#libertarian

#libertarian #politics #economics

every day that i wake up, im grateful for #capitalism and everything everyone in the supply chain has done to produce everything we see around us

from toasters to instant ramen to phones, all this good is the free market

Mr. Murphy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CqN-tvBOEg

Sharing this commentary might help break the mass formation affair, that collective fever dream. Immediately after 9/11, America went full totalitarian fascist by surfing the hate-tsunami. Who can stop it? Feel free to agree and/or disagree!

#WhenWillWeLearn #LetterToAmerica #HarryBrowne #PinkFlame #CarynAnnHarlos #Libertarian #Politics #War #Israel #Peace #FreedomFries

Joshua M 🇦🇺

#politics #right #left #libertarian #politicaltheory #argentina #english #writteninenglish #Argentine #javiermilei #milei #populism #endwoke

Javier Milei - a centrist Libertarian.

In woke-a-pedia,
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Javier_Milei

I couldn't find a single thing conservative.

Abortion - centrist/ liberty parties always have candidate conscience votes

The only thing that polls suggest would be "right-wing" is climate change skepticism. Which is disingenious, its just that "change" is in the title 😏

Cory Doctorow

Beck Garrison is a seasteader, living on a floating platform built by #libertarian cranks to get away from big government, taxes, and the idea that people owe each other care and consideration. Various kinds of market trufans have built their own fiefdoms: there's a sin city, a biotech free-for-all, a lawless Mad Max zone, and so on.

post-punked

@beatnikprof

You're a #libertarian for elected office, guaranteed viable candidacy.

LilMikeSF

https://qz.com/dollarization-is-no-silver-bullet-despite-what-argenti-1851035161

#Argentina elects far right candidate #Milei by 55% margin who pledges as #President to gut govt spending, cancel country's #CentralBank and switch to #USdollar to bring an era of #Libertarian austerity to #SouthAmerica

Non Serviam Media Collective

#nonserviammedia #libertarian #libertarianleft #liberaltarian #libertarianism #intellectualhistory #politicalphilosophy

Our friend @arossp of #TheUnPopulist on the history of & problems with libertarian-conservative fusionism. 🗽

Full #NSMIRL: https://youtu.be/BWfpZG2wn4M?si=oMuRrTMw4gLE017S

Leah Price

With so many hills calling out for today’s corpse, the one on which I’ll die is that stenographers who call #Milei #libertarian are responsible for some of what’s about to happen.

jbz

#argentina #elections #milei #libertarian

Okay...
It's bad, really bad.

He won.

A massive exodus was already happening, the smart ones know it's over as long as he remains president. I hope some will stay in the region at least.

A lot of the "transnational capital" will move back to Argentina again.

We're no longer the libertarian paradise of South America. That hellish honor now belongs to Argentina.

RationalWiki

#RationalWiki #NPOV #lucyburnsinstitute #KochIndustries
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Ballotpedia

#Ballotpedia is a website that provides information on #US #elections and candidates for voters. It started out as a community-contributed site, but is now only edited by paid staff. It has information related to both US Federal government and US state governments, with a database of information on US state executives, legislators, districts, candidates for such positions & ballot measures.

The website claims to be #neutral & accurate. Due to the nature of the site, it does sometimes show decidedly non-factual quotes from other sources (such as public figures). Despite this, the site was founded by the Citizens In Charge Foundation, a #libertarian activist organisation. The site is currently run by a remarkably well-fed nonprofit called the Lucy Burns Institute, which is substantially funded by #Koch Industries money, funnelled in via various corporate shells.

Preston MacDougall

@jlou @AlexanderKingsbury @RationalWiki @zdl Speaking of #libertarian inconsistencies, 👉 https://www.openculture.com/2016/12/when-ayn-rand-collected-social-security-medicare.html

Preston MacDougall

@katrinakatrinka @AlexanderKingsbury @zdl @RationalWiki #AynRand titled ‘Atlas Shrugged’ well. 🤔

Funny how #libertarian lovers of ‘strong men’ also love cashing their #SocialSecurity checks! 😂 👉 https://www.openculture.com/2016/12/when-ayn-rand-collected-social-security-medicare.html

Mark

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/mexican-magnates-firm-says-its-too-poor-to-pay-us-bondholders-the-tens-of-millions-owed/

Poor guy

Mexican magnate’s firm says it’s too poor to pay US bondholders the tens of millions owed.

#Mexico #Libertarian

J Lou

@mattsheffield #Libertarianism's selective reading of #liberalism ignores any #liberal principle that is a threat to corporate power. Democratic theory is ignored. For example, #libertarian case for private property rests on the principle that people have the right to appropriate the fruits of their labor. This principle is contorted to support corporate power and not imply #WorkersRights to worker democracy by interpreting "their labor" as the labor you own rather than the labor you perform

Arawak Spike

#jewish
#zionism
#jew
#progressivejew
#progressivetok
#history
#historybuff
#wwii
#disapora
#libertarian
#humanrightsactivist
#international
#neveragain
#neveragainisnow

Boho Hippie Healing -
✡️WWII Scholar, Human Rights Activist, Progressive Jew🍉
Silence is complicity

https://www.tiktok.com/@bohohippiehealing/video/7300911925213351210
**
Haavara Agreement
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haavara_Agreement
**
Haavara Agreement
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/haavara

NNY Liberty

#Libertarian
#Accountability
#Support
#Hope
#Music

Ogie Ogilthorpe ✅

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2023/11/11/qanon-shaman-jacob-chansley-could-run-for-debbie-lesko-seat-in-ariz/71547092007/

I knew some of these #assholes would try to move to the #Libertarian party.
I don’t want them. I don’t want #Trump supporters to infiltrate my party. They ruined the #Republican party now they want to fuck up the Libertarians.
If this fuck head or any other actually wins as a Libertarian, I’m leaving the party and becoming an independent.

