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I was an actual libertarian once upon a time. The more I read about the actual function of government, structure, and just “civilization,” the less I was able t

I was an actual libertarian once upon a time. The more I read about the actual function of government, structure, and just “civilization,” the less I was able to hold on to my libertarian values. Now I’m a ridiculously liberal democrat, still with some core libertarian beliefs that I think should hold, but which don’t work in practice.

macintux 2y ago
I ran for office as a Libertarian many years ago, not seriously, but they needed people to run to retain their privileged position on the ballot in the future. As a long-time Democrat, I was amused and angered by local Republicans on TV who griped about Libertarians who were siphoning votes. “You think these voters would vote for the Democratic party?” Yes, jerk, some of them would, because we believe in civil liberty.
api 2y ago
I've kind of gone that way. What I personally favor is a socially liberal social democracy with minimal regulation but a strong welfare state funded by a mostly neo-Georgist model of taxation. Socially liberal: you can be/do mostly what you want as long as you are not hurting anyone, and what other people are or do is not your business. The exceptions are at the edges where people are arguably harmed indirectly, with CSAM and other non-consensual pornography as obvious examples. Social democracy: largely democratic but with a strong constitution. Minimal regulation: economic freedom, at-will employment, business friendly economic climate. Welfare state: a strong social safety net with at least a minimal level of universal health care and universally available education. A basic income system could perhaps be an alternative model, though there's a risk that this would be actively harmful to people with self-control or other psychological issues. Neo-Georgist taxation: Georgist taxation is land-value taxation. Neo-Georgism tends to add taxes on other "things people didn't create" such as natural resource extraction and taxes on externalities such as carbon emissions and other forms of pollution. There would be no sales or income tax. Some versions add a tariff on imports. I'd be in favor of tariffs on imports from countries that do not meet a minimum human rights standard. That's about the best situation I can imagine working on Earth in the 21st century. I don't think it would be half bad. I call it the music festival model of civilization: run around and do what you want but keep the festival grounds clean and there's a chill tent you can go to if you're having a bad trip. As with other libertarian-ish models of civilization it's a tough sell because you are throwing the ring of power into the fire. It doesn't offer much opportunity for people to force their views onto others or play central planner and direct the course of human history. I realized a while ago that you don't see too many genuinely pro-liberty politicians because it's kind of like being a vegan butcher. People tend to be attracted to politics because they want power over other people.

macintux 2y ago

I ran for office as a Libertarian many years ago, not seriously, but they needed people to run to retain their privileged position on the ballot in the future. As a long-time Democrat, I was amused and angered by local Republicans on TV who griped about Libertarians who were siphoning votes. “You think these voters would vote for the Democratic party?” Yes, jerk, some of them would, because we believe in civil liberty.

api 2y ago

I've kind of gone that way. What I personally favor is a socially liberal social democracy with minimal regulation but a strong welfare state funded by a mostly neo-Georgist model of taxation. Socially liberal: you can be/do mostly what you want as long as you are not hurting anyone, and what other people are or do is not your business. The exceptions are at the edges where people are arguably harmed indirectly, with CSAM and other non-consensual pornography as obvious examples. Social democracy: largely democratic but with a strong constitution. Minimal regulation: economic freedom, at-will employment, business friendly economic climate. Welfare state: a strong social safety net with at least a minimal level of universal health care and universally available education. A basic income system could perhaps be an alternative model, though there's a risk that this would be actively harmful to people with self-control or other psychological issues. Neo-Georgist taxation: Georgist taxation is land-value taxation. Neo-Georgism tends to add taxes on other "things people didn't create" such as natural resource extraction and taxes on externalities such as carbon emissions and other forms of pollution. There would be no sales or income tax. Some versions add a tariff on imports. I'd be in favor of tariffs on imports from countries that do not meet a minimum human rights standard. That's about the best situation I can imagine working on Earth in the 21st century. I don't think it would be half bad. I call it the music festival model of civilization: run around and do what you want but keep the festival grounds clean and there's a chill tent you can go to if you're having a bad trip. As with other libertarian-ish models of civilization it's a tough sell because you are throwing the ring of power into the fire. It doesn't offer much opportunity for people to force their views onto others or play central planner and direct the course of human history. I realized a while ago that you don't see too many genuinely pro-liberty politicians because it's kind of like being a vegan butcher. People tend to be attracted to politics because they want power over other people.