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As a philosophy, Libertarianism concerns itself only with the extent of The State's intervention into human affairs. The question of whether or not The State sh

As a philosophy, Libertarianism concerns itself only with the extent of The State's intervention into human affairs. The question of whether or not The State should prevent you from employing force or fraud against another person is itself subject to debate and therefore cannot be what Libertarianism is about or necessarily be a "core idea." The core idea of Libertarianism is that everyone should just be left alone.

kcorbitt 9y ago
> The question of whether or not The State should prevent you from employing force or fraud against another person is itself subject to debate I mean, if you deny the government's role in enforcing contracts and property rights, then you're not really talking about libertarianism anymore, you've just got good old-fashioned anarchy.
- staticautomatic 9y ago
  That's true, but that's not what I meant. The philosophical maxim of minimal state intervention does not speak to the ways or circumstances in which the state is permitted to intervene. Accordingly, the subjective nature of one's preferred intervention level cannot itself be a definition of Libertarianism, only a flavor.
  - WalterBright 9y ago
    Having a police force, civil and criminal court system, and justice dept. works for libertarianism.
    - staticautomatic 9y ago
      It's entirely possible to be a libertarian who doesn't believe in civil courts. Arguably, it's possible to not believe in having a police force or justice department, either. Any amount of government is sufficient for libertarianism to exist. What the government is allowed to do and under what circumstances and in what ways depends wholly upon which libertarian you ask.
      - WalterBright 9y ago
        You can say the same thing about democrats, republicans, conservatives, socialists, etc. None of them are uniform in their beliefs. For the sake of debate I suggest sticking to what the official libertarian party platform says.

kcorbitt 9y ago

> The question of whether or not The State should prevent you from employing force or fraud against another person is itself subject to debate I mean, if you deny the government's role in enforcing contracts and property rights, then you're not really talking about libertarianism anymore, you've just got good old-fashioned anarchy.

staticautomatic 9y ago
That's true, but that's not what I meant. The philosophical maxim of minimal state intervention does not speak to the ways or circumstances in which the state is permitted to intervene. Accordingly, the subjective nature of one's preferred intervention level cannot itself be a definition of Libertarianism, only a flavor.
- WalterBright 9y ago
  Having a police force, civil and criminal court system, and justice dept. works for libertarianism.
  - staticautomatic 9y ago
    It's entirely possible to be a libertarian who doesn't believe in civil courts. Arguably, it's possible to not believe in having a police force or justice department, either. Any amount of government is sufficient for libertarianism to exist. What the government is allowed to do and under what circumstances and in what ways depends wholly upon which libertarian you ask.
    - WalterBright 9y ago
      You can say the same thing about democrats, republicans, conservatives, socialists, etc. None of them are uniform in their beliefs. For the sake of debate I suggest sticking to what the official libertarian party platform says.