#Libertarian #LibertarianParty
#FuckTrump and his #Supporters

Steve Dustcircle 🌹

https://ground.news/article/capitol-rioter-plans-2024-run-as-a-libertarian-candidate-in-arizonas-8th-congressional-district_a5b9d6

#Capitolrioter plans #2024run as a #Libertarian candidate in #Arizona's 8th #congressionaldistrict

brad m

#farright #libertarian #authoritarianism

This article barely scratches the surface of the threat from #SiliconValley’s #radical #anarchocapitalist #billionaires

#Rightwing titans of #tech helped create Donald Trump. Now they’re alienated from politics and searching for allies https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/11/12/silicon-valley-billionaire-donors-presidential-candidates/

Read these by @anildash for more

The #tech tycoon #martyrdom charade https://www.anildash.com/2023/02/27/tycoon-martyrdom-charade/

"#VC qanon" and the #radicalization of the #tech tycoons https://www.anildash.com/2023/07/07/vc-qanon/

Larry Sharpe (@LarrySharpe)

I ran in 2018 (and 2022) because a third party is the only way to have a better system. It hasn't changed. Here's a clip from a discussion on that with Glenn Beck from 2018. What do you think? #Independent #Libertarian

AKingsbury

@zdl @RationalWiki I mean, you can keep on with easy insults all day; it's much easier than addressing the actual point. I make no apology for being a #libertarian; given that the only alternative is #authoritarian, I'm not sure why anyone reasonable would choose otherwise. If you'd like to make an actual point, I'm happy to address it; if not, I'm sure you'll find plenty of engagement with people who prefer insults to discussions.

RationalWiki

#RationalWiki #economics #AustrianEconomics #praxeology #catoinstitute #ludwigvonmises #capitalism
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Austrian_school

Austrian economics (or the Austrian school of economics) is #libertarian #philosophy masquerading as a school of economic thought. This school is notable for its lack of formal mathematical modeling and empirical testing. Among its more unusual traits, the Austrian school draws its conclusions based on deduction and thought experiments, rather than data. In place of the conventional tools of science, the Austrian School favors a narrative approach called "praxeology". Despite its shortcomings, some less nutty features of the Austrian School have leaked into mainstream economics while the more nutty have found a home at libertarian think tanks (Cato Institute and Ludwig von Mises Institute).

tomlib

4 weeks ago

Ever wonder why every Referendum is a #ConstitutionalAmendment? Because the state likes stealing authority from local communities. #libertarian https://www.tomliberman.com/libertarian/why-is-every-state-referendum-a-constitutional-amendment

Why is everything a Constitutional Amendment? Because the state likes taking power.

Mirthless End

#startups #DontTalkToCops #techbros #privacy #EttuBrute?

#Economist Nov 5th: #Silicon_Valley piling in to the business of #snooping

"..helping American law enforcement snoop on troublemakers may seem odd. Supporting state #surveillance sits awkwardly with the #libertarian values espoused by many American tech luminaries who came of age in the early days of the internet...as the #tech industry seeks out new frontiers of growth, selling to the #state ..back into vogue."

https://archive.ph/oYZEv

Jon PENNYCOOK

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/nov/04/plans-to-redefine-extremism-would-include-undermining-uk-values

'Government officials have drawn up deeply controversial proposals to broaden the definition of extremism to include anyone who “undermines” the country’s institutions and its values, according to documents seen by the Observer.'

This sounds #authoritarian , especially for a Government that likes to claim it's more #libertarian and always goes on about how it wants to protect #FreedomOfSpeech .

#UK #politics #Conservatives #Tories #extremism

Mitch

i never asked for this life #Conspiracy #Vaccine #Covid #Libertarian

bikejourno

During a campaign TV show Dutch #rightwing demagogue #ThierryBaudet told a non-binary person that they were not supposed to exist.
Let me be very clear about this: This is far from being a #libertarian. This is nasty #reactionary bullshit. You can't advocate for maximum freedom for individuals but force them to fit into one of two biological sexes in all of their activities and feelings.
Baudet is unmasking himself as an authoritarian, not a libertarian.
#Netherlands #politics

sollee (e/acc) 🟨⬛

#quote #quotes #libertarian #liberty #capitalism #government #politics #ancap #anarchist

"Since the #State necessarily lives by the compulsory confiscation of #private #capital, and since its expansion necessarily involves ever-greater incursions on private individuals and private #enterprise, we must assert that the State is profoundly and inherently #anticapitalist." -Murray Rothbard

Simon Brooke

@AvengingFemme that's all that any concept of property ever is: a monopoly over an item or area of land, granted by the state in its role as monopoly user of violence.

