be libertarian just because they want weed to be legal.

====Paleolibertarians====
{{main|Paleolibertarianism}}
A term coined by [[Lew Rockwell]]. Their policies are mostly the same as the "Taft Republicans" of the Old Right. More simply, they are the economically liberal wing of MAGA. They are advocates of the Austrian School, [[originalism]], states' rights, and strict [[Constitutionalism]] (when it suits them, of course) and are generally [[social conservatism|socially conservative]] despite opposing the drug war and "[[Homosexuality|bedroom laws]]." Ron Paul falls into this camp. Many conspiracy nuts are also paleolibertarians, such as the almighty Alex Jones mentioned above, [[Texe Marrs]], and [[Mark Dice]].

In 2022, the Libertarian Party was taken over by the Mises Caucus, whose platform is Paleolibert. They called the 2024 Libertarian Party candidate, Chase Oliver, a Woke Democrat, and therefore switched his support to Trump. As a result, the Libertarian Party achieved its worst result in recent years.  Way to go, fellas.

====Minarchists====  
Largely the venerable predecessors of the modern libertarian movement, who were an influence on Rothbard but rejected anarchism, influenced Rand but rejected orthodox Objectivism, etc. Minarchists today are not all necessarily influenced by Rand, but they tend to believe in the concept of a "Night-watchman State", which is defined as a radically minimalistic government that only exists to provide three essential public services: law enforcement, a legal system, and a small standing army to exist for defense purposes ''only''. While many of today's minarchists favor capitalism, the system also applies to socialist thought. [[Karl Marx]] could also accurately be described as a minarchist. He believed that the government should only exist for minimal protection and the distribution of wealth after the working-class revolution he advocated.

====Randroids====
{{main|Ayn Rand}}
Usually generic deontological minarchist libertarians, the only difference being that they identify themselves with the tenets of Objectivism. Rand herself hated the Libertarian Party and denounced them as poseurs.<ref name="rand">[https://web.archive.org/web/20040810143327/http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=education_campus_libertarians Ayn Rand's Q & A on Libertarianism] ''The Ayn Rand Institute'' (archived from August 10, 2004).</ref> [[Alan Greenspan]] is probably the most famous Randroid, and we all know [[Great Recession|what happened there]]. [[Paul Ryan]] is also technically a Randroid, but he is highly inconsistent. Despite his claims to be influenced by Rand, she would have probably laughed at him. He is literally an embodiment of Republican statism.

{{anchor|Techno-libertarians}}

===="Techno-libertarians"==== 
Generally, these are Silicon Valley inhabitants who attempt to apply [[hacker]] culture to politics. Lots of overlap with techno-[[utopia]]n movements like [[transhumanism]] and [[Singularity|singularitarianism]]. Also overlaps with the seasteading, life extension, and digital-currency crank magnets. See also [[Eric S. Raymond]], [[Bitcoin]], and [[Anonymous]]. Ironically, technological leaps have made [[NSA|surveillance of citizens]] easier than ever before in human history.

====Vulgar libertarians====
{{main|Vulgar libertarianism}}
Their true ideological motivations are unknown, but they use the "free market" language to [[shill]] for corporations that don't want to deal with regulations or taxes. They can usually be found at some DC [[think tank]] cranking out bogus research while bankrolled by [[Koch Industries]] or Exxon. [[Steve Milloy]] is a prime example.

====''South Park'' Republicans====
{{main|South Park Republicans}}
These people say they are libertarians but dutifully pull the lever for most anyone with an "R" after their name (not, however, for Ron Paul) every election. In between elections, they shill for [[gunboat diplomacy|military interventionism]] and attack liberals — but never conservatives — for being enemies of liberty. And a lot of [[Gore's Law|Al Gore]] bashing. Their idea of a "libertarian Republican" is [[Rudy Giuliani]]. Their only real claim to being libertarians is their irreverent attitude, but this really boils down to being a jerk for the sake of it. [[Instapundit|Glenn Reynolds]] and [[Drudge Report|Matt Drudge]] have made a lucrative career pushing their buttons.

