Patty P
New Member
Just curious, I am a Conservative Libertarian
If you're not sure try this poll:
If you're not sure try this poll:
What Do You Identify As On The Political Spectrum?
MoustafaWahby
New Member
he_who_is_nobody
Well-Known Member
Dito.
Jason Boreu
New Member
Same.
It should be noted that the terms used tend to imply different ideas in different places; for example, the vertical line 'libertarian' in political compass isn't remotely the same as Libertarianism in the US which would be about 3 squares from the right hand edge and 3-5 squares down from the mid-line, whereas in most parts of the world libertarians are more typically left of centre and much closer to the bottom. US Libertarianism tends to be associated with free market laissez-faire capitalism and private property protections, both of which are more traditionally right wing politics than anti-authoritarian.
Jason Boreu
New Member
That's a very good point and in my experience i've seen something similar. The left-leaning libertarians that i've spoken to seem to have legitimate concerns about the power of government on our lives: dictating whether woman can or cannot have abortions, whether lbtq people can marry, adopt, serve in the military, etc. You can often see left-leaning libertarians marching for civil rights along with other kinds of leftists.
Meanwhile whenever i talk to right-wing libertarians in the US or my own country they only seem to really care about taxes. They claim to be concerned about government power as well but i've never seem them actually put their money where their mouth is, i've never seen a right-wing libertarian marching for woman's rights to have an abortion or gay rights to marry, etc. they only seem to pay lip-service as far as i'm aware.
Lately i've seen a few neo-nazis trying to hide behind the libertarian label but when challenged their true views become transparent.
I've also seen some right-wing libertarians claim to be anti-immigration which seems to be(in my perspective) totally contradictory towards the libertarian principle of freedom of movement.
I think what we'll ultimately get to if we continue to plumb this is that labels (in this case of political positions) are really just a very quick way to communicate a basic position but shouldn't really be considered a complete description of a person's beliefs.
The big problem, in my eyes, is when people care more about their identification with the label rather than with their reasoning for the positions those labels seek to briefly capitulate. It's fine to use a label as short-hand, but it's not fine for that short-hand to be a proxy for thinking.
The big problem, in my eyes, is when people care more about their identification with the label rather than with their reasoning for the positions those labels seek to briefly capitulate. It's fine to use a label as short-hand, but it's not fine for that short-hand to be a proxy for thinking.