Anyone who claims to be a "#Libertarian" but believes in the right to #property is just a fraud.

DrBob 🦣Follow Me🦣

#heathercoxrichardson
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-29-2023

History Lesson, Part 2: Why do people think the republicans are good for the economy?

“a group of #Republican businessmen and their #Libertarian allies at places like the National Association of Manufacturers insisted that the system proved both parties had been corrupted by #Communism. They inundated newspapers, radio, and magazines with the message that the government must stay out of the economy to return the nation to the policies of the 1920s!”

Text Shot: Their position got little traction until the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision declaring segregation in public schools unconstitutional. That decision enabled them to divide the American people by insisting that the popular new government simply redistributed tax dollars from hardworking white taxpayers to undeserving minorities.

A promise to cut the taxes that funded social services and the business regulations they insisted hampered business growth fueled the election of Ronald Reagan for president in 1980. But by 1986 administration officials recognized that tax cuts that were driving the deficit up despite dramatic cuts to social services were so unpopular that they needed footsoldiers to back businessmen.

Patty A. Gray

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/28/opinion/marc-andreessen-manifesto-techno-optimism.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

“ #Andreessen…articulates (albeit in a refrigerator magnet poetry kind of way) a strain of nihilism that has gained traction among #tech elites, and reveals much of how they think about their few remaining responsibilities to #society. … This includes…Peter #Thiel, who…once wrote that he believed #democracy and freedom were incompatible.”

In other words, they see a system of laws that apply equally to all as the antithesis of their own #libertarian freedom.

#AnarchoCapitalism #AnCap #Libertarian #Anarchapulco #grifters #FarRight #AltRight #Conmen #ConArtists #Homeopathy #antisemitism #antisemites #racism #Racists #CryptoBros #Conspiracists #ConspiracyTheories #FlatEarthers #FlatEarth #FakeLeftists #NazisWalkAmongUs #Nazi

I was going to do one last sketch on Ian Smith, but, to be honest, he's just a gymbro science-denier that sells "water treatments" and supplements. 🥱

What's the point of all this?

These grifters are insidious and the far-right is trying to appropriate leftist terminologies and twist them.

They take small grains of truth, the base rhetoric of AnComs and grow genetically modified shitmuffins from them. If you ever doubt this is happening, remember that Nazi is short for National Socialist German Workers' Party.

Watch yourselves out there, keep your heads on a swivel, and don't assume that people are who they say they are.

6/6

#AnarchoCapitalism #AnCap #Libertarian #racism #Racists #grifters #CryptoBros

Next is Larken Rose. He's another AnCap Libertarian. He's done time for tax evasion. And is well-known enough that Wesley Snipes tried to use Rose's arguments at his own tax evasion trial.

Rose is pushing his new movie, about a plantation that likens actual slavery to wage slavery and capitalism. While there are parallels, Rose (who is white) wrote a script in which he drops the N-word in an opening scene. Beyond that, the movie is full of exposition and lacks any real talent or vision for storytelling.

I'm not going to go through every grifter on this list, because I do have actual work to do, but there are two more standouts beyond the pasty homeopaths, internet-only radio disk jockeys, and COVID deniers.

4/?

#MaxIgan #FarRight #antisemitism #antisemites #AnCap #AnarchoCapitalism #Libertarian #Grifters #CryptoBros

The leader of this shitshow is a self-proclaimed AnCap Libertarian named Jeff Berwick. Dude pushes Crypto, NFTs, and his own newsletter called the Dollar Vigilante.

Next is Max Igan. Max Igan has links to MeWe and Rumble (far-right friendly platforms). He also uses the term "globalist" in his biography on "The Other Side of Midnight" which appears to be some sort of right-wing, online radio station.

For those unfamiliar, "Globalist" is a euphemism for Jew. It's a frequent term used by far-right, like Alex Jones.

The biography here:
https://www.theothersideofmidnight.com/bio-max-igan/

3/?

#anarchism #ancap #AnarchoCapitalism #Libertarian #grifters #conspiracytheories #conspiracists #CryptoBros #FlatEarth #FlatEarthers #antisemitism

Upon looking up this AnarchApulco nonsense, I first click to see what it costs (ignoring the fact that they have a menu at the top for NFTs.

The tickets are $600 per person.

So I click on the speaker page. It's as diverse as a Connecticut country club squash team, filled with white grifters pushing conspiracy theories, crypto, and tips to living like them (which never includes being handed their wealth or social connections to acquire wealth).

The speaker page:
https://anarchapulco.com/speaker-page-2024/

2/?

#anarchism #Anarchapulco #MorePerfectUnion #Leftist #FakeLeftists #antisemitism #antisemites #AnarchoCapitalism #AnCap #JeffBerwick #Libertarian #CryptoBros

This was quite the rabbit hole.

I was watching a video from More Perfect Union about how the US and Puerto Rico itself have created a wealth inequality that is as profoundly unique as it is disturbing.

In a clip from this video, I noticed something called Anarchapulco in the background. So, I paused it and looked it up.

Original More Perfect Union video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4ulSk0EqXU

1/?

Leftist leaflet with drawn image of a woman holding a communist flag helping a man off the ground. Text at top says "Do not let injustice sadden you."

