Somebody please Disabuse John Walsh

Right-Wing Hippies

' Many people in the military have libertarian leanings or at least sympathies. They're the rugged individualists, at least in their own mind: doing it their way... This is the individual libertarian's image of him- or herself: No excuses, "An Army of One." And this is the level at which it's so attractive to those in the military... let's check out this hatred of government that's so central to the libertarian mind-set. Um, the fact is that the military itself is part of the government libertarians rail against-though it's almost always left out of sermons against the evils of Big Brother. Look at the current budget proposal: everything for the military, nothing for anything else. The military is the government, folks. They pay your paycheck, and mine. And it all comes from taxes. And by the way, what's this hatred of "socialized medicine"? Does any medicine get any more socialized than military medicine? Choice of doctors? Hah.  They tell you when to go, what shots to get, and where to get them... Many libertarians revere the competition of raw capitalism: may the best man win! But the military isn't raw capitalism. Quite the contrary. Two people don't compete for the same slot. The work is done by a single person, who does it well or ill... The military is by definition a monopoly: there aren't two competing U.S. Navies. And then, if you do your time, whether you've performed well or badly, you're guaranteed certain benefits... Most fundamentally, there's the fact that the military isn't about being Rambo. It's (no-duh)  about doing what your superiors tell you to do, saying "Ma'am, yes, ma'am." Where is the rugged individualist in that?.. This suggests a contradiction between the reality of the military life, and the self-perception of many of the people who lead that life... It's bad when many people in the military persist in thinking of themselves as rugged individualists with control over their own destinies, completely unlike the people they look down on. I'd say: look in the mirror. '

This is the basic contradiction in libertarianism. The people who call themselves libertarians are snug in the belly of the beast, be it the military or the corporate world. It seems basically to be "I've got mine, Jack" at the center dressed up with a bunch of "and I deserve it because"... I'm a self-made man/woman. Which is not always (ever?) the truth.

Someone pointed out that the libertarian candidate is chosen at a convention by "representatives of the people". There's a strong streak of distrust of the masses, of respect for authority, of "republicanism" in libertarianism.

It's a free country. You all are welcome to become libertarians. It's not for me thenks.

My bet would be that libertarians will go for the NI4d about the same time hell freezes over. 

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Times have changed. We are going to empower the American people. Let’s work together. I am tough. I’m not afraid. None of this politics as usual. Mike Gravel

I'm pretty sure Wayne Allan Root is pro war.