this post was submitted on 14 Sep 2023
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I do wish the libertarians would get their shit together and stop running the most batshit crazy candidates they can find. Libertarian philosophies are hit and miss - like their obsession with privatizing everything and letting the "free market" basically run the country is a recipe for some dystopian hellscape shit; but I can respect things like the non-aggression principle, and they at least follow a logic in placing personal liberty as a golden standard that should only ever be infringed when absolutely necessary.
That's all in contrast to the GOP, which has no principles at all other than "if the left wants it, it's bad!" or "because putin said so!" all wrapped in star-spangled veneer with a bible on top.
I'm hoping that as the GOP continues to devolve into total unapologetic ignorance and hatred, that it'll eventually swap places with the libertarians, with the GOP becoming the fringe crazies and the libertarians becoming the Democrat's main competitor.
They may not be progressive, but they at least bring something to the table; and them getting into power would be a lot less destructive than the GOP having that same power.
Dunno how realistic that hope is, but still.
Libertarianism was actually invented as a Leftist political philosophy where the people leveraged the state's power to maximize freedoms (beyond liberalism). That's why right wing Libertarians don't make sense. It's been invented by think tanks to confuse us. Ask a right wing Libertarian what they believe outside of their economic principles, and it's often just nazi shit. Or anarcho capitalist shit. Oof.
Libertarianism in general doesn't hold much water when you start looking for holes. It's one of those things that sounds good on paper at first glance, but the more detail you dig for, the shittier it becomes.
I don't think it has any potential in-and-of-itself; but as a party to keep a healthy amount of pressure on big blue, and occasionally put out a not-horrible policy... I could see it.
The libertarian party views democrats and the left as a lost cause though. Theyve snuggled up to republicans but are too cowardly to label themselves as one. Tbh the party's main purpose seems to be as a spoiler to drag away a couple percent of conservative leaning people from voting for Trump and the like.
That's why I think they have potential to replace the GOP - functionally they're Republican Lite™, which is fucking great cuz Republican Classic™ is literally killing us.
I don't see us ever steering away from a two party system, so best case scenario is for one of the big two to be completely replaced by a less toxic version of itself.
Tbh having known a fair number of libertarians and kept tabs on the libertarian party over the years, I am not really convinced that theyd really be an improvement. Their ideas on economics are straight up even more extreme than the republicans and their ideas on social issues boil down to the government just not doing anything to intervene which is less than ideal given that would eliminate policies like the ADA. They oppose the government doing things that harm social freedoms which is good but its at the expense of just letting private companies do effectively the exact same thing based on the theory that you have a choice to be subject to it or not which doesnt really work out in reality if you are effectively chained to your job with no realistic escape and/or the companies you deal with are monopolies (which they oppose antitrust legislation to deal with)
The GOP deserves to be replaced with something else but I am not really convinced libertarian philosophy is the replacement we need. I would rather deal with a party that is more focused on finding market alternatives to government intervention but does not strictly oppose intervention when those market alternatives aren't working or otherwise are untenable. I want a party that at least acknowledges global warming and wealth/income inequality is a problem and that maybe we shouldn't be untethering corporations from all regulation, just the regulations that serve no purpose other than to stifle competition.