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Libertarianism isn't the same as anarchism. Libertarians want there to be law enforcement and a defense industry, and they want the private sector to play a rol
by nvm0n2 3y ago
Libertarianism isn't the same as anarchism. Libertarians want there to be law enforcement and a defense industry, and they want the private sector to play a role in that when possible, but not to fully replace the government's role. The state having a monopoly on violence is a key part of libertarian thinking, in fact.
So there's no hypocrisy here. However, the Insider article is clearly designed as an attack piece on Thiel, and is probably written by people who don't understand what libertarianism is - a very common issue with those who attack it.
- lostlogin 3y ago> The state having a monopoly on violence is a key part of libertarian thinking, in fact. Don’t libertarians usually want less gun control?
- nvm0n2 3y agoAmerican libertarians do, not those everywhere. In the US they square it by saying that guns are a bulwark against the state going rogue and turning its own weapons on its citizens, but that in normal times (outside of civil war) guns are only meant for things like self defense in cases where the police can't get there in time, or hunting. I think if you want to argue hypocrisy that's still a better place to start than with being an FBI informant, but the article isn't about gun control.
- lostlogin 3y agoThanks - and obviously it’s a hot topic. I wasn’t looking to go down that track so much as query the ‘monopoly on violence’ thing. I didn’t know this was a libertarian view, and assumed a broad ‘self-defence’ belief.
- justincredible 3y ago[dead]
- Ancapistani 3y ago> Libertarianism isn't the same as anarchism. I agree, but have a clarification I'd like to make: many forms of anarchism are in a superset of libertarianism.