Monday, December 14, 2009

Libertarian

LIBERTARIAN, n. One who is compelled by the evidence to believe in free-will, and whose will is therefore free to reject that doctrine.

2009 Update: A political philosopher who would limit the government to the construction of roads, the enforcement of contracts and defense of the borders by happy accident. A utopia awaits the triumphant libertarian in which borders recede into the bedroom, grunted greetings grow into contracts and a highway is made straight not only through the desert but across every inch of national soil, extending to the depths of the ocean.

14 comments:

Voices of NLD said...

Oh can I say things about this one, but will limit myself to Mark Sanford. No forget that though many of his beliefs are libertarian.

In the 20th century there was Ayn Rand and then there were her disciples, one of whom Allan Greenspan turned into a man who helped cause the worse recession since...
Then there were the disciples of the disciples.
Now the word is used wrongly--often to describe social liberals who have a penchant for USA intervention in other countries

I really like both Bierce and your definitions better but this is one of the words that set me off

pia said...

Apparently blogger didn't like my comment or maybe its owner Google--the opposite of libertarian or more commonly referred to as free will and kept rejecting it until I used my blogger id

Jim said...

I do like your update as it reminds me of the high respect I have for our perinnial Libertarian presidential candidate, Ron Paul, from Texas.
A defected Republican, he never gets my vote because he can't win. I generally vote against the one in office (those dirty scoundrels).
..
If he could win I would think many times before voting for him as many of his ideas are too radical for me. I would still respect him for being radical.
..

Ariel the Thief said...

I thought "naked librarian" would be a funny definition, but then I googled the word librarian just to see if I spell it right, and the amount of nasty pictures came up to this friendly word made me feel all prudish.

sauerkraut said...

Love the updated def. Libertarian makes for good concept but man sticks his nose into it and it goes all crazy. Too many of the people who self-describe as libertarian over- and misuse basic phrases like liberty and freedom to the point of silliness.

As for Ron Paul... he should get some cajones and run as he is: a libertarian. Why he hides behind a cloak of republicanism is beyond even his understanding.

TLP said...

Libertarian: rational beyond reason.

Anonymous said...

Libertarian: No worse than any other political affiliation if you ask me

Nessa said...

I'm a Libra. Does that make me a Libertarian by default or just fault?

Nicholas

weirsdo said...

A Republican in sheepish clothing.

Tom & Icy said...

Poor Tiger, after 18 holes he found his wife was a Libertarian. Or was he? I really can't figure it out.

Doug The Una said...

Pia, the first comment came through just find. Objectivism turned out to involve as much guesswork as eutopianism, didn't it?

Jim, that's exactly my take on Paul. There's something bracing about someone that willing to stand apart but do we really have to discuss going back on the gold standard?

Hahaha, Ariel. On the bright side, though, they've waited a long time for this moment.

Sauerkraut, I kind of agree. I just don't think it's a big enough part of human nature to mind our own beeswax. If the government falls, the neighborhood committees will rise.

TLP, doggone I wish I'd thought of that. You win.

Not if you ask me either, Thom. Not that you did, but you were born free to ask me and I'll agree if you do.

Nessa, either/or.

Generally true, Weirsdo, although you don't need the pun. Most Republicans from what I can tell are micromanagers in libertarian wool.

Me either, Icy. The only thing I'm sure of is that golf is boring to watch.

Cooper said...

More frightening than Republicans.

Doug The Una said...

Maybe, but more willing to live in their own hell, I think.

k. riggs gardner said...

And would that hell be the foundation upon which ambition rests?

Or perhaps [hell] derives from the Latin plural of OPUS, meaning "works" or is, perhaps, a durable misprint of "ONERA."

DINOSAUR, n. coll. A lumbering, unadaptable relic, such as an uncle.