Text at bottom says "Let it Radicalise you."

Tony the Mechanic

Darnell Clayton :verified:

@OgieOgilthorpe Charter schools do not outperform public. Perhaps reading the article would help. The article isn’t talking about different educational service agencies. That’s something else.

Privatization of public services hurts the public. Always has, always will. Lost me at #libertarian, though, anyway. You all never get that.

It is fascinating to watch the elections in #Argentina 🇦🇷, but I am not thrilled with the media labeling #JavierMilei a #libertarian as he is more of an #anarchist with his “burn it all down to the ground” rhetoric.

#SergioMassa surprised many by winning the most votes, but #Massa could lose to #Milei in the runoff which would be…crazy!

👉🏾 Argentina's Peronists post shock election win to seal run-off with libertarian Milei https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/argentina-heads-polls-grip-fierce-economic-crisis-2023-10-22/

maeve harris

Vote counting underway in #Argentina presidential election. Right wing #libertarian economist Milei, pledging to "chainsaw" the economic and political status quo, has seen angry voters flock to his tear-it-all-down message, in apparent lead; chances of a run-off are increasing https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/argentina-heads-polls-grip-fierce-economic-crisis-2023-10-22/

https://gizmodo.com/michael-moritz-reid-hoffman-flannery-associates-land-bu-1850780238

A bunch of #libertarian investors are trying to build a private city in California.

My prediction: the city will fail, hard. Large-scale Libertarian experiments always fail hard, for the exact reasons why people point out that Libertarian ideas don't work. Why should this one be any different?

I've a collection of large-scale Libertarian experiments to read about, all failures. I would KILL to read about a successful one.

lady deathbird

@jamescheese @RussellsBarbershopQuartet standing my ground 😤 #homesteading #libertarian

#racism #economics #MarcAndreesen #libertarian #BullShit #ai #technology

In reading through the Marc Andreessen "Manifesto" (up there with Ted Kazinski and Karl Marx), I've started to write a rebuttal. In the meantime, you can read my annotations on his essay. Warning: plenty of snark.

Note that edits are not enabled, but comments are. Pitch in!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t1HfS-iOZ1VsJX8ka82N7yhtmoKhbWdmDs4TWN14bkI/edit?usp=sharing

Pensive™️

Non Serviam Media Collective

@spherulitic @AnarchoNinaWrites
#Libertarian #LeninistBannon #Statism
Halting the federal government is the Conservative’s idea of Heaven. Statism is just sitting back; busy producing little “constitutional sheriff” fiefdoms.

@LucyStag #nonserviammedia #anarchism #libertarianleft #libertarian #libertarianparty #lpmc #antifascism #marketanarchism

Charles G. Koch on the true motivations and aspirations of the #MisesCaucus

NSP 51 🔗 https://youtu.be/6Jy6E0_9Ccw

Non Serviam Podcast #51 with Charles G. Koch

sollee (e/acc) 🟨⬛

#quote #eacc #libertarian #politics #degrowth #environment #capitalism #solarpunk

"No amount of eco-terrorism will convince people that growth is bad, because it isn't. Without the tools to correct errors that, to the naive mind, look evil and unsustainable, we would be static. We would become the thing we sought to destroy." -Angantýr (@BasedNorthmathr)

Brett Flippin

Re-#Introduction time.
I'm Brett. I work with #data. I'm mostly in #fintech at this point but I've done a little of everything from #healthcare to #ads to #IOT and retail. I've been a #DBA, #SWE, #SRE, #BI Analyst, #ETL dev and more in my career.

I consider myself a #libertarian #socialist and strongly support #unions, #workersrights, and democratic workplaces facilitated by employee-owned cooperatives.

Still haven't caught #covid.

You can't troll me. I've been on the internet since 1992.

alexdp :verified:

hit me up #communists #anarchists #anarchocommunists #anarchocommunism #anarchy #anarchism #developer #developers #dev #tech #solana #rust #rustlang #reader #readers #cryptography #books #language #linguistics #linguists #bikers #bike #bikes #cycling #biking #velo #bici #europe #politics #freedoms #freedoms #libertarian #freesoftware #software #directdemocracy #democracy #ubi #universalbasicincome #education #libertarianism #left #leftism #lisbon #lisboa #portugal #ocean #forest #hiking #energy #nuclear #nuclearpower #clean #efficient #green #innovation #progress #accelerationism #propaganda #activism #writing #reading #english #dutch #spanish #portuguese #italian #japanese #esperanto #kanji #ecologism #ecology #food #cooking #cheap #recipes #music #rap #jazz #rnb #90s #anarchist #atheist #scientist #science #programming #computerscience #computers #android #linux #gnu #gnulinux #firefox #train #transport #weed #marijuana #lsd #acid #tryptamine #hallucinogenics #netherlands #amsterdam #alps #slovenia #internet #chat #debate #discussion #conversation #movies #film #stories #essays #poetry #dating #gay #mastodating #prettyboy #twink #metro #atlantic #eastcoast #boston #california #japan #tokyo #hokkaido #北海道 #東京 #清瀬自転車 #本 #言語 #英語 #イタリア #オランダ #ポルトガル #リスボン #札幌

Kent Pitman

#CarbonTax #PriceOnCarbon #LIbertarian #Reductionism #UBI

@GreenFire

I'm not familiar with the EU change or the drilling decision you mention. A bit of back story would be appreciated if you have the time.

