General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Do not... DO NOT Defend Libertarians to me at Democratic Underground. [View all]Lydia Leftcoast
(48,217 posts)Period.
They believe that they're so wonderful that economic anarchy would automatically make them rise to the top and that only "government" is preventing this.
They believe that anyone who is economically unfortunate deserves it for somehow violating the commandments of the great and all-powerful god Market Forces.
A traditional conservative or a religious right type will donate to disaster relief efforts for Hurricane Sandy. A Libertarian will sniff and say that the victims shouldn't live so close to the ocean.
Note that the only government functions they like are the military, the police, and the courts, the most coercive parts of society and ones that are frequently turned against the starving masses in the Third World.
A lot of the nastiness of today's Republican is due to infiltration by Libertarian ideas. There are a lot of Libertarians in Oregon, and every one I met was a self-important adult version of a materialistic suburban brat. There are a couple of hardcore Libertarians in the Japanese-English translation community. I have never met them and hope that I never do, because their online arrogance and unpleasantness knows no bounds.
Don't be fooled by their stances on drugs, sex, or war, especially the last one. They would happily call out the military against their own people to suppress any hints of economic populism. But THEy don't want to fight, and like all brats, they want to do what they want to do no matter what, whether it's in the realm of economics or personal behavior.
They are NOT our allies.