====Civil libertarians==== 
Those whose main attraction to libertarianism is [[civil liberties]] of the [[ACLU]] sort, [[anti-war]] issues, [[gay rights]], [[marijuana]], [[privacy]], [[police abuse]]s, [[feminism|women's lib]], [[conscription]], etc. They may view liberals as unreliable on these issues or hold conservative economic views and prefer to align with libertarians. The [[Cato Institute]] used to emphasize outreach to them in its early years via ''Inquiry'' magazine and ''The Libertarian Review''. Today, Radley Balko, Conor Friedersdorf, and Carol Moore might be prominent examples, as was the late American Indian Movement activist Russell Means. In Europe, these types are typically associated with pirate politics, though a few mainstream libertarians like Johan Norberg could be included. Along with classical liberals, they are arguably the most reasonable out of the bunch. Civil libertarians do not always have to be classical liberals or minarchists, as social democrats like [[Bernie Sanders]] (who is ''not'' a socialist) can be described as such. The small government tendency that emphasizes civil libertarianism can be called "Bleeding Heart Libertarianism". They once run a BHL blog. Civil libertarianism focuses on consequence rather than obligation.

====Partyarchs==== 
Those for whom the Libertarian Party and the libertarian movement are one and the same thing. Ideologically suspect to the more hard-core, they differ from Beltway libertarians. They prefer to throw all their effort into building the Libertarian Party instead of trying to get cred inside the Beltway. They typically want to trim and gut the party platform to attract more people and/or disseminate an [[milk before meat|oversimplified version]] of the libertarian message in the name of "effective communication."  Fond of using the [[Nolan Chart|World's Smallest Political Quiz]] and other materials from the Advocates for Self-Government. See Michael Cloud, Carla Howell, former [[Alaska]] state representative Dick Randolph, 1980 LP presidential nominee Ed Clark, and 2013 [[Virginia]] gubernatorial candidate Robert Sarvis.

====''Paulbots''====
{{main|Ron Paul}}
Usually refers to fans of Ron Paul, who express their rabid support for him through the internet. More recently, it has come to refer to irritating "Internet libertarians" in general who find a home for themselves on certain Internet sites, especially [[YouTube]], and proceed to "upvote" everything that agrees with their worldview while "downvoting" anyone who disagrees with it [[groupthink|en masse]]. Any site with an upvote/downvote system (i.e., Urban Dictionary, ABC News… hell, it's easier to list sites they ''haven't'' taken over at this point) is up for grabs for these people. There tends to be heavy overlap with the crank magnets, Austrian schoolers, and the online [[MRA]] movement oddly. When not shilling for Ron Paul, being conspiracy nuts, or just being unbelievably self-righteous in general, their favorite pastimes usually include rambling about [[Barack Obama]], excessive [[quote mining]] of [[Paul Krugman]] (and it's ''always'' Krugman), and using [[snarl word]]s such as "[[Fascism|fascist]]", "[[sheeple]]", "statist", etc.

====Neolibertarianism====
This is a faction of Libertarianism that supports NATO and takes a hard line against non-liberal democracies. They could also perhaps be <del>Libertarian Trotskyists</del> neoconservatives with Libertarian views. They consider themselves to be more pragmatic than other Libertarians. The term was coined around 2000, but can also be used to describe people such as [[Barry Goldwater]], [[Javier Milei]], [[Ben Shapiro]] and Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann who never used the term to describe themselves. It can also be informally described as Reagan and Thatcher. The Libertarian Party of the United States also had a defense caucus.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20060207030134/http://blog.neo-libertarian.com/</ref> They strongly support "regimes threatened by dictatorships" such as Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan, etc. Well, at least one. Sometimes they support discredited anti-communist regimes, such as the Republic of Vietnam, Pinochet's Chile, and Chun Doo-hwan's South Korea. They mocked many Libertarians for being willing to accept the Kremlin’s disinformation, calling them “Kremlintarianisms.”

