5 ms·

He's not a lefty. He's a fundamentalist libertarian.

by typon 7y ago

jcranmer 7y ago
I'd say he's more communist, since he seems to believe that private property just shouldn't exist. Libertarians by contrast would tend more on the scale of "you should be able to do whatever you want with your private property."
- claudiawerner 7y ago
  > since he seems to believe that private property just shouldn't exist Although I'm sympathetic to that idea myself, that just isn't true in Stallman's case. He's a Bernie/Stein voter and he's read something by Emma Goldman, but I think that's the extent of his "lefty" gland.
- wwright 7y ago
  The latter is what he wants. He is happy for people to charge for software, but he advocates that the owner must have full control.
- icebraining 7y ago
  Some argue that copyright undermines private property: https://mises.org/library/against-intellectual-property-2 https://mises.org/library/against-intellectual-property-2
shitgoose 7y ago
not even close:)) he is a fundamentalist statist.
doubleunplussed 7y ago
A libertarian who says Americans should vote for Bernie Sanders and Australians should vote for the Greens?
swfsql 7y ago
He is the opposite of a libertarian. Copyleft requires, supports, validates, the state. An actual libertarian would be pro: "there's no copyright nor copyleft; my computer -> my rules, I do whatever I want with whatever files I empirically have. And the only way to decisively stop me from doing that is to actually kill me."
- Frondo 7y ago
  Libertarians don't oppose the state, they just want its function constrained far, far below what any modern government offers; contract law and intellectual property often fall under roles libertarians consider suitable for government.
hollerith 7y ago
Stallman's politics cannot be easily captured with a label. Here he is endorsing the most leftist well-known candidates for US president and British prime minister: To put an end to this oppression of workers, vote for Sanders and Corbyn.
- hollerith 7y ago
  Link to that last: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jul-oct.html#4_September_2019_(The_sweatshop_service_economy) https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jul-oct.html#4_September_...
quadrangle 7y ago
Here's what he thinks of "libertarians": https://stallman.org/glossary.html#anti https://stallman.org/glossary.html#anti

He's not a lefty. He's a fundamentalist libertarian.

by typon 7y ago

He's not a lefty. He's a fundamentalist libertarian.

I'd say he's more communist, since he seems to believe that private property just shouldn't exist. Libertarians by contrast would tend more on the scale of "you should be able to do whatever you want with your private property."

claudiawerner 7y ago
> since he seems to believe that private property just shouldn't exist Although I'm sympathetic to that idea myself, that just isn't true in Stallman's case. He's a Bernie/Stein voter and he's read something by Emma Goldman, but I think that's the extent of his "lefty" gland.
wwright 7y ago
The latter is what he wants. He is happy for people to charge for software, but he advocates that the owner must have full control.
icebraining 7y ago
Some argue that copyright undermines private property: https://mises.org/library/against-intellectual-property-2 https://mises.org/library/against-intellectual-property-2

shitgoose 7y ago

not even close:)) he is a fundamentalist statist.

doubleunplussed 7y ago

A libertarian who says Americans should vote for Bernie Sanders and Australians should vote for the Greens?

swfsql 7y ago

He is the opposite of a libertarian. Copyleft requires, supports, validates, the state. An actual libertarian would be pro: "there's no copyright nor copyleft; my computer -> my rules, I do whatever I want with whatever files I empirically have. And the only way to decisively stop me from doing that is to actually kill me."

Frondo 7y ago
Libertarians don't oppose the state, they just want its function constrained far, far below what any modern government offers; contract law and intellectual property often fall under roles libertarians consider suitable for government.

hollerith 7y ago

Stallman's politics cannot be easily captured with a label. Here he is endorsing the most leftist well-known candidates for US president and British prime minister: To put an end to this oppression of workers, vote for Sanders and Corbyn.

hollerith 7y ago
Link to that last: https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jul-oct.html#4_September_2019_(The_sweatshop_service_economy) https://stallman.org/archives/2019-jul-oct.html#4_September_...

quadrangle 7y ago

Here's what he thinks of "libertarians": https://stallman.org/glossary.html#anti https://stallman.org/glossary.html#anti