this post was submitted on 06 Jul 2023
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Asklemmy

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For Context: I live in the United States of America.

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[–] angstylittlecatboy@reddthat.com 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And the government isn’t the only monster.

Very important. Otherwise you become a Libertarian or a Theocrat.

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee -4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Well I'm a libertarian because it takes into account all the other monsters. The goal of government is to maximize freedom. That doesnt' mean anarchy, because people are less free under anarchy than they are under properly-operating government.

IMO a government should be just powerful enough to prevent other governments from forming. Like, the purpose of an army in a democracy is to prevent other armies from coming to install a dictatorship over the people.

Or to mirror the common saying about guns: "The only way to stop a bad government with an army, is with a good government with an army".

But the other monsters are gangs, corporations, individuals. And a good government enforces rules that prevent those other monsters from taking away your freedom.

But yeah. Basic point is that libertarian => government's purpose is to maximize freedom

[–] Halferect@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Libertarians are anarchists with suits. I hope you are a edgy 16 year old because I think you got a lot to learn about how the government works and how society works

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

Libertarians are anarchists with suits

You don’t see this as “edgy” at all? Like what value are we to obtain from this comment as readers?

[–] BarrelAgedBoredom@beehaw.org 0 points 1 year ago

The American libertarian party and anarchists in all of their flavors (minus an-caps) are wildly different. What brought you to that conclusion?

[–] ComradeKhoumrag@infosec.pub 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I get the sentiment, and agree with it in theory. But in practice, the libertarian party in America is going to give you corporate tyranny

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

We already have corporate tyranny. That’s why Lemmy exists.

But why do you think that about the American Libertarian party specifically?

[–] ComradeKhoumrag@infosec.pub 1 points 1 year ago

So, I was gonna do a lot of research into seeing if the libertarian party actually proposes policy the way you suggested (in that corporate tyranny limits freedoms and therefore the libertarian party would be for policy that regulates corporations) but that's a lot of work I don't wanna do so instead I'm going to ask you if you're aware of any such policy

By the way, I am very pro small business (I partner with some friends in our own business, actually), and recognize the sentiment of "if the government regulates the market, then who regulates the government". I would like to see the government solve positive and negative externalities by providing contracts to small businesses, as well as have the government function as a competitor to big corporations. But from what I can tell, the libertarian party is libertarian in the sense that they think government should have no authority over the markets.

Again, I want it to be extremely accessible for individuals to take initiative in the market, but eveb right wing economists recognize that market failures exist for capitalism (such as in climate change or cybersec) and those negative externalities need to be addressed through some kind of regulation