Libertarian Libertarianism

Hard determinism and libertarianism are both extreme philosophies with soft determinism (compatibilism) somewhat of a middle ground. Hard determinism sees very little or no free will for actions, that everything is inevitable. Libertarianism views that every person has free will in their decisions. Soft determinism states that there is a determined plan of action, but that there is a freedom dependent upon whether that determined action comes from an internal decision. Decisions are therefore resulting actions come from either external or internal motivations. Based upon the readings and personal experiences, I would have to say I am a soft-determinist.

A small amount of the core ideals of libertarians has changed. According to the current Libertarian Party website; “We seek a world of liberty; the world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives and no one is forced to sacrifice his or her values for the benefit of others.” This party is notorious for values that are socially liberal, and economically conservative. This platform has also been referred to as neoliberalism. The United States Libertarian party focuses on personal liberty, self-ownership, privacy, economic liberty, free markets, protected environments, strong national defense, and minimal war actions. The LP is supportive of gay rights, gun rights, pro-life ideals. They stand against labor unions; universal health care, restricted markets, government surveillance of citizens, and government provided security. Libertarians like to think of themselves as defensive whenever it comes to foreign policy, and to refrain from attacking unless they are

Hardly ever do third party candidates poll more than 10 percent, but Libertarian candidate, Gary Johnson, is doing just that (Russonello). The Libertarian party as a whole has seen a surprising rise in recent elections with Gary Johnson being the first third party candidate to be on the ballot in all 50 states in 20 years (Tau). Despite the general public confusion about them, their ideology is quite simple. The general idea is that Libertarians are fiscally conservative and socially liberal. Britannica defines Libertarians as, “classical liberals who strongly emphasize the individual right to liberty.” (Encyclopedia Britannica). It is ultimately about giving people the liberty to do what they want without hurting other people.

After taking two political quizzes, each quiz are clearly explaining which typology I was fitted in and the reason why I was in this party. The first one is political typology quiz, which is based on 23 questions that involved in different types of fields. The result I get from this quiz is “Next Generation Left”, which means the participant is young who experienced well education and the financial condition is enough for the living. Also the result mentioned the participant has very free attitudes to look at many issues, such as the same-sex marriage, the environment and foreign policy. Moreover, the result stated that these people support the activist government, and most of them are worried about the social safety net. Another consequence

This quiz placed me in the category of Conservative Republican- a blatant overstatement, in my opinion. While I do identify as a conservative, I would most likely have placed myself in the category of Republican-Leaning Independent or Moderate Republican. Both of these groups are conservative leaning, but not unwaveringly Republican. This is particularly evident in the fiercely conservative beliefs of solid Republicans on issues such as civil liberties. Although it is not shown on the continuum, I identify most closely with the views of the Libertarian Party, which is known for its positive stance on tax cuts, laissez-faire economic policies, and protections for civil liberties such as marriage equality. In addition, I hold a conservative view on how the Constitution should be interpreted, preferring the ideas of a limited federal government and strong state governments to the liberal preference of heavy interference from the federal government. This view is a defining characteristic of my political ideology, and as such, I am more likely to identify with and vote for parties and candidates of the conservative persuasion who tend to favor a smaller federal government. Still, I would not agree that I concur with the Republican Party to the extent that the Political Party Quiz determined, with the most notable disagreement being that of the federal government’s role in social

A definition of Libertarianism that is well supported by a large portion of its practitioners comes from Noble Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman; that, “Libertarians want the smallest, least-intrusive government consistent with maximum freedom for each individual to follow his own ways, his own values, as long as he doesn’t interfere with anyone else’s doing the same.” Put simply, it affords for individuals to live as they wish, so long as they do not hinder the ability of another to do so as well. Central to the doctrine is the Non-Aggression Principal (NAP), explained by Ron Paul as, “The core of libertarianism…respect for the life, liberty and property rights of each individual. This means that no one may initiate force against another, as that violates those natural rights.” However, this article is not about the viability of such a system. Rather, it concerns the place of Libertarianism, and Libertarian voters, in the modern, two party system.

