Why do so many Americans rebel against Libertarianism (sp)?

Question

I am talking about John Stuart Mill's definition in On Liberty:
(paraphrase) "The government has no business regulating an individual's behavior if that individual's behavior causes no harm to others. Society has other tools at its disposal other than legal action to complain about an individual's conduct."

It seems that politicians and many citizens feel the need to tell people what to do here in the US. Same-sex marriage, War On Drugs, prostitution, etc. Other countries, found in recent studies, that are the happiest also have the "loosest" laws concerning individual behavior.

I always thought that America was built on a Libertarian philosophy and that, out of anyone, we should be the most liberal country. However, many people in this country buy into the "controversial" moral issues and focus on those rather than the real problems (education, health care, corrpution).

I do not understand why people feel the need to use the legal system as a battleground for these issues.

Answer 1

John Stuart Mill was just one perspective on libertarianism. Just like Pat Robertson is just one perspective on conservatism.

Look at it this way. In the Preamble to the Constitution, there are five goals (values) of the US government: "establish Justice, to ensure domestic Tranquility, to provide for the common Defense, to promote the general Welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty".


Conservatives think the most important are "to ensure domestic Tranquility" (meaning to promote conformity with 'traditional' ways) and to "provide for the Common Defense". Most conservatives are Republicans, who (nowadays) want group rights (conformity with 'traditional' values) and a large government to ensure domestic tranquility (by enforcing those conservative majority beliefs).

Liberals think it's more important to "promote the general Welfare, and ensure the blessings of Liberty". Most liberals are Democrats, who want individual rights and a large government to promote the general welfare.

Libertarians want a small government (no wasteful spending) and very little Welfare (few if any entitlements), but strong on Defense. Libertarians also want lots of protection for individual civil rights, to secure the blessings of Liberty. They feel that Tranquility will take care of itself, and doesn’t need government enforcement of morality. As such, they are moderate about most issues, except for being adamant that the majority should not impose its beliefs on the minority, as part of their way to promote Justice.

So, it really comes down to which sets of Constitutional values each group thinks are most important. And it comes down to the basic problem that lots of people want to impose their views on everyone else. So, people polarize and the current polarization is liberal-conservative / Democrat-Republican.

Or put another way, libertarians are too reasonable to stir up the passions required to get people to vote based purely on emotion. So, they lose out to the parties that trigger people's emotional reactions and play off their fears.

Answer 2

The problem is that nowhere in Mill's works does he define "harm." Not to say that I agree with it all, but people argue that same-sex marriage harms society, drug users harm their families and those around them, as does prostitution, etc.

Even if it's true that other countries are "happiest" which have the "loosest" laws, how can we decide what is "best" for a country? Does "best" mean whatever makes me happiest in the short term? Or what makes us the strongest, or the most able to deal with threats to our nation, in the long term?

You're confusing your terms-- Libertarian does not mean liberal, especially not when you're talking about the modern meanings of those words (which both mean something much different than they did when Mill was writing).

Answer 3

Libertarianism essentially died during the FDR era. Hailed as the president who brought us out of the depression, the reality is he's the one who turned a recession into a depression in the first place. A lot of the programs he started are still being funded (the TVA, the Rural Electrification Program) and Social Security will go bust when all the boomers suck it dry. That's the headless nail theory of government programs - easy to get in, almost impossible to get out.

What it all boils down to is this; once the public learns it can enrich itself from the public coffers, freedom is over. Given the government's current debt load and projected future shortfalls, they cannot afford to protect our freedom and liberty anymore. Instead, they have to resort to diversionary tactics (flag-burning, gay marriage, etc.) so we don't focus on the government's financial mismanagement.

Have you ever wondered why they don't teach economics and finance in high school? They'd be cutting their own throats. Instead, they socialize the kids into thinking FDR was the greatest thing since sliced bread, corporations are evil and greedy, and big government is what makes the country great.

It's called the coalition to keep you poor and stupid.

Answer 4

I do not understand why somebody thinks that something America has never done (tolerate prostitution and same-sex marriage) is what it should have always been doing from the beginning.

"I always thought that America was built on a Libertarian philosophy ...."
What would cause you to think that? Wishful thinking?

Answer 5

i do no longer think of libertarian applicants have supplied any genuine recommendations. this is basic to declare abolish the dep. of training, through fact all of us has some bone to %. with public colleges (working example). although, this does not clarify how the situation would be superior. i'm no longer unavoidably against libertarianism, conservatism or liberalism however. i think of all of them could make a contribution to sound federal coverage.

Answer 6

Because power abhors a vacuum and Americans are utopians.

So, regardless of political preferences of th left and right, they despise the anti-utopian approach of libertarianism.

Answer 7

Because I hate being labeled as anything other than who I am. My beliefs are my own, my thought process is my own. If I allow someone to put a label on me then I am obligated by their own standards to behave in such a way. I will not behave in any other way than the one I see fit.

Answer 8

I don't really care for it because people of the libertarian party say they are left-leaning but vote republican, which is an oxymoron.

Answer 9

I dont know

Answer 10

We Ameri-Kons are a wee bit stupid!! WE need the likes of Bill Clinton to get us back on track!!! DUH