====Fake libertarians====
{{cquote|I was a Libertarian until I saw a post where you espoused Libertarian beliefs." Says the bot only following MAGA accounts. I see this almost every post. When you see it, check the followers. You'll see a trend|||Chase Oliver<ref>https://x.com/ChaseForLiberty/status/1931916794668667225</ref>}}
Refers to [[conservatives]], [[neoconservative|neocons]], [[Christian right|Christian rightists]] and even [[Neo-Nazi]], etc. That is, a group of people who clearly support authoritarianism and have no clue what libertarianism is but simply identify as "libertarian" because it "sounds more hip" or to avoid association with the [[Republican Party]]. As Musk's X becomes more right-wing, the number of such people is growing dramatically. Many of these fake libertarians think that anti-federalism and libertarianism are the same (e.g., a [[Christian fundamentalist]] "libertarian" who complains about the [[Nanny state]] and cries for a smaller federal government so that [[Alabama]] can criminalize [[homosexuality]], [[pornography]], and [[abortion]] on the [[State's rights|state]] level). Another example would be right-wing [[talk radio]] host [[Neal Boortz]] who identifies as a libertarian but supported the [[PATRIOT Act|federal government spying on anti-Iraq war protesters]]. Another example is Paul Craig Robert, who often writes conspiracy theory articles on Lew Rockwell.com. He has a book called "THE FAILURE OF LAISSEZ FAIRE CAPITALISM", which is really "anti-war, anti-state, pro-market".<ref>https://www.abebooks.com/9780986036255/Failure-Laissez-Faire-Capitalism-Roberts-0986036250/plp</ref> The more famous example is [[Jackson Hinkle]]. He often carries a Gadsden flag when he delivers his MAGA communist nonsense.

"True libertarians" occasionally burst into promoting authoritarian views. Anarchist Walter Block literally supports Israel’s bombing of civilians in Gaza because "Gaza is a property that has been lost to the Israelis for thousands of years," showing that he does not understand the principle of statute of limitations at all, and demands the execution of those who do not receive the Covid19 vaccine in accordance with the NAP principle. The war in Ukraine has also confused many libertarians, who like to believe exclusively in the news about authoritarian Russia. These people are subject to Neo-Libertarian ridicule - why do people who oppose that USA elimination of Hitler support Putin's elimination of "Ukrainian Nazis"?<ref>https://laissez-faire.ch/en/blog/pro-war-is-the-new-anti-war/</ref>

=="Heroes"==
*[[Milton Friedman]], a prominent economist and [[Nobel laureate]]. Although often regarded as a libertarian, he departed from the laissez-faire principles in his support of the Chicago School's economic ideology of [[Monetarism]] instead of the Austrian School. Controversially advised the [[Pinochet]] regime in [[Chile]] to follow a course suggested by his economic theories. His reasoning was that a healthy and free market would bring a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FopyRHHlt3M healthy and free political system.]

*[[Ron Paul]], a candidate in the Republican Party presidential primaries in 2008 and 2012, managed in that capacity to be included for the first time in televised debates (outside of C-SPAN). He was able to get much more TV airtime than any previous libertarian. Yet, many differ from his views on immigration and [[United States as a Christian nation|religious faith]] and think his federalism (not to mention his refusal to address allegations of [[racist]] connections) is a cop-out.

*[[Javier Milei]], current hard-line Libertarian president of Argentina.

*[[John Stossel]], of ABC and [[Fox News]] fame, produced hour-long special programs that contrasted the libertarian approach to issues against a statist approach. One of them, "Sick in America," disastrously attempted to rebut [[Michael Moore]]'s ''Sicko'' film.

*[[John Locke]]. He was not a libertarian by today's standards, but his work is often cited by modern libertarians. His work had a profound effect on [[Thomas Jefferson]]. Perhaps his most influential work was his theories of value and property. 

*[[Adam Smith]]. He opposed mercantilism, and his work promoted relatively free markets, which is why libertarians try to claim him as one of their own, but his views were far more moderate than they are often made out to have been. His coining of the term the "invisible hand" is also often invoked by libertarians, rarely in a way Smith probably would have approved of.
 
*[[Ayn Rand]], who preached Objectivism yet denounced libertarianism.<ref name="rand" />

*[[Neil Boortz]], a talk radio host who calls himself a libertarian. No one else does. 

*[[Petr Beckmann]], a noted [[mathematician]] and technical writer who should have stuck to [[pi|what he understood]] instead of denouncing [[relativity|what he didn't]]. 

*[[Robert Heinlein]], who postulated libertarian societies in many of his [[science fiction]] novels.

*Stan Jones, who managed to turn his own skin blue through [[colloidal silver]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2297471.stm True-blue bids for Senate] (3 October, 2002, 18:40 GMT 19:40 UK) ''BBC News''. Stan Jones, would-be member of Blue Man Group.</ref>

*[[Penn and Teller]], stage magicians and [[skeptic]]s who for eight seasons in the noughties hosted ''[[Bullshit]]'', about evenly split between attacking woo of one kind or another and advancing libertarian causes. The gift shop at the Rio in Las Vegas, where their long-running nightly act is performed, sells wallet-size copies of the [[Bill of Rights]] engraved on stainless steel, which they state are intended to alternately annoy or educate the security personnel at McCarran Airport by deliberately setting off metal detectors.

