The Difference Between Libertarians and Liberals
Libertarians are the proponent of libertarianism, a political philosophy that emphasizes on liberty, freedom and liberty with little or no coercion. They strongly support individual liberty and personal sovereignty by advocating voluntary association and reducing the powers of the state or even with no state.
Liberalism is a political concept that places a premium on individual liberty. They emphasize individual rights and equality of opportunity, but within the state.
On the face of it, both libertarians and liberals uphold the cause of individual liberty and freedom, holding that the individual be allowed to run their life as they wish, as long as they respect and allow others to do the same. However, major differences remain.
The Role of the State
While both libertarians and liberals place a high value on individual freedom, liberty and civil rights, a fundamental difference between these two groups lies in the intervention of the state. Libertarians want the government out of every aspect of an individual’s life whereas liberals advocate a strong role for the government to ensure equality.
Perhaps the only point that libertarians and liberals get along, when it comes to the role of the state, is preventing people from performing actions forbidden by the law. Both want the state to prevent vices such as theft, kidnapping, rape, and fraud.
While libertarians want the government to stop its role at that, liberals advocate a strong role for the state, strongly supporting concepts such as more affirmative action and universal health care that libertarians strongly oppose as infringing on personal liberty. Libertarians rather believe that individual well-being, prosperity and social harmony come with the government not interfering in such matters.
Roderick Long, a Libertarian philosopher advocates holds the state in its present form as coercive, and advocates redistribution of power to voluntary associations of free individuals. Liberals, on the other hand, tries to reform the present state from within, to make it uphold the rights and interests of the individuals rather than various groups.
Trade & Commerce
Libertarians are against any type of regulations, and advocate “laissez-faire,” even as they remain opposed to monopolistic control by the corporate groups. They promote free markets and very often support classical conservatives when it comes to economic issues. They also hold private property sacrosanct, and that the free market as the best way to allocate resources among people.
Liberals, even as they oppose monopolistic control and may other activities of the corporate, oppose “laissez-faire” and advocate strong government regulation for the common good. They favor government action to promote equality and institute a level playing field. They stop short of demanding equal rights, as the socialists do, and rather press for equal opportunity.
Association
Libertarians are the champions of voluntary association, and do not want the government to involve in marriages. They support gay marriages and free sex, and advocate that an individual be allowed to live the life they wish. They are naturally against the restrictions imposed by the church or any other group.
Liberals, like libertarians, assert the right of the individual to live their own life, and advocate gay rights and individual freedom of choice, but their views on voluntary association are not as reactionary as that of the libertarians. They support the church if it would establish social equality and order.
Read MoreThe Libertarian Belief System
Libertarian beliefs are often misunderstood. This is because in modern American politics people usually talk about two parties, the Democrats, or liberals, and the Republicans, or conservatives. While libertarianism is getting more popular, most people still tend to see it as a fringe movement.
What most people don’t realize is that libertarianism is basically classical liberalism. It is defined by the belief that everyone has the right to live his or her life as they see fit as long as he or she is respectful of the rights of others. Every person should be on an equal standing. Nothing should be forbidden that violates others rights. People should only be punished for exerting force onto other, such as in the cases of murder, rape, robbery and kidnapping. This is the basic belief system of the libertarian. Most people live their lives by these tenets, and libertarians believe that this code should be extended to government and their activities. Under the libertarian belief system wealth and property should not be stolen or redistributed, free speech should always be allowed, and government should not interfere in the lives of people who are not harming others.
People are always asking whether libertarians are liberal or conservative, and the truth is that they are neither. Libertarians believe in liberty at all costs. The closest you can come to comparing the various belief systems is by saying that real conservatives are basically libertarian on economic issues, and true liberals are libertarian when it comes to social issues. This is oversimplifying the issue. Most libertarian ideas cannot be classified as left or right but can only be understood from a libertarian perspective. Another way of looking at it is that in various ways liberals and conservatives aim to protect your freedoms by limiting them. Libertarians believe that government should exist solely to protect personal and economic freedoms.
