The Libertarian Thread

Too bad he was too old to run this time. If he would have been the Libertarian candidate this year and been 65 or so, he would have gotten at LEAST 7-8% of the popular vote.

 

I have some disagreements with Ron Paul, but so much of what he says makes so much sense. I'm just not sure how his ideas could actually be implemented in a system of power, money and control so deeply entrenched in both major parties.

 

Love Ron Paul and most of his ideas, but man... what happened with Rand Paul? Not at all a chip off the old block

 

I'm just guessing, but it seems to me that Rand agrees with most of his Dad's ideas, but is much more pragmatic than the old man and decided to try to incorporate some in the context of the traditional politician approach.

 

This. They agree on a lot, but Rand know where he has to tweak some of the messaging if he ever wants to move the needle.

 

We don't mess with them and they don't mess with us. If they mess with us, we follow the Constitution and get approval from Congress.

This is easily my favorite thing about the Libertarian party. My least favorite is the stance on drugs. I realize marijuana will be legalized across the country very soon. But harder drugs wreak havoc and I just can't turn a blind eye to them.

 

Yeah. I have a lot of libertarian leanings, but I can't imagine a world where heroin being available at CVS or Rite Aid is a good idea.

 

I suppose there is some truth to that, but there will be some people who aren't addicts who will not even try drugs due to the fact that they will have to go to these gangs or their middle men to buy them. They become a non-option. I'm picturing people walking into CVS with a headache and instead of grabbing Tylenol, they think to themselves, "This is a really bad headache. I think I'll grab Percocet instead." Then they start taking Percocet for minor aches and pains, then because it relaxes them on the weekend...then addict."

I have said before on this board that I had an injury and I was on Norco for a while. Even though my usage was relatively minor, I still went through withdrawals and didn't want to stop taking it despite the pain being minimal. Opiates sneak up on you. They aren't like weed. They rewire your brain and they do it fast.

 

This applies to just about everything.

 

I respect the Libertarian idealism and concept for the most part, but like a lot of philosophies, I think they take it too far.

Why does everyone always want to take ideals like Libertarian, Democratic, Socialist, Communist, etc as THE WAY to govern (or non govern as it were)? Why is it always all or nothing with these philosophies? There is a point where Libertarian philosophy falls apart and doesn't work, at some extreme corners of social policy.

For instance, I love that each person has the right to vote in an election, but if we follow a strict Libertarian doctrine, every human being should be able to vote, including babies and little kids. What kind of sense does that make? They don't even have the ability to understand what they are doing. Eighteen as voting age is a pretty arbitrary number. Some people are far smarter, and can understand what they are voting for way before eighteen, but they chose eighteen as voting age for expedience and simplicity, and I think that works just fine.

 

Actually, Bonkscooter said this a few times when I challenged him. All citizens should be able to vote. Maybe he got it from Thomas Sowell I don't know.

If you think there is a limit to that idea, I'm all for it, but that's never how it's presented. I've never heard any Libertarian say it doesn't work in some cases.

 

I'm actually of the belief that 23-25 should be the voting age unless you join the military at which point it could be 18. I think that not only should you be an adult, but be an adult with some real life experience. Yes, there are some 18 year olds equipped to vote, but the majority of people fresh out of high school shouldn't have input into how the country works. Get a real job. Work with people of all ages and walks of life as opposed to your classmates on a group project. Make a real paycheck and see what taxes do to it.