The voting record of Libertarians is generally easy to follow. If the policy limits the freedom of

The test results of my political compass test were that I am a moderate libertarian. This means that I share the ideas of libertarians but to an extent. I was also close to being an authoritarian by small margin meaning that my ideals are not entirely in line with libertarians at all. As a matter of fact, the dot was actually closest to the center meaning that I am somewhat a balance between the two political ideologies. However, my choice in Part 1 aligns very much with my results from my political compass test. The Moderate libertarian believes that the government should focus on what it needs to, but nothing more. It says that the people should rely on itself and only itself. They believe that the government should have nothing to do with

The basic concept that the individual has the right to liberty is still there. However the role of government has changed. The modern Liberal feels that the purpose of government not only to protect individual rights, but to also provide social welfare, benefiting society as a whole, (Downes, yaliberty.org). This would include things like financial assistance, universal health care, and free and equal education. Also todays Libertarian party supports the government enforcing more rules and regulations to big corporations. The political platform of todays Liberal can seem misleading to some. One example of this is individual abortion rights. Modern Libertarianism supports the right of the individual to be able to make their own decision to have an abortion, the government should not have a say in the matter. This shows support for the classical belief that government should not play a big part in an individuals life. However, by contrast, todays Liberal political platform also feels that the government should not perform executions – even for convicted serial killers, (Goodman ncpa.org). This directly goes against the classical view that the governments role is to protect the individuals

The libertarian party was originated in Westminster, Colorado and was found in 1971 by David Nolan. This party is the only political party that respects individual rights in a unique way. They are known for party of principles which is a representation of the principles of an individuals’ rights if its honest and peaceful not interfering or harming other individuals’. They give the individuals rights by limiting the government so they don’t interfere in a negative way. This is illustrated by personal, economical, and security liberty.

I noticed that while taking this Political Compass test most of my answers were either agree or disagree, very few questions I answered with strongly agree/disagree. For that reason, I believed that my results were more inclined to be on the non-ideological side since my answers were not radical. According to the test, I fall under the Green section that represents the modern liberal and progressive party; however, diagonally I am around three boxes from the center of the graph. In other words, I would be considered non-ideological since I am closer to the middle of the graph rather than on an extreme side of the political compass. Although my results were bit towards the lower left side, I found it accurate to consider myself non-ideological. I am still in the process of learning about economic and social dimensions thus it is too early to label myself especially as a college student.

Politics is intricate and complex, not black or white, therefore deciding where one stands isn’t as simple as being either ‘liberal’ or ‘conservative’. Thus, a more three-dimensional approach was created: The Political Compass. This multifaceted analysis includes not only the traditional economic stance but a social stance as well. Although someone claims they’re a liberal, they might tend towards communism. With the traditional ‘left or right’ scale, it would be impossible to know that; The Political Compass, however, has a dimension for fascism and anarchism along with communism and neo-liberalism which would indicate both the economic scale (communism) and social scale (libertarian). It is also a more accurate way to determine where certain politicians lie. Take Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany. She’s a moderate neo-liberalist who is neither full fascist or anarchist. By understanding her policies and background and comparing her to others on the Political Compass, one can see that this is, in fact, true.

Libertarianism is the belief in liberty. They are also known as "The Party of Principle" because they firmly believe in their principles. Libertarians believe that each person owns his own life and property and has the right to make his own choices as to how he lives his life and uses his property – as long as he simply respects the equal right of others to do the same. In the libertarian view, all human relationships should voluntary; the only actions that should be forbidden by law are those that involve the initiation of force against those who have themselves used force – actions like murder, rape, robbery, kidnapping, and fraud. In popular terminology, a libertarian is the opposite of an authoritarian. Strictly speaking, a libertarian is one who rejects the idea of using violence or the threat of violence – legal or illegal – to impose his will or viewpoint upon any peaceful person. Generally speaking, a libertarian is one who wants to be governed far less than he is today. Although the libertarian party is a minor party, there is a lot to know about it.

In my opinion, I think that each political orientation has some sort of pro and con about it, which makes it hard to choose just one. I think that the political orientation that would best solve our social problems in the United States is libertarianism rather than any other. The main reason I think that libertarians could help is because, “they believe that the less government we have is better because if we allow the government to help solve problems than we are creating a larger government” (Crone, 30). I think that there could be too much government, which is why many things in our political system never get solved because; there are so many people with different opinions and views weighing on the subject. Another reason I think that it

The political ideology that best represents my views is liberalism. Liberalism is an ideology that emphasizes, “cultural diversity, government programs for the needy, public intervention in the economy, and individuals’ rights to a lifestyle based on their own social and moral positions” (Morone & Kersh, 2014, p. 37). In other words, liberalism promotes government assistance for individuals in need as well as protect every individual’s rights.