Questions tagged [libertarianism]

Questions related to a dedicated laissez-faire political philosophy advocating only minimal state intervention in the lives of citizens.

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Given the presence of internet, encryption, and digital cash, why hasn't "assasination politics" taken off?

Jim Bell writes in his Assasination Politics: Now, there is one more thing that I would hope we could get straight: As I originally "invented" this system, it occurred to me that there ...
John Smith's user avatar
20 votes
4 answers
8k views

What do Libertarians mean when they say that ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), in the long run, leads to fewer people with disabilities employed?

Libertarians sometimes say that laws such as ADA lead, in the long run, to fewer people with disabilities being employed. How can that possibly be true? ADA is essentially saying that companies which ...
FlatAssembler's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
64 views

Was it up to individual judgement to trade not at par different labour notes in Modern Times?

During his experiment in Cincinnati Warren distinguished different types of labour: Adjustments were made for the difficulty and disagreeableness of the work performed, so that time was not the only ...
John Smith's user avatar
7 votes
6 answers
782 views

What is the libertarian solution to the antibiotic resistance caused by massive use of antibiotics in agriculture?

Libertarians are against all (or at least the vast majority of) government regulation. But there seem to be some things for which government regulation is necessary. Like the antibiotic resistance ...
FlatAssembler's user avatar
-7 votes
1 answer
179 views

Why is the state relativised so much? [closed]

The question is, why there's so much defense of state legitimacy on cognitive level. As if "it's necessary evil" vs "it's a universal good". It's still controversial to say that &...
very big cat's user avatar
5 votes
5 answers
793 views

Why has Libertarianism achieved so little as a political ideology in the World?

Since Libertarianism can be defined as a political philosophy that advocates only minimal state intervention in the free market and the private lives of citizens, but when it comes to actual policies, ...
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5 votes
2 answers
437 views

Have any capitalist libertarians asked if the free market destroys itself (due to the efficiency of organised crime)?

I am aware of, though not read in, the most influential capitalist libertarian thinkers (Hayek, Friedman, Nozick, Rand, etc). As far as I understand it, their general point is that an unrestricted ...
user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
435 views

How can the Harm Principle be adjusted to fit Social Democracy and Social Liberalism

Beyond Libertarianism: Interpretations of Mill's Harm Principle and the Economic Implications Therein The harm principle does not stipulate strict rights of the individual, applied uniformly. To ...
George Ntoulos's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
479 views

Do right wing libertarians have a mechanism which incentivises long term planning?

Some right wing libertarians intend to have the world run primarily, if not totally, on market-forces which in the vast majority of cases favor short-term gains and do not usually take into account ...
Ethan's user avatar
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35 votes
1 answer
7k views

Is there objective proof that Jo Jorgensen stopped Trump winning, like a right-wing Ralph Nader?

Breitbart is pushing the theory that if Jo Jorgensen hadn't run, Trump would have won (assuming that he didn't). Is this correct? Is there objective proof that all (or enough) of her votes would ...
Statsanalyst's user avatar
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18 votes
9 answers
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Is defunding the police compatible with a libertarian mindset?

In light of recent tragedies, many people have been saying "defund the police". I'm a moderate conservative and moderate libertarian and generally think that defunding the police is a bad ...
Spencer's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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What did Ayn Rand mean by " men’s rejection of reason in favor of faith, and of self-interest in favor of self-sacrifice."?

Basically, this statement is included in one of her book in subject of reasons, how totalitarianism developed.
MIKEY SINGH's user avatar
-5 votes
2 answers
334 views

Is it possible to privatize marriage while keeping incestuous relationships illegal?

The concept of marriage privatization, where the state has no authority to define personal relationships, has been growing popular over the last few years in the USA. Many people see it as the best ...
user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
117 views

Rand Paul coronavirus vote record

I've seen mentioned in an article from March that: Earlier this month, [Rand] Paul, a licensed physician, voted against a bipartisan $8 billion emergency coronavirus funding bill. He was the sole ...
Fizz's user avatar
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10 votes
2 answers
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How does libertarianism handle contagious diseases or pandemics?

In libertarianism, each person is responsible for their own health. Nobody is forced to take health insurance, and a hospital is not obliged to provide care to an individual who cannot pay for the ...
gerrit's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
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In a libertarian model, who would own/protect/take care of things like the pyramids, mummies, grand canyon and other important national monuments?

