How are liberals different from libertarians?

Answer 1

Let's make this as simple as possible.

Liberals, left winged ideology, usually synonymous with the democrats, want complete control of all business via the government and the people to have 100% freedom regardless of the consequences.

Conservatives, right winged ideology, usually synonymous with the republican party, want complete control of peoples choices via the government and for business to have 100% freedom regardless of the consequences.

Both of these are achieved through growth of the government and government interference in your life. What you can do, what you cannot do and the force of the gun or other physical confinement to make it all happen and ensure every one meets the conformity designed.

Libertarians want complete freedom of both business and individuality. This means less government control and more personal responsibility. It’s the best of both worlds, as the market will drive the business and people will not live in fear of their government.

Answer 2

libertarians believe in NO government interference whatsoever -- the governments ONLY JOB should be defense and maybe the post office.

This differs from liberals AND conservatives in that both think the govt can better society through legislation ;

Libertarians agree with liberals in say abortion and gay marriage - with the idea that it's not the governments business, but disagree with liberals in all forms of taxation and social legislation

Libertarians agree with conservatives on taxation, but disagree in war on drugs, police issues

Answer 3

Libertarians are a bit overzealous and inflexible in thier belief in the Constitution.

Liberals see the Constitution as an imperfect document that needs to be improved - or, if there is no other way, circumvented - so thier own, more perfect vision of America, can be realized.


Specifically, Libertarians believe in upholding the rights of the states and the freedoms of the people gauranteed in the Constitution - even if that means leaving things like the public safety in the hands of the public. Liberals, OTOH, have a view that places a great deal more trust in a central, federal government, that is expected to protect the people not just from external and internal threats, but from other vaugeries of life, such as medical problems, financial difficulties, poor decisions, offensive speach and whatever else.

Answer 4

Libertarians are liberals in the original, classic sense and meaning of the term: individual rights, freedom, property rights, laissez faire capitalism, science, reason, objective reality, individualism, constitutional repubic: products of the age of enlightment. Somewhere along the way, in the late nineteenth century or early twentieth, socialists appropriated the term for themselves and so we ended up in an upside down 1984is world, where words mean opposite of what they are supposed to mean, and so,now we have to call ourselves libertarians. The only proper function of government is to guard our rights with a police, military and a judicial system.

Answer 5

Libertarians are like the ideal Republicans in the sense they believe in Fiscal Conservatism and smaller governent, and the idea of smaller government came from the Libertarians, and like Democrats in that they are liberal on social issues: Pro Choice, and less big brother, what is differientiates them from both is they want to legalize marijuana and less government intervention in the lives of their citizens, government is just in business to pass and enforce laws, and some of their foreign policies believe in non-intervention without invoking neutrality necessarily, at least that is how I've been given to understand them as one spokesman explained to me when I was in High School.

Answer 6

I cover what I see as the important differences between liberals, conservatives, and libertarians in a column I wrote for Strike-the-Root:

"Blinding by Paradigm"
http://www.strike-the-root.com/71/allport/allport2.html

Here's an excerpt:

Marxists and other coercive socialists fail to see the dissonance between coercion and compassion. As with libertarianism, the Marxist/socialist paradigm denies the interconnections between compassion and freedom, but coercive socialism focuses on compassion and fairness (at least in theory) rather than on freedom. Extreme versions of the Marxist/socialist paradigm have largely blinded millions to the stunning mass-murder committed by every Communist government. The coercive-socialist paradigm ignores the criminal nature of coercion in general, as long as that coercion is being used by a government claiming to create a particular kind of utopian society. This same paradigm blinds coercive socialists to the reality that rewarding people for non-productivity while penalizing those who are productive must, without fail, reduce wealth in a society and eventually impoverish that society. (For the same reason, no poor nation has ever adopted coercive socialism and then become wealthier). Making it even harder to see outside this paradigm is that coercive socialism can appear to function well for a time – if the nation already has significant wealth to cannibalize, and as long as one focuses on those receiving the stolen wealth.

See also my site at http://www.paradise-paradigm.net,
particularly the page on Love and Freedom (menu at left of home page).

Answer 7

libertarians are supposedly on the far right, yet have a lot in common with the liberals.

Answer 8

Liberals believe the government should help people, libertarians believe people can help themselves.

Answer 9

Libertarians are fiscally conservative and socially liberal. Liberals are socially and fiscally, you guessed it, liberal. That's all I can tell you.

Answer 10

Libertarians are confused Republicans.