U.S. Libertarian Party?

[NoMore]

Is the U.S. Libertarian party capitalist?

[gorillafuck]

Yes they are.

[Sam_b]

A free and competitive market allocates resources in the most efficient manner. Each person has the right to offer goods and services to others on the free market. The only proper role of government in the economic realm is to protect property rights, adjudicate disputes, and provide a legal framework in which voluntary trade is protected. All efforts by government to redistribute wealth, or to control or manage trade, are improper in a free society.

www.lp.org/platform

[GPDP]

They're the very embodiment of free market capitalist ideology.

[Jack]

Essentially they want to return to pre New Deal times, by cutting all welfare programs, bank regulations, minnimum wage, and their platform specifically states they want to make unions in a state of legal limbo again, meaning that capitalists don't have to recognize unions and can hire scabs.

[Lamanov]

They're the very embodiment of free market capitalist ideology.

Indeed, but they are so off in this moment it's silly. Capitalism itself needs to introduce interventionism and some sort of a "social contract" as in Keynes' days, so any talk of "non-interventionism" sounds like it's from a different era.

[ZeroNowhere]

Hate leads to suffering, and suffering leads to the Dark Side, and what did the board description do to you anyway?

[Rusty Shackleford]

ive got a little theory regarding the libertarian party, and its policies.

The early 20th century was probably the most politically active time for workers wasnt it? and this was all generally during a time when government didnt do much at all about intervention(aside form the occasional trust-busting). this activity was probably because the deplorable conditions that were allowed to develop. now, if libertarians had their way, would it be possible that standards like OSHA and so on could be nixed to allow for 'freer trade?' and in this case then, could sew the seeds of militancy in the workplace. (mind you this is just a little idea)

what im getting at is, the current system makes concessions and is generally more favourable to workers and employees through the sucess of actions taken previously.
If libertatians had their way, would it make class consciousness and workplace militancy more common sight?(if this is a separate thread then make it so i guess)

[Kwisatz Haderach]

"If this party takes over, things will get a lot worse for the workers, but then they will get radicalized and start a revolution, so we shouldn't be too worried..."

...is exactly what German Communists said about the Nazis in 1932.

[Rusty Shackleford]

"If this party takes over, things will get a lot worse for the workers, but then they will get radicalized and start a revolution, so we shouldn't be too worried..."

...is exactly what German Communists said about the Nazis in 1932.
if thats true... then damn... good job debunking my theory.

[Pogue]

Hate leads to suffering, and suffering leads to the Dark Side, and what did the board description do to you anyway?

Sometimes I wonder if your actually manic depressive.

[Kyrite]

Supply side economics and less government intervention. Yes they are very capitalist.

[21st Century Kropotkinist]

Is the U.S. Libertarian party capitalist?

They are ubercapitalist, but they completely misunderstand the role of the State as the enabler of capitalism. It's like they simultaneously want to minimize capitalism's life support, yet make it flourish at the same time. They're pretty clueless, and unfortunately, have historically been pandered to by some lefties (wtf, Murray Bookchin?). This is really the worst kind of extremism, though. I mean, if they got their way, you're talking Pinochet meets Hitler meets Madmax: a real corporate/fascist distopia.

[gorillafuck]

I mean, if they got their way, you're talking Pinochet meets Hitler meets Madmax: a real corporate/fascist distopia.
How are they fascists?

[Qayin]

Everything is privatized. Who would enforce that?

Is a rhetorical question.

I fucking hate libertarians.

[21st Century Kropotkinist]

How are they fascists?

I'm not saying that the Lib. party is per se fascist; I was implying that the world that they would try to create if they had their way, i.e., privatizing the world, could really only be sustained through a sort of fascism. I'm not necessarily referring to the element of fascism that involves big conglomerates working in tandem with governments, but the element in which one must kill dissenters and exterminate certain groups of people. In the case of privatizing the world, a great number of people would have to be subject to Social Darwinian theory for it to work. It would take a certain kind of ruthlessness to justify this kind of insanity. I'm not suggesting that Libertarians are fascists, though.

[CommunityBeliever]

I'm not saying that the Lib. party is per se fascist; I was implying that the world that they would try to create if they had their way, i.e., privatizing the world, could really only be sustained through a sort of fascism. I'm not necessarily referring to the element of fascism that involves big conglomerates working in tandem with governments, but the element in which one must kill dissenters and exterminate certain groups of people. In the case of privatizing the world, a great number of people would have to be subject to Social Darwinian theory for it to work. It would take a certain kind of ruthlessness to justify this kind of insanity. I'm not suggesting that Libertarians are fascists, though.

Don't bother think about what if. Do not bother contemplating insanity. :cool:

These people just need to realizing only socialists can give liberty to the people. Once they realize that libertarian-capitalism is a contradiction they might become one of us. :thumbup1:

[21st Century Kropotkinist]

Don't bother think about what if. Do not bother contemplating insanity. :cool:

These people just need to realizing only socialists can give liberty to the people. Once they realize that libertarian-capitalism is a contradiction they might become one of us. :thumbup1:

Agreed. I was just explaining myself to Hammer & Pickle.

[n0thing]

Hell, I used to be one of them. They aren't too hard to win around if you actually talk to them about Socialist concepts like the Labor theory of value. These are largely smart people brought up in intellectually stifling environments (America). They aren't aware of any options outside capitalism. and most equate socialism with Stalinism. I've seen quite a few of them drop their capitalist credentials after long exchanges with anarchists.

I tend to think of them as taking irrational statist dogma to it's rational conclusion.

[Guerrilla22]

They're against any and all regulations on business and taxes and against any barriers to international trade and commerce. They should be called the "neo-liberal party"

[Schrödinger's Cat]

The leadership, party organization, and most members of the fellowship are capitalist, but there are some non-capitalist members. They're just rare.

[Die Neue Zeit]

their platform specifically states they want to make unions in a state of legal limbo again, meaning that capitalists don't have to recognize unions and can hire scabs.

Doesn't the NLRB Act already allow employers not to recognize unionization even after the initial 30% card check for submission to the employer (then submitted to the NLRB) and the secret ballot elections afterwards?