How do libertarians address the issue protecting things like the pyramids and other historical artifacts. Does the government have to get involved or can they be done privately?
gbd's user avatar
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22 votes
13 answers
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Is Libertarianism left wing or right wing?

In my country, libertarianism is associated with a pure right political ideology. They held more right wing positions than those who are elected and refered to as "right", or even "far right". For ...
Pablo's user avatar
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Does a libertarian party make the US more or less libertarian? [closed]

Say 0 means libertarian, and 100 means statism. Say we have a libertarian party. Let's presume there is no voting strategy. So everyone picks the one that makes the most sense to them. And let's for ...
user4951's user avatar
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9 votes
4 answers
1k views

Libertarians and vaccines

This is yet another "How do Libertarians handle ______" question. It was inspired by this comment. Vaccines are effective for almost everyone who receives them, but not everyone is able to be ...
Bobson's user avatar
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29 votes
4 answers
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How would a libertarian model address widely spread negative externalities (such as CFCs)?

I understand the concept in libertarianism that if corporation A dumps toxic waste in a river and downstream of this river corporation B bottles this water for consumption, that corporation B has had ...
Gramatik's user avatar
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9 votes
6 answers
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What is the opposite of libertarian?

Left/Right labels in politics seem insufficient to address the differences in politics today, and adding prefixes like far-left or alt-right seems to simply exaggerate problems. I've seen more ...
Burt_Harris's user avatar
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17 votes
4 answers
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Why isn't it a woman's choice to be a prostitute? [duplicate]

The non-legal argument in favor of abortion is that its a woman's body, therefore it should be the woman's choice. Why isn't that argument applied to prostitution? It seems to me that we as a society ...
Jamie Clinton's user avatar
2 votes
4 answers
443 views

How would a privatized society deal with disputes over flows of air and water? [closed]

In a society based around private property rights, original appropriation, with no state, are there any proposed methods for dealing with disputes that involve flows of air and water? (So "Muh EPA!" ...
blud's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
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Why is there no secular/liberal/libertarian parties in Indonesia?

In the US, the Libertarian Party has few seats because of the winner-takes-all election. However, in Indonesia, there is no winner-takes-all election. You can go to the local DPRD (regional ...
user4951's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
2k views

Difference between personal property and private property in left-libertarianism

I thought this would be more relevant here than at the English SO. I was reading on Wikipedia about libertarian socialism, which brought me to the article on left-libertarianism. Beginning at the ...
Zebrafish's user avatar
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3 votes
3 answers
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Are there any Libertarian schools?

I did some web searches and could not find any examples of a Libertarian school. In fact, there were no examples I could find of any political-oriented schools in the United States. There only seemed ...
Tyler Durden's user avatar
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-4 votes
3 answers
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Libertarian perspective: America's gun laws and the Florida high school shooting [closed]

Every time such massacres happen, leftists try to push the gun control debate using emotional appeal and libertarians try to defend the right to bear arms based on reason (ex: tyrannical governments, ...
Mark Messa's user avatar
14 votes
8 answers
5k views

How would libertarianism deal with deceptive contracts?

Also, what about if you buy a software, and some terms in the software TOS says that you agree to be sex slave. A more concrete samples Unit link insurances. In most regions, people are selling unit ...
user4951's user avatar
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8 votes
3 answers
2k views

Why does the libertarian party earn so few seats? [duplicate]

Libertarian party is moderate. A survey by David Kirby and David Boaz found a minimum of 14 percent American voters to have libertarian-leaning views.[69][70] (source) It's fiscally ...
user4951's user avatar
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4 votes
5 answers
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How people are supposed to commute from home to work and do errands under the libertarian system?

According to the libertarian ideology everything should be private, including the street that passes in front of your house. Most houses I know have access to only one street, thus most people would ...
Gabriel Diego's user avatar
10 votes
3 answers
2k views

How do libertarians see people that have an illness that they cannot afford treating by themselves?

Libertarians usually are strong critical of government financed health-care. Under this ideology, what would a person with a health condition that is out of pocket have to do to treat do under the ...
Gabriel Diego's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
537 views

How would a libertarian government deal with intellectual property?

In a libertarian society, the government is highly discouraged from interfering with the free market, if it is even capable of doing so. In this case, where does that leave Intellectual Property? If ...
Alexis Purslane's user avatar
40 votes
9 answers
15k views

Under Chicago School economics, will monopolies naturally go away?