*{{wpl|Walter E. Williams|Walter E. Williams}}.

==Associated organizations==
The following institutions and groups are closely or loosely associated with modern libertarianism:

*The aforementioned [[Libertarian Party]] in the United States.
*A small number of [[Republican Party]] members.
*An even smaller number of [[Democratic Party]] members.
*''[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]'' Magazine.
*The [[Ludwig von Mises Institute]].
*The [[Cato Institute]].
*{{wpl|The Independent Women's Forum}}.
*The [[Free State Project]].
*The [[Foundation for Economic Education]].

==Quotes on libertarianism==
===Supporting===
*{{Q|If the natural tendencies of mankind are so bad that it is not safe to permit people to be free, how is it that the tendencies of these organizers are always good? Do not the legislators and their appointed agents also belong to the human race? Or do they believe that they themselves are made of a finer clay than the rest of mankind?|Frederic Bastiat<ref>[http://www.constitution.org/law/bastiat.htm ''The Law''] by Frédéric Bastiat (1850) ''The Constitution Society''.</ref>}}

*{{Q|Legalize Freedom: Vote Libertarian!|Slogan of the US Libertarian Party}}{{efn|Well, according to the Internet, but the party website doesn't mention it.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150412213938/http://www.lp.org/search/node/legaize+freedom+vote+libertarian Search: legaize freedom vote libertarian] ''Libertarian Party''.</ref> Their current slogan appears to be "Smaller Government * Lower Taxes * More Freedom."}}

*{{Q|This country is a one-party country. Half of it is called Republican and half is called Democrat. It doesn't make any difference. All the really good ideas belong to the Libertarians.|Hugh Downs, on ''20/20'' in 1997}}

*{{Q|I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.|[[Grover Norquist]]<ref>''Morning Edition'' (NPR): May 25, 2001.</ref>}}

*{{Q|You speak as if you were fighting for some sort of principle, Mr. Rearden, but what you're actually fighting for is only your property, isn't it?" — "Yes, of course. I am fighting for my property. Do you know the kind of principle that represents?|Ayn Rand<ref>''Atlas Shrugged'': The Trial of Hank Rearden.</ref>}}

*{{Q|However, it is important to remember that the true purpose of regulation is to limit competition, not protect the public.|"Health freedom" supporter DayOwl<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100310233453/http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2010/03/big_supplement_lashes_out_and_john_mccai.php Commenting] on the medical science blog Respectful Insolence</ref>}}

===Opposing===
*{{Q|A Libertarian is just a Republican who takes [[drug]]s.|Anarchist essayist Bob Black<ref>[http://www.inspiracy.com/black/abolition/libertarian.html The Libertarian as Conservative] by Bob Black (1984).</ref>}}

*{{Q|He always pictured himself a libertarian, which to my way of thinking means "I want the liberty to grow rich and you can have the liberty to starve." It's easy to believe that no one should depend on society for help when you yourself happen not to need such help.|[[Isaac Asimov]] on Robert A. Heinlein and libertarian ethics<ref>''I. Asimov: A Memoir'', 1994.</ref>}}

*{{Q|That's libertarians for you — anarchists who want police protection from their [[slaves]].|Kim Stanley Robinson}}

*{{Q|I’d rather vote for Bob Hope, the Marx Brothers, or Jerry Lewis. I don’t think they’re as funny as Professor Hospers and the Libertarian Party.|Ayn Rand<ref name="rand" />}}

*{{Q|A simple-minded right-wing ideology ideally suited to those unable or unwilling to see past their own sociopathic self-regard.|Iain Banks}}

*{{Q|I tend to take the stance that Libertarianism is like Leninism: a fascinating, internally consistent political theory with some good underlying points that, regrettably, makes prescriptions about how to run human society that can only work if we replace real messy human beings with frictionless spherical humanoids of uniform density (because it relies on simplifying assumptions about human behaviour which are unfortunately wrong).|Charles Stross<ref>[http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2013/12/why-i-want-bitcoin-to-die-in-a.html Why I want Bitcoin to die in a fire] by Charlie Stross, ''Charlie's Diary''.</ref>}}