Also, about carbon pricing... I have the same concern about that as I do about UBI. I think both of these have a potential for much good effect, but I fear they are being offered as a form of reductionism (reducing a complex problem to some idealized model that in practice can be dodged while still declaring success).

Libertarians of late seem to have a strong meta-theory that "not thinking is good" (edging out their prior "greed is good", which has fallen into disfavor). So they offer carbon pricing as a way of not having to think hard about climate and hoping price will sort things out, just as in the UBI market those same Libertarians don't just want to give people a chunk of change but cancel other social programs that track whether some societal problem is ACTUALLY being solved. I seriously doubt that carbon pricing will make people think about reducing the use of carbon as much as how to avoid the tax and keep doing what they're doing. We just don't have time for people to bumblingly realize that's not enough. Maybe it's still good to try, but it worries me.

Janky freedom sperm.

For decades, the Kochs have held deep antipathy to govt #regulation. When Charles #Koch’s brother David ran for VP on the #Libertarian Party ticket in 1980, the party platform called for abolishing the #EPA, the #DOE & the #FDA.

Every winter, the network holds its marquee #fundraising event in Coachella Valley in SoCal. Hundreds of #donors fly in to learn how their money is being spent & plan for the coming yr. Fmr staffers describe an emphasis on preventing #leaks that bordered on obsession.

Nonilex

On Jan25, 2018, dozens of private jets descended on PSP. Some of the richest people in the country were arriving for the annual winter donor summit of the #KochNetwork, the #political org founded by #libertarian #billionaires Charles & David #Koch. A long wknd of strategizing, relaxation in the CA sun & high-dollar #fundraising lay ahead.
Just after 6PM, a Gulfstream G200 jet touched down on the tarmac. One of the Koch network’s most powerful allies was on board: #SCOTUS Justice #ClarenceThomas.

Leisureguy

https://leisureguy.ca/2023/09/22/rugged-individualism/

It suddenly struck me that "rugged individualism" is a meme (as described by Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene — see, eg, https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&an=Susan+Blackmore&tn=The+Meme+Machine&kn=&isbn=) that acts a lot like a virus. It predominantly infects me and can be seen in many Republicans.

This post explores the idea and provides some real-life examples of outbreaks and the results:

#memes #ruggedIndividualism #conservatives #Republicans #books #libertarian

@DismalManorGang @dshan @cstross @TidalFlats It's a structural problem with large democracries: even if something is in the country's best interest, you still need to spread the jobs and increase the inefficiency if you want enough politicians to vote. It's been hurting NASA for decades.

Edit: I should add that the above pained me to say because I'm very much *not* a #Libertarian, but this particular stopped clock is right twice in a blue moon.

Kent Pitman

#philosophy #politics #libertarian #bargaining #union #strike #UAW #SAG #AynRand #capitalism #objectivism #values #climate #sustainability

@paninid

In the end, she has no notion of society whatsoever. She rejects ideas like compassion or shared goals, even the shared goal of human survival.

She imagines this will result from capitalist negotiation, like the so-called "unseen hand", but climate scientists the world over say that it is increasingly clear that this is the path to extinction, in that it's pretty clear that such self-interest has allowed us to pass objective points of no return in the present habitable climate.

She rejects the right of individuals to take advantage through democracy of the notion that most of us really might want things like survival, happiness, good health, compassion, and personal safety not just on an "I earned and paid for it basis" but as part of the entry stakes to a civilized society collectively wealthy enough to offer such things.

It's pretty clear that the engine she champions wants none of these, preferring the profits of gun lobbies over safety of children in school. Preferring the profits of health insurance companies and sometimes hospitals over the health of people, especially people who are born into the world with physical disadvantages that would never allow them to compete in order to build up the cushion to help themselves. Those people she and those of her ideology would cruelly say have dug their own grave and welcome to it.

Without proof, she asserts government cannot be usefully successful, and that it's immortal even to try, even as government brought us the post office, the space program, the internet and other really tangible successes that no single business, acting alone, could have done. You would not be reading this post on your cell phone if not for the basic research and early infrastructure that made the modern space program and modern internet possible.

And you, or dear members of your family, might have died in a pandemic if the government had not intervened with medical technology available to all, not just those who could pay a commercial fee.

She imagines, too, that capitalism provides a fair basis for bargaining in markets, which it does not. Or maybe she just does not care that it does not. So much could be said on this, but I'll close this blurb on the great quote from Adam Smith in the Wikipedia Page "Inequality of Bargaining Power" (a page I recommend to all because it's a topic I bet people mostly don't have a name for but that has some solid associated philosophy. The quote is especially topical with this week's strikes:

"It is not, however, difficult to foresee which of the two parties must, upon all ordinary occasions, have the advantage in the dispute, and force the other into a compliance with their terms. The masters, being fewer in number, can combine much more easily; and the law, besides, authorizes, or at least does not prohibit their combinations, while it prohibits those of the workmen. We have no acts of parliament against combining to lower the price of work; but many against combining to raise it. In all such disputes the masters can hold out much longer. A landlord, a farmer, a master manufacturer, a merchant, though they did not employ a single workman, could generally live a year or two upon the stocks which they have already acquired. Many workmen could not subsist a week, few could subsist a month, and scarce any a year without employment. In the long run the workman may be as necessary to his master as his master is to him; but the necessity is not so immediate."
-- Adam Smith in Wealth of Nations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inequality_of_bargaining_power

AKingsbury

I never remember who pointed this out to me first, but it stands the test of time;

It doesn't matter if you're a #democrat, a #republican, or an #indepedent. You can support #socialism, #communism, #capitalism, #distributism, etc.

