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Well, explained more than F-you, I’ve got mine.
Gleaned from Pharyngula, a post from Jadehawk.
I think that it’s possible to have libertarian values and still like things like governments and taxes and social programs.
yup. That’s called being liberal, progressive, or even anarcho-syndicalist, depending on the exact ratio of “libertarian” values to government/taxes/social programs
I concede the point that the phrase Libertarian has been tainted by the Tea Party
oh it was tarnished way before that, sometime around the time free-marketeers stole the label from what are currently called leftwing anarchists.
This is for reference for those who are curious:
oh FFS. Weve gone over this before. almost every single point is phrased in such a way that it, by omission, permits the limiting of freedoms of the non-privileged. a few examples:
Individuals should be free to make choices for themselves and to accept responsibility for the consequences of the choices they make. No individual, group, or government may initiate force against any other individual, group, or government. Our support of an individual’s right to make choices in life does not mean that we necessarily approve or disapprove of those choices. [...] Sexual orientation, preference, gender, or gender identity should have no impact on the government’s treatment of individuals, such as in current marriage, child custody, adoption, immigration or military service laws. Government does not have the authority to define, license or restrict personal relationships. Consenting adults should be free to choose their own sexual practices and personal relationships.
IOW: if a privately owned hospital wants to deny you visitation rights because you’re gay, well, that’s tough shit: not only can’t the government tell them to stop on principle, you’re not allowed to legally make yourself your loved one’s “next of kin” to gain legal visitation rights on an individual level, because marriages aren’t the government’s business.
Recognizing that abortion is a sensitive issue and that people can hold good-faith views on all sides, we believe that government should be kept out of the matter, leaving the question to each person for their conscientious consideration.
IOW, libertarians don’t want the government to fund PP, because poor women don’t deserve the same right to “conscientious consideration” than rich women do.
The only legitimate use of force is in defense of individual rights — life, liberty, and justly acquired property — against aggression.
IOW, libertarians support power-balances in negotiations, since only employers are allowed to consist of more than one person; employees may not.
libertarians want all members of society to have abundant opportunities to achieve economic success. A free and competitive market allocates resources in the most efficient manner.
well, too fucking bad then that you can either have a competitive, or a free market, not both, since a free market tends towards monopoly over time, since competition is expensive. And evidence suggests that libertarians in fact support a free, non-competitive market.
Property rights are entitled to the same protection as all other human rights.
IOW, owning shit is just as, or more, important than not starving, not freezing to death, and not dying of preventable disease.
Where property, including land, has been taken from its rightful owners by the government or private action in violation of individual rights, we favor restitution to the rightful owners.
except the Indians. They can’t have America back, we stole it fair and square.
All persons are entitled to keep the fruits of their labor.
except workers, since we’re against the minimum wage. workers should hand over most of the fruits of their labor to their corporate overlords.
We call for the repeal of the income tax, the abolishment of the Internal Revenue Service and all federal programs and services not required under the U.S. Constitution
again, because owning shit is more important than not starving, not freezing to death, and not dying of preventable disease.
Education, like any other service, is best provided by the free market, achieving greater quality and efficiency with more diversity of choice.
IOW, libertarians know nothing about education, except that poor people don’t need it. Oh, and positive externalities don’t exist, which is why the free market will have no problem allocating the right amount of education to the right people; meaning not-poor people.
We favor restoring and reviving a free market health care system.
poor people don’t deserve the freedom that comes from knowing that the next bout of illness isn’t going to kill and/or bankrupt you.
etc. ad nauseam. The fucking platform itself is evidence for what people have been saying on this thread: that libertarianism supports the rights of the dominant group to remain the dominant group; it does not support factual freedom for everyone, only the freedom of those who can buy everything.
Thanks JadeHawk 
Oh and another great summary from the same thread…
John Scalzi wrote the best paragraph ever on glibertarians. Here it is:
I really don’t know what you do about the “taxes are theft” crowd, except possibly enter a gambling pool regarding just how long after their no-tax utopia comes true that their generally white, generally entitled, generally soft and pudgy asses are turned into thin strips of Objectivist Jerky by the sort of pitiless sociopath who is actually prepped and ready to live in the world that logically follows these people’s fondest desires. Sorry, guys. I know you all thought you were going to be one of those paying a nickel for your cigarettes in Galt Gulch. That’ll be a fine last thought for you as the starving remnants of the society of takers closes in with their flensing tools.
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/09/26/tax-frenzies-and-how-to-hose-them-down/
It’s funny how when the bible says some really ugly repugnant things the ability to interpret what it ‘actually’ means becomes so darn important. One would think the word of god was above the musing of mere mortals….
His ignorance is like a shield of steel…
Hallelujah! The faith healers of the world prey on the misery and hopelessness of others. Watch the fail in action as the power of the christian faith heals the sick, mends the crippled and gets everyone ice cream and unicorns for the car ride home.
For a dogma based on uncritical belief and an adherence to magic, I guess believing in faith healing is not such a big step.
Homeopathic remedies (also see sugar water) still are ineffective and generally do not work, unless their intended effect is to part foolish people from their money, in that case they are a most excellent product.
“WINNIPEG – Skeptics of homeopathic medicine have downed entire bottles of the remedies at demonstrations in several Canadian cities in an effort to prove the concoctions don’t work.
Gem Newman, who consumed a whole bottle of St. John’s Wort at an event in Winnipeg, says the capsules were mostly comprised of sugar and water and didn’t affect him.”
This is anecdata, but for a more data points please see James Randi as he has been downing homeopathic remedies in quantity for years and is still with us.
“According to the Homepathic Medical Council of Canada’s website, the active ingredients in homeopathic medications are taken in highly-diluted form to avoid toxicity.
But Newman says the product’s heath claims are unproven, and the doses are so small that they are useless.”
It surprises me that in modern countries like Canada the woo peddlers are given so much respect (they have their “medical” council).
Perhaps the deadline was not mentioned clearly enough in New Delhi. Work is behind schedule, athletes are beginning to pull out of this years games. The situation is becoming a bit of embarrassment for India.
“The head of the Commonwealth Games says India still has extensive work to do before it is fully ready to stage its showcase event amid concerns about security and safety conditions.
Mike Fennell, the president of the Commonwealth Games Federation, acknowledged on Saturday that New Delhi has made progress in addressing the multiple problems surrounding the event, due to begin on October 3, adding that the Games would go ahead.
But he said accommodations for participants of the Games are still unsuitable for teams to use, citing problems with transport, security arrangements and medical services.
Teams coming to the games are not staying in the Athlete’s village, they are going to hotels and motels as the conditions are not quite up to snuff yet. Not up to snuff being the presence of building materials, tools and human feces in many of the rooms.
Whoops.
“A portion of false ceiling in the weightlifting venue caved in on Wednesday, a day after the collapse of a footbridge at the main stadium, injuring 27 workers. In another incident, armed men shot and wounded two foreign visitors near a historic mosque in Delhi on Sunday in a suspected terrorist attack.”
Not exactly the most people friendly way to welcome athletes from across the former British Empire. October 3rd is quickly approaching let us hope they can get their act together and pull these games off.
The Arbourist
The Intransigent One
Mystro
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