tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887440039323868659.post5334378851194595527..comments2024-03-28T22:15:25.617-07:00Comments on RAWIllumination.net: A political manifesto from Oklahoma Cleveland Okie (Tom Jackson)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07810736442596736041noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887440039323868659.post-87833009793837607392014-11-08T21:36:54.825-08:002014-11-08T21:36:54.825-08:00Since this is a blog about RAW, how is it that no ...Since this is a blog about RAW, how is it that no one seems to understand the point that calling ones self <i>anything</i> and<br />banding together with others under <i>any</i> label kills free thought? I do agree with Angus' many causes (and I also don't vote) but the point is that people who agree with these policies need to forget about parties and labels and band together over <i>issues,</i> not what they like to call themselves, to get some of these thing made law. Call yourselves The Guns and Dope Party :) if you need a flag to fly under. There are more people in this country who support many of these ideas than you think.fyreflyehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03567375730311004673noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887440039323868659.post-3375331904241128802014-11-07T04:18:35.268-08:002014-11-07T04:18:35.268-08:00This is the kind of Libertarianism I can get behin...This is the kind of Libertarianism I can get behind!Manic The Doodlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13229987608553832866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887440039323868659.post-32842480739413021182014-11-06T17:07:24.038-08:002014-11-06T17:07:24.038-08:00That does indeed help, and I very much appreciate ...That does indeed help, and I very much appreciate your response!Bobby Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03809136879430277243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887440039323868659.post-6596787999263977632014-11-06T15:02:45.885-08:002014-11-06T15:02:45.885-08:00Bobby,
Dr. Grier supports abolishing the TSA, rei...Bobby,<br /><br />Dr. Grier supports abolishing the TSA, reigning in government spying, drastically scaling back the military, drastically reducing economic regulation and legalizing all drugs. All of those are hardcore libertarian positions that enjoy little support among Democrats and Republicans. By any reasonable definition, he seems to be a "libertarian" or "classical liberal," although I don't know what label he would apply to himself. <br /><br />There are of course very very hardcore libertarians who favor little or no government and label everyone else "statists," including fellow travelers in the freedom movement. I sometimes call myself a classical liberal, just to put a little space between myself and the fanatics. <br /><br />But even the ideological enforcers usually depart from orthodoxy on one position or another. Justin Raimondo, for example, who is quick to accuse other folks of heresy, opposes immigration reform.<br /><br />I favor a reasonably broad definition of libertarianism. Regardless of how they feel about global warming, almost all libertarians favor free speech, ending the drug war, ending almost all foreign wars, ending government tax subsidies for private companies and leaving people alone to follow their own lifestyles. <br /><br />But at the end of the day, people who define themselves as libertarians are individuals, and some of us actually try to think for ourselves, instead of worrying about what St. Ayn Rand and Pope Murray Rothbard would have said. If you want to know how I feel about a certain issue, you probably have to ask me. <br /><br />I would also point out that libertarians have a bad reputation in the press because the powers-that-be like it that way. Even the people I consider a little bit fanatical believe in "live and let live." They aren't the reason the government is killing Asian peasants with Hellfire missiles, or still tossing black people into prison on drug violations. <br /><br />I can only speak for myself and not for other libertarians, but I hope that helps. Cleveland Okie (Tom Jackson)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07810736442596736041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887440039323868659.post-85610955582814348912014-11-06T10:00:15.670-08:002014-11-06T10:00:15.670-08:00All of that stuff sounds great to me!
I feel like...All of that stuff sounds great to me!<br /><br />I feel like maybe the label of "libertarian" has so much flexibility that it obscures more than it reveals? Sort of like "Buddhism." I can identify myself as a Buddhist, but that doesn't actually tell you very much about me, and assumptions made from the variety of cultural associations of that term can give a completely inaccurate impression of what I think.<br /><br />The kind of Libertarianism that would support guaranteed basic income and climate change legislation seems so radically different from mainstream Libertarianism that it seems like you might as well call it something else?<br /><br />Though if I remember correctly you can't call it something else, because then it creates an ineffectual splinter group that no longer receives support from sources such like the Cato Institute, et al?<br /><br />Which then puts this Libertarianism I like right back in league with the Libertarianism I don't trust, and worry could be using the other as a kind of ideological bait and switch.<br /><br />Not an accusation, just a cards on the table, request for clarification!<br /><br />Libertarianism offers all of this cool stuff that I really do support, but it seems to get a little messy in the fine print.Bobby Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03809136879430277243noreply@blogger.com