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Austin Petersen: Which Of These 11 Types Of Libertarian Are You?

15 Comments

  1. Stephen Kent Gray May 3, 2017

    Anarcho-Capitalis, and Libertarians (as well as Transhumanism and Anarchism) are characters in (the now defunct until the website domain expires) webcomic Political Ideology Catgirls. Warning: The author of the webcomic is a Commie, but it’s still good, even if heavily biased toward showing the left wingers in a positive light and everyone else not so much.

  2. Tony From Long Island May 2, 2017

    Very interesting chart, Paulie. Of course, it’s never as simple as that. I fit nicely in the “Modern Liberalism” circle (or oval) but still hold several libertarian views.

  3. Stephen Kent Gray May 2, 2017

    Brian Patrick Mitchell’s Eight Ways to Run the Country divides Libertarianism into Paleolibertarianism and Individualism. Individualism can be further divided into various other factions, but he does cover them as one group in his book. Anarchy-Capitalism, Minarchism, Classical Liberalism, Objectivism, Neolibertarianism, etc are covered in that on chapter. Paleos and Neos are types of Conservatarians aka people who try to created a middle ground between Conservatism and Libertarianism. On the chapter on Individualism he shows which Libertarian author have which position on foreign policy. Elland, Peña, and Raimondo are non-interventionists while Boaz, Lindsey, Palmer, Postrel while not being Neos themselves don’t focus as much on foreign policy so as to be read more by Neos. I’ll have to find the quote again to clear up the issue.

  4. Great ideas May 2, 2017

    Some mix of civil libertarian, classical liberal and libertarian socialist here. Geolibertarianism is also interesting to me.

  5. Root's Teeth Are Awesome May 1, 2017

    Neolibertarians are fiscal libertarians who support a strong military and believe that the U.S. government should use that military to overthrow dangerous and oppressive regimes.

    I guess then that Neolibertarians aren’t aware that “War is the health of the state.”

    I thus wouldn’t call neolibertarians a type of libertarian.

  6. Stephen Kent Gray April 30, 2017

    Summary for people who don’t have time to watch the video

    ANARCHO-CAPITALISM
    Anarcho-capitalists believe that governments monopolize services that would be better left to corporations, and should be abolished entirely in favor of a system in which corporations provide services we associate with the government. The popular sci-fi novel Jennifer Government describes a system that is very close to anarcho-capitalist.

    CIVIL LIBERTARIANISM
    Civil libertarians believe that the government should not pass laws that restrict, oppress, or selectively fail to protect people in their day-to-day lives. Their position can best be summed up by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes’ statement that “a man’s right to swing his fist ends where my nose begins.” In the United States, the American Civil Liberties Union represents the interests of civil libertarians. Civil libertarians may or may not also be fiscal libertarians.

    CLASSICAL LIBERALISM
    Classical liberals agree with the words of the Declaration of Independence: That all people have basic human rights, and that the sole legitimate function of government is to protect those rights. Most of the Founding Fathers, and most of the European philosophers who influenced them were classical liberals.

    FISCAL LIBERTARIANISM
    Fiscal libertarians (also referred to as laissez-faire capitalists) believe in free trade, low (or nonexistent) taxes, and minimal (or nonexistent) corporate regulation. Most traditional Republicans are moderate fiscal libertarians.

    GEOLIBERTARIANISM
    Geolibertarians (also called “one-taxers”) are fiscal libertarians who believe that land can never be owned, but may be rented. They generally propose the abolition of all income and sales taxes in favor of a single land rental tax, with the revenue used to support collective interests (such as military defense) as determined through a democratic process.

    LIBERTARIAN SOCIALISM
    Libertarian socialists agree with anarcho-capitalists that government is a monopoly and should be abolished, but they believe that nations should be ruled instead by work-share cooperatives or labor unions instead of corporations. The philosopher Noam Chomsky is the best known American libertarian socialist.

    MINARCHISM
    Like anarcho-capitalists and libertarian socialists, minarchists believe that most functions currently served by the government should be served by smaller, non-government groups–but they believe that a government is still needed to serve a few collective needs, such as military defense.

    NEOLIBERTARIANISM
    Neolibertarians are fiscal libertarians who support a strong military and believe that the U.S. government should use that military to overthrow dangerous and oppressive regimes. It is their emphasis on military intervention that distinguishes them from paleolibertarians (see below), and gives them a reason to make common cause with neoconservatives.

    OBJECTIVISM
    The Objectivist movement was founded by the Russian-American novelist Ayn Rand (1905-1982), author of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, who incorporated fiscal libertarianism into a broader philosophy emphasizing rugged individualism and what she called “the virtue of selfishness.”

    PALEOLIBERTARIANISM
    Paleolibertarians differ from neo-libertarians (see above) in that they are isolationists who do not believe that the United States should become entangled in international affairs. They also tend to be suspicious of international coalitions such as the United Nations, liberal immigration policies, and other potential threats to cultural stability.

    Only ten? I might be missing one?

  7. dL April 30, 2017

    Here’s one conceptualization of it:

    I would disagree w/ that visualization. Big time…

  8. paulie April 30, 2017

    I posted this video because I thought that it was newsworthy and interesting.

    Thanks for the video. I’ve stopped checking, but did you ever add a blurb to your last one?

  9. Root's Teeth Are Awesome April 30, 2017

    I wasn’t aware there was a difference between a Minarchist and a Classical Liberal. Both believe in small, limited government. Both can also, arguably, be called Constitutionalists.

  10. dL April 30, 2017

    There’s not 11… there’s 3. Anarchist, Minarchist, Classical Liberal….

    The 3 top-level categories that I think are more helpful to start with are socialist, capitalist and communist. And then proceed down a tree-like structure to find an applicable “school.”

  11. Andy April 30, 2017

    “AMcCarrick
    April 29, 2017 at 23:05
    There’s not 11… there’s 3. Anarchist, Minarchist, Classical Liberal…. sorry Andy, I know how much you and Austin want Paleo-Cons to be one of the factions, but it’s just not.”

    I posted this video because I thought that it was newsworthy and interesting. I have nothing to do with Austin Petersen. He speaks for himself, and I speak for myself.

  12. dL April 29, 2017

    I didn’t know Max Stirner was georgist. Spooks in Petersen mind…

    Yeah, he has no historical connection with Georgism. The obvious historical figure associated with Georgism would be Henry George. Stirner is associated with egoist anarchism and turning 19th century individualist anarchism(e.g. Benjamin Tucker) from natural rights to egoism. Stirner is also noted for being a contemporary intellectual rival of Marx.

  13. Massimo April 29, 2017

    I didn’t know Max Stirner was georgist. Spooks in Petersen mind…

    The guy is a very good communicator, though. A bit too much full of himself, but he showed a certain empathy in the Q&A session. Also fairly balanced, I’d say.

  14. AMcCarrick April 29, 2017

    There’s not 11… there’s 3. Anarchist, Minarchist, Classical Liberal…. sorry Andy, I know how much you and Austin want Paleo-Cons to be one of the factions, but it’s just not.

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