Finally, because libertarians believe that the amount of authority government has should be limited, they ultimately think that government should be small. Liberals think that government’s focus should be on social justice, which requires the taxing of the rich to support the poor. This has created a huge government infrastructure which cannot be sustained. Conservatives believe that behavior they deem inappropriate or immoral should be restricted, often based on their religious beliefs. Regardless of what conservatives say this belief system has also created a larger government system. While both liberals and conservatives are on opposite sides of the ethical coin, both of their beliefs make you pay for their programs with your liberty and freedom. They both aim to control what you do based on other people’s opinions.
Libertarians are about limiting government’s role in your life and doing only what’s necessary to maintain order. If you value your freedom and believe in limited intrusion into your life by the government, then you might be more of a libertarian than you thought. Their views are a lot closer to what our “classically liberal” forefathers meant when they wrote the Constitution in order to guarantee our freedoms.
Read MoreLearn More About Famous Libertarians
There are commonly many myths re libertarianism. Several what are known as liberals assault libertarians to be as well conservative. It’s fascinating how liberals so regularly appear to support huge administration, social and tyranny plans when traditional liberalism is really a political philosophy that promoters limited govt., constitutionalism, free markets, and liberty of the press.
Often libertarians like Ron Paul are criticised for “not caring” about nationwide security. Yet is it actually in the nation’s security interests of the U. S. to interrupt in foreign affairs it has no business in? Take Iran for instance. Many individuals have no concept the United States Overthrew the sovereign Iranian state and installed the shah so many years back. Folks question why they have hostility toward us.
Quite candidly, the US Constitution is regarded as the law of the land. Yet it is really ignored a great amount of the time in matters of foreign policy, financial policy, and even domestic policy. Most individuals when questioned what kind of govt. the US is will reply that it’s a democracy. Yet the US isn’t a democracy ; rather it’s a constitutional republic, with tests and controls. A democracy basically means majority rule, which in numerous cases can be quite dangerous. There are democratic sides of the govt of the U.S, but the right term is a constitutional republic.
Liberterians are usually folk who care about their liberty, and wish to see the Constitution followed. They would like to see Congress write the laws, the Executive branch implement, and the Courts decide matters of how law is translated. When a President makes choices over Congress’s authority, or really ignores Congress altogether, the seed for tyranny are planted, and libertarians turn out to be really concerned.
It is irrevocably damaged and wants a new start. Our target isn’t to just elect Libertarians, and also to defeat applicants from both parties who are answerable for the elimination of American values, the U.S. Economy, and the North American Dream.”
Many folks presume that liberterians are also for folks taking pharmaceuticals , but libertarians aren’t. Most liberterians don’t take any medicines at all. They just don’t consider it the place of the Government to choose what’s applicable for one’s health and what’s not.
That’s not even taking into consideration the classic clumsy end result of the War on Drugs. In simple terms if somebody is minding their very own company, libertarian’s do not mind what somebody does until it harms somebody else.
Libertarians wish to have a totally free market, and most of the time, sign up for the ideas of Austrian Financial aspects. A centrally managed expert that regulates rate of interest and also manipulates a foreign currency isn’t what the framers were considering. To the contrary, in a very free market, rates will naturally think the correct level. Why is it that cellular telephones, TVs, and other appliances are first class quality, and consistently coming down in price? The answer’s they’re still able to exercise some laissez faire market policies. Yet when the govt. presumes command of something, the end result is slow and ineffectual.
Read MoreWhat Is a Libertarian?
Most people in America have a basic understanding of the two major parties: Republicans and Democrats. They have a general idea of what these two parties stand for because these are the two mainstream parties. In Presidential elections, for example, the Democratic and Republican candidates get most of the attention from the national media. This is why most people are familiar with them. But what about third parties? The biggest political party aside from the two mainstream political parties would be the Libertarian party.