Pretty much no matter what, you're going to find quite a bit of common ground with the #libertarian cause. Really the only exception is if you're an #authoritarian.

Sampath Pāṇini ®

#philosophy #politics #libertarian

The ironic - and revealing - thing about Ayn Rand is her own writings on libertarians: http://aynrandlexicon.com/ayn-rand-ideas/ayn-rand-q-on-a-on-libertarianism.html

Felipe :wyd:

#twitter #argentina #rightwing #libertarian
https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/argentina/javier-milei-claims-pope-francis-is-on-side-of-bloody-dictators-in-tucker-carlson-interview.phtml

In his interview with #tuckercarlson the Argentinean candidate said that #climatechange is a socialist hoax, pope francis is paid actor, that he would burn all marx's books and "eradicate" the opposition movement (which is openly feminist)

"They called me a nazi but the socialists are more nazi"
like bruh, what?

Sampath Pāṇini ®

@myeyesaredim @Noupside
This is a manifestation of a #reactionary / #libertarian wet dream.

LM Little

#cdnpoli #NeverVoteConservative #Privatization #Inequality #Divisiveness #PoliticsofFear #Racism #Fascism #Authoritarianism

"Poilievre ...has been remarkably consistent about his political beliefs and right #libertarian definition of freedom throughout his nearly two decades of public life. A rabid partisan throughout his time in the House of Commons, he ran unabashedly on the right in the party leadership contest and hasn’t pivoted since." https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2023/09/08/Defeat-Poilievre-Politics-Abandonment/

John Refior

@dr2chase
Yes, likely a #libertarian, though I wouldn't rule out "fossil fuel lobbyist."

In theory, extreme adherence to the libertarian ideal "live and let live" wouldn't allow pollution that would have a significant deleterious effect on others' lives -- even in aggregate.

But given many libertarians just use its "philosophy" as an incoherent excuse for their selfish behaviors that do in fact harm others, or to justify a system rigged in their favor, I shouldn't set my expectations too high

Kagan MacTane (he/him)

https://onlysky.media/alee/why-libertarian-cities-fail/ #libertarian #libertarianism

Thanks to this article and its description of Rio Verde Foothills, AZ, I have a new way to describe libertarians: people who'd rather die of thirst than pay taxes.

(Although Grafton, NH gives us "people who'd rather be mauled by bears than pay taxes", which also has a nice ring to it.)

Chuck Darwin

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/27/the-false-prophet-v-the-pope-argentina-faces-clash-of-ideologies-in-election?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

The ‘false prophet’ v the pope: Argentina faces clash of ideologies in election

In one corner of the ring stands #Javier #Milei, 52, self-described former tantric sex coach, outsider #anarcho-#capitalist and #frontrunner in Argentina’s upcoming presidential elections

In the other, his compatriot #Pope #Francis, 86, world champion of the poor, repeatedly derided by Argentina’s likely next president as “a fucking communist” and “the representative of the evil one on Earth” for promoting the doctrine of “#social #justice” to aid the underprivileged.

Milei, a political unknown until 2020, has pledged to wage a “cultural battle” to transform Argentina into a #libertarian paradise where capitalist efficiency replaces social assistance, taxes are reduced to a minimum and cash-strapped individuals are allowed to sell their body organs on the open market.

From Rome, Pope Francis has expressed grave concern about the rise of such callous policies in his home country. “The extreme right always reconstructs itself, it is the triumph of #selfishness over #communitarianism,” he said in a television interview in March when asked about #Argentina’s upcoming #elections

openDemocracy

4 months ago

Young people’s anger fuels far-right populist as Argentina’s election nears.

Libertarian Javier Milei is turning economic hardship, cynicism and rage at the political class into votes.

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/javier-milei-argentina-election-far-right-libertarian-candidate-youth-support/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=newsie_social

#Politics #farright #Argentina #libertarian #election

HeavenlyPossum

4 months ago

People like Peter Thiel are #libertarian in the sense that they want the liberty to do whatever they want to you without censure or consequence.

A goat :verified: :verified:

4 months ago

As two examples, #RFK has recently taken to talking about Jewish Question conspiracies and the #Libertarian party of New Hampshire has simply written the 14 words.

@liveposting

Last week, at a dinner event in Manhattan, the Democratic primary candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shared his unvarnished thoughts about the nature of the coronavirus. “There’s an argument that it is ethnically targeted,” he explained, in remarks captured on video. “COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.” To be sure, Kennedy added, “we don’t know whether it was deliberately targeted or not.” In other words, Kennedy apparently believes it is an open question whether the pandemic was engineered by a shadowy cabal to spare Chinese and Jewish people.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/07/rfk-kennedy-covid-anti-semitism/674727/

See new Tweets
Conversation
Libertarian Party NH
@LPNH
We must secure the existence of our people and a future for libertarian children
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https://archive.is/gAITI

Dave Johnson

5 months ago

When you understand that in the 1970s wealthy funders set out to destroy democratic governance and capture all wealth, the last several decades come into focus.

