>>6
No, that was my first post.
The tone was scathing because most "Libertarians" I've met were a dangerous bunch: they're intelligent, greedy, naive, and highly conceited. It doesn't help that libertarianism is a vague concept compared to other ideologies, thus attracting every bright rebellious shithead with an opinion. This may not be you, so I'll explain briefly why I have such problems with libertarianism:
Libertarianism is broad (it's somewhat like anarchism in that sense). In fact, it's a
lot like anarchism: it sounds great on paper. Less government? Great! More power to the people? Fantastic! Individual responsibility? Right on!
The problem is that many people don't want to take responsibility. No, they want to take advantage of people. Oh, you might hear the anarchists crow that it's just the way we're socialized, but I prefer empirical evidence over some pie-in-the-sky fantasy. And the government? Why, we don't need taxes! It'll run mysteriously on the generosity of others! And some want no government at all (hello anarchism).
Except that power fills a vacuum.
The main gripe I have though is thoroughly economic: libertarianists appear to believe in a complete laissez-faire economy. This delves into the whole public/private issue, but I'd like to point something out: the United States. Yeah, a lot of the ideals that the founding fathers espoused were fairly libertarian. Look at the US today. Notice something?
As I said, I prefer to give precedence to systems that have been demonstrated. I've never seen a pleasant minarchist or anarchist system of any size. Yet, in my travels, I've found that the opposite is usually the case: take a look at Western Europe, Canada, Australia, and other social or semi-social democracies. Pseudo-political scientists can keep their unproven systems, and I'll stick with what works. They may not be perfect, not by a long shot, but there does appear to be a general trend.
And all the ideals the libertarians like to dole out? Who says other systems can't have them too? Those ideals are used since it appeals to everyone -
and therefore obviously not the sole domain of libertarianism.
The only time I'll reconsider the libertarian ideology is if I see it successfully used, preferably through a gradual evolution of the system. Until then, it's just a fantastic toy of mental masturbation.
And don't get me started about anarcho-capitalist libertarians.