arcoarena – I remember I was a little surprised about that the first time I heard it too. I had taken some quizzes which pegged me as somewhat of a Libertarian, but I identify with Democrats on Social and economic issues. Then I learned that Libertarianism is really a lot closer to Republican ideology than to Democratic ideology. I guess I would consider myself to be a liberal, not necessarily a Democrat, and that kind of blew my mind.
But I saw how it really fit, because essentially, I have always felt like the government should stay out of my personal business…I don’t like laws against say gay marriage, foul language, pornography…what you choose to partake in is your business as far as I’m concerned…and that is kind of the Libertarian ideology. But it’s all in how you look at it.
I took a little work in the fall of ‘92 as a telephone pollster during that year’s Presidential race. And I had to ask people what their most important issue was before I asked them who they were voting for. I remember, one lady I spoke with told me her most important issue was personal freedom, she talked about how she didn’t want government taking away her personal freedoms. That was not one of my choices, so it fell under other, but I felt it to be a great answer…that too was a big issue to me, having lived through a period where the Republicans seemed to have nothing better to do than to try to get Married…With Children cancelled, get Playboys out of the 7–11s and make sure no one could burn a flag. Then I asked who she’d vote for, and she said Bush. It didn’t compute.
But as I got older and savvier, I realized that a lot of Republicans who lean Libertarian really are of the mindset that government should get out of our business economicially speaking…the government should pretty much exist to provide us with national defense, and everything else should go down to the state level, where “community standards” would prevail. And as it happens, a lot of times “community standards” run very far to the religious right when it comes to social issues (particulary what you do in your bedroom or with your reproductive system).
It’s kind of like saying, “stay out of MY business, but make sure THEY aren’t doing anything unsavory.” A bit hypocritical yes, which is why I don’t like guys like Barr or Paul to be completely honest with you. Because though I like some of the ideas they have, Barr for example is very much a staunch immigration foe, and I’ve seen that issue too up close and personal to take a “kick ‘em all out” approach. Paul is an abortion foe and would like to relegate this to a state’s right’s issue so that places like South Dakota could ban it and there wouldn’t be a damn thing the Supreme Court could do about it. And no liberatarian advocates any sort of social safety net, which I think is something we need to get closer to, not farther away from like we have been for the last 28 years, and I think that more than anything is what people are responding to. You’ve got Obama who will strengthen the social safety net and make it so that more people can prosper and fewer will fall through the cracks, vs. McCain who will go full bore slashing regulations on anything that protects the have nots from the haves.
Libertarians have a different approach than Republicans in that what Republicans have become is the reverse of Democrats in terms of taxation and economic policy. Democrats want to structure regulation so that prosperity flows from the bottom up and Republicans want to structure regulation so it flows from the top down. Libertarians just don’t want any of that structure at all, and when you look at it, yes that means some things that Democrats would like…like ending tax subsidies to big companies, but it also provides a lot more for Republicans to like in that the captains of industry would be given free reign to ramp up profits without worrying about paying a fair wage or protecting the social interest. Essentially Libertarianism is unfettered Capitalism with social regulation at the state level. That is a lot closer to the Republican ideal than to the Democrat ideal.