*{{Q|It cannot be said too often – at any rate, it is not being said nearly often enough – that collectivism is not inherently democratic, but, on the contrary, gives to a tyrannical minority such powers as the Spanish Inquisitors never dreamed of [… But] a return to ‘free’ competition means for the great mass of people a tyranny probably worse, because more irresponsible, than that of the State. The trouble with competitions is that somebody wins them. Professor [[Friedrich August von Hayek|Hayek]] denies that free capitalism necessarily leads to monopoly, but in practice that is where it has led, and since the vast majority of people would far rather have State regimentation than slumps and unemployment, the drift towards collectivism is bound to continue if popular opinion has any say in the matter.|[[George Orwell]]<ref>[https://thomasgwyndunbar.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/george-orwell-review/ ''The Road to Serfdom'' by F.A. Hayek / ''The Mirror of the Past'' by K. Zilliacus] by George Orwell (9 April 1944) ''The Observer'' via ''Maude's Tavern''.</ref>}}

==Not to be confused with==
*''Librarianism'', also a philosophy, but more about cataloging books and helping people find them, no matter what the book is about. Librarians also hate [[totalitarian]] regimes, as they tend to be [[Sarah Palin|real jerks]] when it comes to stocking unpopular or controversial books. Just don't talk in their libraries.

==See also==
{{fun}}
*[[Liberalism]]
**[[Classical liberalism]]
*[[Plutonomy]]
*[[Going Galt]]
*[[Rugged individualism]]
*[[Skeptical Libertarian]]
*[[Debate:Are we too hard on libertarians?]]
*[[Libertarian paradise]]

==External links==
*[http://www.leftycartoons.com/the-24-types-of-libertarian/ 24 types of libertarian]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100702030036/http://liberapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Libertarianism Libertarianism], an above average [[Liberapedia]] article
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20000815064309/http://world.std.com/~mhuben/plofker.html I Am The Very Model of A Modern Libertarian]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20030404223711/http://www.isil.org/resources/introduction.swf The basics of Libertarianism, with nice music]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/19981206160301/http://world.std.com/%7Emhuben/libindex.html/ Critiques of Libertarianism: A Non-Libertarian FAQ]
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20140220045809/http://raikoth.net/libertarian.html The Non-Libertarian FAQ (aka Why I Hate Your Freedom) (Archived via Wayback Machine, 20 February 2014)] &mdash; note that the author states he is broadly sympathetic to libertarianism
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070220000328/http://skepchick.org/blog/?p=355 Post about the 2008 James Randi Amazing Meeting by Rebecca Watson of skepchick.org] where Watson and commenters discuss the problems inherent in combining libertarianism with skeptical thinking.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060619110930/http://rebirthofreason.com/Articles/Landauer/The_Scourge_of_Public_Libraries.shtml The Scourge of Public Libraries]{{poe}}
*[http://zompist.com/libertos.html What's wrong with libertarianism], Zompist
*[http://www.bcaplan.com/cgi-bin/purity.cgi Take the Libertarian Purity Test]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081022042355/http://puna.net.nz/archives/Social/How%20To%20Explain%20Things%20to%20Libertarians%20at%20Pandagon.htm How to explain things to libertarians]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxPUvQZ3rcQ Chomsky] and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PaN9M4WwHw&feature=related Friedman] on libertarianism.
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGAO100hYcQ Penn Jillette on Libertarianism]
*[https://mises.org/library/what-libertarianism What Libertarianism Is] An explanation of Libertarianism by a Libertarian
*[https://www.libertarianism.info/taxes-are-bad-that-is-a-science-fact/ Taxes are Bad for Growth] Arguing for a sciencey sounding viewpoint on Taxation

==Bibliography==
*''Radicals for Capitalism'', by Brian Doherty
*''From Social State to Minimal State'', Anders Fogh Rasmussen (Written by the former Prime Minister of [[Denmark]] eight years before he entered office, he later renounced it as full of crap. A good example of observing libertarian logic up close.)

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note|2}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Government]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]
[[Category:Political philosophies]]
[[Category:Libertarianism| ]]
[[Category:Economic philosophies]]

Categories: Government, Philosophy, Political philosophies, Libertarianism, Economic philosophies