#Libertarian and #neoliberal propaganda flow from that.

5 months ago

Dispatches from the #Twitter war:
• The bots have won
• Elon has lost
• Now is the time to encourage defection
• No, NOT to BlueSky

I can elaborate:

The Bots have Won
================

Back in early 2022, #ElonMusk promised to purchase Twitter and wage war on bots, presumably the ones that were peddling cryptocurrency #scams, romance scams, and all sorts of other scams.

There is a good chance that Elon only said this to try to weasel his way out of purchasing Twitter; basically, if he could claim that the product he was promised didn't resemble what was available in reality, he could undo his promise to purchase the corporation. By claiming Twitter was rife with bots, this was his attempt to do so. But whether it was dishonest or not, Elon stuck to his pledge to try to rid the platform of #bots, in ways that are alternatingly incompetent, silly, and ineffective.

Long story short, Elon never saw his "eliminate all bots" promise through to completion. The ultimate concession to failure was when he changed the Twitter algorithm to favor paying users over regular ones, meaning the best way to be heard on the platform was to give him $8 and say your piece. But that $8 surcharge came at a steep cost: no longer were tweets being amplified based on the content of their quality, but on whether the user had extra money to waste or not.

Initially, maybe this was good for the paying users too. After all, someone with $8 who follows Elon might consider themselves very smart, and those people think they have some very smart things to say. To the average onlooker, though, their "very smart musings" look like complete and utter crap: unfunny jokes, stale memes, cold takes.

It turns out that having money doesn't equal intelligence, and Twitter was providing us evidence at a rapid pace.

Elon has Lost
===========

Let's get the obvious things out first: Elon overpaid for Twitter. That much we know. And the value of Twitter has tanked since then, because even the free market won't continue to honor foolish business decisions.

But today, Elon has started limiting the posts that various users are even allowed to see, as low as 300 posts per day for new users, 600 for normal users, and 6000 for the fools who pay $8 to him.

As I understand it, 300 to 600 posts is not a lot. For comparison, when you click Show More in Mastodon, you're probably loading 20 posts at a minimum. Click Show More 30 times, and you've already seen 600. Depending on your usage habits (maybe you just like to skim!) you can easily breeze through these limits in a fraction of an hour.

And that's just not good for user retention. If somebody is locked out of a website after spending a certain amount of time there, I don't think they're going to cough up a couple extra dollars to keep browsing. When the Bezos-owned Washington Post begs me to subscribe to their newspaper, I turn 180° and look for a different source. And the Post actually has valuable information, it's not a cesspit riddled with self-important idiots who pay money to get their unfunny jokes stuck to the top of comment threads.

Now is the Time to Encourage Defection
=================================

Imagine you love Elon Musk, you think he can do nothing wrong, and you even join Twitter just to see how much better it can become under his new leadership. And you get hit with a 300 post maximum before the site stops working and/or begs you to cough up your hard-earned cash, to the guy you're pretty sure is already a billionaire.

Isn't it just disheartening?

Here's a more reasonable scenario: You're a Twitter addict. We've all been there, after all. The conversations suck you in, and they're almost always negative conversations too. Twitter drives its engagement based on negative interactions, using #addiction forming patterns that resemble the casino slot machine more than a public square.

Then, one day, whatever #argument you are watching or participating in, suddenly gets replaced with a "insert $8 to continue" screen. It's straight out of a #MontyPython sketch. For the displeasure of raising your stress levels and your blood pressure, you must now spend money.

This is horrible. All of it is absolutely, totally horrible. Anyone who was lulled into complacency by Twitter should now have their way of life shaken to the point of reconsidering why they use the platform. I used to be among them, and I cannot stress how much I regret giving Twitter my time. There are good people on Twitter, but there is no good Twitter to be had.

Stay Away from BlueSky
====================

Never choose the lesser of two evils, when there are more than two viable choices. It has been a trend, recently, for large influencers to hope to recreate Twitter, verbatim, somewhere or anywhere else. The November 2022 #TwitterMigration seemed to be equal parts #TwitterRefugee and hapless influencer who was simply looking for the most interaction.

Never mind the complexities of Mastodon, most influencers were disappointed by how it was difficult to reassemble the same audience as they had on Twitter. The network effect was in full swing on Twitter: you joined Twitter because people were there, and people were there because you joined Twitter, so not joining Twitter became simply unfeasible for most people.

Influencers do understand one thing: hero worship. And if you were complacent during earlier Twitter, perhaps the easiest hero to worship is #JackDorsey. He created Twitter, after all. And sure, Twitter itself was always toxic ever since it started encouraging arguments. Maybe a lot of people have succumbed to addiction to Twitter, and have decided that Twitter is now only bad because of Elon Musk, and not because it was always bad.

The people in this mindset are more than happy to follow Jack Dorsey to his next terrible creation, which appears to be BlueSky. Right now, the website is simply a Twitter clone, and it's begging influencers to come to it because soon, it infers, it will be the Twitter for people who aren't quite as extreme as Elon Musk.

I hate to use the term, and I do not use it lightly, but #BlueSky is "virtue signaling" about being #federated. Right now, there is only one BlueSky server, and it is invite only. Something cannot be federated if there's nothing to federate with, especially if it's closed off from the world to begin with.

But do you know why BlueSky is #VirtueSignalling? Quite simply: it has nothing else to offer. Mastodon is, as most foundational level, a federated Twitter clone. BlueSky is, at ITS most foundational level, a Twitter clone with nothing to separate it from Twitter. But being federated is what all the cool kids want, so Jack Dorsey weaseled the word into its description to make people think it might be like Mastodon, if not compatible with it.

Jack Dorsey has always been a fundamentally bad person, a #libertarian #techbro who has no qualms about supporting the far right when it helps him.

Dorsey is friends with #Jan6 promoter, #StopTheSteal believer, and all-around right wing disinfo peddler #AliAlexander, for example. He has always had constant, open dialogues with conservatives who want to accuse him of being too biased against them, and he is often stooped to appease them without questioning whether they were lying to him the entire time.

But don't take my word for it, here is an excellent article about it:
https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2021/07/07/we-make-mistakes-twitters-embrace-extreme-far-right

Dorsey has also become more obsessed with #cryptocurrency in recent years, with a huge donation to the Twitter-like #Nostr social network, a place where almost all conversations are one-sided cryptocurrency plugs, and sending cryptocurrency over it was one of the defining features.

And Nostr wants to be #PayToWin too, the same way Twitter currently is.

Final thoughts
============

Succinctly: Mastodon is good, actually. It has a lot of flaws, it has a lot of user experience issues to work out, but I am incredibly thankful it is not being driven into the ground by venture capitalists hell-bent on extracting as much time, money, and attention out of the average human being as possible.

Robert Hollingshead :donor:

5 months ago

As a former #libertarian I agree it isn't my party anymore either. It's a racist conservative edgelord trashfire.

It’s Not Your Hippie Uncle’s Libertarian Party Anymore https://www.coloradopols.com/diary/189646/its-not-your-hippie-uncles-libertarian-party-anymore

brad m

7 months ago

3️⃣ The New #Libertarian #Elitists
What’s behind the dangerous new notion that #democracy should be left to the well-educated. https://democracyjournal.org/magazine/68/the-new-libertarian-elitists/ by @henryfarrell
#longread #rightwing

brad m

7 months ago

1️⃣ No, #Libertarians Cannot “Reclaim” #Liberalism
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/no-libertarians-cannot-reclaim-liberalism/ #AdamSmith #deTocqueville #JohnStuartMill #socialjustice #democraticsocialism

2️⃣ The Insidious #Libertarian-to-#AltRight Pipeline https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-insidious-libertarian-to-alt-right-pipeline #racism #antisemitism #authoritarian

Siv Jones

8 months ago

I'm Siv. I live, work, create, and activate in #Lansing, #Michigan, #USA.

I believe effective #praxis toward global #MutualAid society must center #economic #justice and #healing traumas in the human #psyche. Cultural violence is a durable response to #scarcity.

I help run the services and facilities of the #praxisdotred #tech #collective and #hacker house, such as this #mastodon instance.

#GenderAbolitionist #transhumanist #posthumanist #libertarian #communist #leftist #vegan #introduction

We Want EVERYTHING! 🌹

@dangillmor

#Libertarian tech psychopaths suck but not guaranteeing all #deposits would have created a panic among anyone w/balances over $250k. There would have been a run due to excess balances being transferred to other banks in search of #fdic coverage. Lots of banks would have collapsed.

Even now w/all balances guaranteed, banks could have it rough bc returns on treasuries are so much better compared to savings accounts, both of which are government backed.

Ricketson

@dangillmor For the record, big business by nature cannot be libertarian. "Leave me alone to supervise other people" is in no way libertarian. Anyone who falls for their libertarian rhetoric is a fool.
#libertarian #SVB

We Want EVERYTHING! 🌹

#19thCentury #Economy #Libertarian #Neoliberalism #history

@itamarst

Even though plenty has been recorded about the economic chaos of the 19th Century.

Jim Parsons

@mgs @gruber

• the ‘Digital Gilded Age’ is a bitch

• #PayPal Mafia fingerprints all over this
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PayPal_Mafia

• real Bond-Villains-are-a-doin’ vibe:
"Thiel’s Founders Fund Withdrew Millions From Silicon Valley Bank”
https://news.yahoo.com/thiel-founders-fund-withdrew-millions-005223894.html
a generation of Thiel Founder Fund competitors *p00f*

• screw US security laws, virtually no laws governing #AI

• zero sympathy for #SiliconValley #VC’s, especially the #Libertarian #TechBros
Play in 4 Acts on 1 Page

• we’re in the shit fellas

I've been toying with writing another book (in my copious free time). There are lots of great books covering how every attempt to create #libertarian utopias has failed (largely for the reasons critics said they would fail).

Instead of an entire book covering one attempt, I'd have a chapter per attempt, with Libertarian explanations of why that attempt doesn't count.

Temped to call it the "The 'No True Libertarian' Fallacy", but who would get the joke?

Would you read a book like that?

Cory Doctorow