I have two questions regarding monopolies in a capitalistic society: According to Milton Friedman and Thomas Sowell, among other Chicago School economists, under purely market forces monopolies will ...
Alexis Purslane's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
2k views

Why did Friedrich Hayek support Universal Basic Income

Hayek is a staunch free market capitalist, small government - bordering on 'taxation is theft' economist. How did he explain his support for universal basic income?
Justin Beagley's user avatar
42 votes
10 answers
11k views

Does this argument against healthcare as a right not apply to a "speedy and public trial"?

People often make the argument that healthcare cannot be considered a right because someone would be compelled to provide it for you. For example, from libertarianstandard.com: When supporters of ...
Azor Ahai -him-'s user avatar
7 votes
4 answers
2k views

How do Libertarian political thinkers address self harm?

I was just wondering what the libertarian approach would be if someone was suicidal or harming their selves in some way, is/are there any principles in the ideology that would have or warrant ...
SCFi's user avatar
  • 1,042
-2 votes
1 answer
357 views

How can a libertarian oppose private property such as cookies? [closed]

I have heard the argument that is made (usually) for a plot of land. We deprived someone of it, therefore it's wrong under libertarian principles. But what about newly generated property, like ...
magnolia1's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
718 views

Contradicting libertarian negative rights

How do libertarians solve issues with contradicting negative rights? Theoretically there can be such issues. E.g. negative right to speak freely vs negative right to have good health. If one says ...
dzu vog's user avatar
  • 175
9 votes
2 answers
818 views

Are Libertarians for or against prohibitions on insider trading?

Now, unless I'm missing something, I'm fairly certain that Libertarians aren't PRO insider trading. That said, are they for or against rules prohibiting it? Or do they view it kinda like hostile ...
Tirous's user avatar
  • 3,493
2 votes
1 answer
540 views

Is Libertarianism in favor of intellectual property rights? [duplicate]

Related to this question on libertarianism on monopolies, how do libertarians in the USA, as represented by the Libertarian Party, view copyright and patent protections?
user avatar
8 votes
3 answers
6k views

Is Libertarianism for or against antitrust laws?

In general, is Libertarian ideology for or against the idea of the antitrust law?
Tirous's user avatar
  • 3,493
11 votes
7 answers
10k views

What is the difference between libertarianism and anarchism?

For some time now, I have studied Anarchism, Marxism and Left Communism. There seem to be particular ideologies like "Libertarian Socialism", "Anarcho-Communism" and "Anarcho-...
Jøê Grèéñ's user avatar
6 votes
0 answers
589 views

Why are there so few politicians on the bottom right of the political spectrum? [closed]

There are abundances of parties and politicians in all squares except the Libertarian Right, why is this?
Harry Tong's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
421 views

What are US libertarians' views on abortion according to polls/surveys?

Someone challenged me in a comment on one of my posts as to what the breakdown of libertarians' views on abortion was (the context was USA). While there are subjective guesses (the comment theorized ...
user4012's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
513 views

What would make a Democratic Libertarian and a Republican Libertarian different?

In the context of the USA; what ideas would make a Libertarian go Democrat, and what ideas would make them go Republican? As Libertarianism fits more or less in this strange middle ground of ideas ...
Tirous's user avatar
  • 3,493
0 votes
3 answers
403 views

Trump on Trans/Bathroom Issue: Libertarian or Conservative?

Obama took the liberal policy (trans choose which bathroom to go to, whether or not private businesses approve or not) regarding trans and bathrooms of private businesses. However, Trump recently ...
Fine Man's user avatar
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4 votes
4 answers
763 views

Would it be justified for a libertarian state to ban certain religious schools?

From a libertarian perspective, public education system is not desirable in a free society, roughly because public education is a monopoly (in this case, of the State), which is based on the ...
user avatar
-3 votes
1 answer
492 views

Hasn't libertarianism already proven to fail? [closed]

Ten thousand years ago (or so), before the dawn of civilization, societies lived in libertarianism (is that true?): There was no central governance, no laws. And this led to where we are today: ...
Lior's user avatar
  • 137
7 votes
4 answers
679 views

The rights of the majority over the minority in a libertarian society

In a libertarian view, how are the rights of the majority over the rights of the minority handled? Do they have a right to overrule? For example, if there are 10 homeowners in a subdivision and 9 of ...
Tyler Murry's user avatar
-2 votes
1 answer
511 views

Is a market with anti-Monopoly regulations still a pure free market? [closed]

I just saw this video and I got from it that even libertarians want to regulate the free market to prevent monopolies. They criticized the anti-monopoly contracts at the beginning but then, I think I ...
Probably's user avatar
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