Libertarianism

Libertarianism is a political philosophy that SD.net has recently been focusing on more.

Libertarian belief is all about a minimal state, the government is to be limited in it's funtions and capacity, and alot of emphasis is put on individual rights and freedom.

Common Libertarian Beliefs

• Reduction of state run programs down to as few as possible (Generally in favour of police forces and a (reduced) standing army, some support public schools in some for or another)
• De-federalization
• Very capitalistic, with plans to remove regulatory laws on corporations such as anti-trust laws and minimum wages
• Abolition of welfare programs
• Militantly anti-gun-control
• Non-confrontational foreign policy
• Strong believers in separation of church and state
• Elimination of victim-less crimes from the law books (prostitution, drugs, seatbelts etc.)
• Taxation should be kept to a minimal, if at all (the extreme end of this being seeing taxation as theft)

A closely related concept to Libertarianism is anarcho-capitalism (most notably expounded by one L. Neil Smith), which advocates abolition of government and replacing it with corporations. Anarcho-capitalists are -- for all intents and purposes -- religiously devoted to the concept of “the Invisible Hand of the market”. Even among Libertarians, these guys are seen as lunatics, as their knee jerk response to any criticism often starts with "Hey, I am a Libertarian, but not one of those anarcho-capitalist morons".

Criticism

Even with a few self-described “Small L libertarians” in the board’s established population, Libertarianism is for the most part highly criticized by SD.net's population for its lack of regulation; how its wealth redistribution would lead to the emergence of a few corporate monopolies; the fact that it removes environmental codes which would lead to massive ecological damage; the effects of legalization of hard drugs on society; the fact that sometimes it makes sense to drag someone away from doing; and effectively making the government small, dumb, and weak, especially making it vulnerable during wartime.

External Links

• Witness an anarcho-capitalist in action.
• Critiques of Libertarianism is a site with well thought-out criticism of Libertarianism and common libertarian arguments.