What do Libertarians believe in? Libertarians, in general, combine the conservative economic principals that Republicans hold with the liberal social views that the Democrats hold. Libertarians generally believe in a government that does not have much control over the individual. So, for example, a Libertarian is usually for gay marriage, the legalization of marijuana or the end of the war on drugs, and the right for a woman to choose. In all of these issues, according to the Libertarian, the government is trying to impose their morals on the individual.
The most important thing to a Libertarian is freedom. In general, Libertarians believe in a society where there is very little government power. Some Libertarians disagree on the role of government. Some extreme Libertarians are more like Anarchists, advocating for the complete elimination of the state. However, most Libertarians agree that the government is needed for protection of the citizens. Libertarians, in general, though, do not believe in government spending or funding of social programs. A Libertarian would not support funding the arts or government-run healthcare, for example. Rather, a Libertarian would say that education, the arts, and other social programs should be funded by free individuals.
There have been some Libertarians recently that have defined themselves as Republicans, like former Presidential candidate, Ron Paul. Many people would still classify him as a Libertarian because so many of his views are more aligned with the beliefs of the Libertarian party as opposed to the Republican party, like his belief in ending the war on drugs, for example. Primarily, though, the Libertarians believe in the power and freedom of the individual. They believe that the individual should not have to sacrifice her or his own values for the good of anyone else.
Personal liberty is very important to the Libertarian, and they believe that every individual should have the right to make his or her own decisions. For example, with marijuana, they believe that the government should not be able to tell a person what he or she can do to his or her body. This would be the same with abortion laws. In the eyes of the Libertarian, these are personal issues that an individual should be able to decide upon because they do not affect anyone else.
Libertarians also believe strongly in freedom of speech and the right not to be censored or controlled. They believe the government should also not attack or advocate for any one religion. They also believe that the government should not be able to define personal relationships.
Read MoreCritiques For Libertarianism
Libertarianism has grown in popularity, especially in the past ten years. However, this political movement is characterized by strong opinions both for and against. This is some of the criticism of libertarianism and the foundations behind those criticisms.
One of the strongest criticisms of libertarianism is their stance on well-being. A foundation of this political movement is that economic growth and affluence will result in an increased quality of life. While this is a common belief, there is currently very little data that supports this assumption.
Another issue that has come into play in recent years is the view of libertarianism on environmental resources and other environmental issues. Currently, the Libertarian party has no method of dealing with these issues, causing concern in environmental groups. This lack of policy is primarily due to the Libertarian’s rejection of collective regulation and control. Since natural resources are difficult to privatize and legal responsibility for pollution is difficult to trace, the Libertarian movement as a whole has not come forward with a plan to adress environmental issues, which has caused criticism from both the right and left wings.
While Libertarianism is often toted as being a conservative ideology, their political views are of a completely separate nature. Both liberals and conservatives argue for government, although they have different roles. In contrast, Libertarians believe that the state has a very limited role in the private and public spheres. They believe in a minimalist government, causing concern among both major political parties. One of the areas in which they have received criticism on this front is the area of public education. Libertarians have not come forward with an education plan, but they do believe in cutting the budget in the area of public education and taking the state away from this area as much as possible. Since public education is a foundation of today’s current society, removing free education for children is an area of huge concern.
One final criticism is that the Libertarian party’s supporting smaller governments will hurt the United State’s growth and development. Large scale programs would not be possible under a Libertarian government, and it would be much more difficult to take on huge projects that spanned dozens of years. One example of such a program is NASA. This government funded program had a purpose which involved the cooperation of multiple states and agencies. Additionally, there has never been a successfully funded moon landing that was privately funding. Both the liberals and the conservatives have criticized the Libertarian party, believing that their stance on limited government will hurt the growth and innovation of the country.
These are some of the major criticisms and critiques that are held against the Libertarian party. While Libertarianism has many supporters, it also has a strong base of opponents that have held up these concerns and criticisms, wanting answers to some specific questions. In the coming years as the Libertarian party continues to grow, increased information and policies will be made known to the public to address these concerns.
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