Wednesday 24 June 2015

Being Libertarian.

We’re in a lot of trouble.

Years ago, I classified myself as a Classical Liberal. I found this confusing terminology because I am a fiscal conservative and fiscal conservatism is not a very Liberal concept. Moreover, Classical Liberalism is often used in descriptions of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. I’m not an American either. Fortunately for me, times have changed and the term “Libertarianism” is now popular! Now we don’t have to hide in the shadows as stodgy old Classical Liberals, we can step into the light and BE Libertarian!

Libertarianism used to be so simple. It was an ideology that supported individual autonomy, property rights, civil rights and rejected State intervention in…well…everything! But, above all, it supported and adhered to the NAP (Non Aggression Principle). These are basic tenets of Libertarianism and all of the aforementioned is outside the right/left political paradigm.

This is the beauty of the rise of Libertarianism. If you were sick of mainstream, traditional right/left politics and coveted personal freedom you now had an identity. You were a Libertarian! You could now wax poetic about platitudes of freedom and all things that should be free! “Get the hobnail boot of the State off of the people’s throats!” …and all that sort of nonsense.

However, that was back when nobody knew about or particularly gave a dick for Libertarianism. Nevertheless, as the Libertarian train began to pick up speed, more and more people have begun attempts to derail the journey to a Stateless and tax-free destination. Everything from trolls telling us to move to Somalia (Libertarianism to the extreme is considered Anarchism and Somalia has no real government at present) to Socialists accusing us of being “anti-people” for wanting to eliminate their precious social programs (Libertarians want to make Social Programs privately funded rather than State/taxpayer funded).

Even worse than that is the most recent trend of mainstream political “Statists” tacking on the word Libertarian to their particular right/left political outlook. I’m most recently irked by the current Greek Minister of Finance, Yanis Varoufakis, describing himself as a Libertarian-Marxist. …what?? Marxism says Socialism, Socialism is the politics of forcing everyone into the same “box”, operative word being “force”. Political force is aggression against people. Aggression is against the NAP! If you politically contravene the NAP you are by definition NOT a Libertarian! I have no doubt that Mr. Varoufakis is a Marxist, he is aligned with Greece’s current Socialist (Syriza Party) government.

Does this make Mr. Varoufakis a “bad guy”? No, of course not, I watch his actions very closely these days in the news and on Youtube. He’s a fantastic orator, a financial genius and looks like a certified “bad-ass” in his black leather jacket when meeting the UK PM at Number 10 Downing Street! With Greece hanging off the edge of the proverbial financial cliff the Greek Finance Minister has been submitting proposal after proposal to restructure Greece’s enormous debt problem. How do we know his proposals are in favor of the Greek people? German Minister of Finance, Wolfgang Schauble, found him intolerable and demanded he be replaced at the debt negotiation table! You can’t ask for a bigger compliment from the European Union! Yanis Varoufakis is my kinda guy!!

But I digress…there is no such thing as a “Libertarian Marxist”. Nor is there such thing as a “Libertarian Socialist” as I most recently heard some confused Socialist refer to himself on the Internet recently. Both of these are a contradiction in terms!! ...But that’s Statism, isn’t it? Giving with one hand while taking (more) with the other?

So now, it's not so simple and we’re in a lot of trouble. The term “Libertarian” is being sucked into the right/left political paradigm and we can’t allow that to happen! Libertarianism is squarely OUTSIDE the traditional right/left political paradigm. I implore Libertarians everywhere to call 100% unmitigated bullshit when some wannabe Libertarian tries to hyphenate Libertarianism! Tell them to get back into their Statist hole of political misery and don’t come out until they are really ready to acknowledge the basic tenets of Libertarianism. Tell them. ...Because if we don’t, we're the ones responsible for the Libertarian movement becoming polluted with the political garbage of State aggression. They want to tell you what to do. They think they know better than you.


BE Libertarian. It’s up to you.

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