Quote:
Originally Posted by OneToughHerring
(Post 1433685)
Well, sorta. I don't associate any kind of liberalism with the military. To me liberalism brings to mind Amsterdam and hippie women etc. :) Which isn't necessarily bad but, different.
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Libertarianism isn't liberalism, though it is closer to classical liberalism than modern liberalism is, if that makes any sense. Libertarians, as a whole, believe in liberal social policies, limited government, and strictly conservative fiscal policy, though there are divisions within that general spectrum.
I was a staunch Republican when I joined the military, but I changed my mind and went libertarian halfway through the enlistment. The change came from seeing just how well the most disciplined, honorable, responsible, proud part of the government did things on a daily basis. I figure that if the military can't do anything right with the obscene amount of control it can excercise, nobody else can either, especially when politics comes into play.
Libertarians, however, can be quite militant, though they favor militias and PMCs over a state military. I personally think that both the military and the police should be about 50% state and 50% competing private firms, just as a test-bed policy. If you look at non-combat high-tech support in the US military, you'll see that private firms have already all but driven out the state, as they are the only ones providing the training and pay necessary for all our complex equipment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mookiemookie
Besides, it would make no sense for a Dem to fear a Libertarian. They're going to siphon more votes away from the GOP if they because a more powerful political force and possible third party in this country.
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True, libertarians tend to siphon more votes from the GOP than from the Democrats, though they do get recruits from both sides. What Dems
should be worried about is another re-polarization of the electorate where the GOP nabs the libertarian vote and actually adopts some libertarian policies. Third parties may not win offices very often, but they play a major role in influencing the platform of the big parties if they are strong enough. That will leave the Dems with the opposite tack, namely the US socialist and Communist parties, who are even less popular than libertarians.
@TLAM, thanks for that link, I'm going to read through the whole thing after I post this.:up:
