Most of what I’ve seen sounds like Libertarians are actually anarchists who’ve been misinformed by the dominant culture about what anarchism really is.

What would you say is the reason you identify with libertarianism over anarchism?

  • PropaGandalf@lemmy.worldM
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    11 months ago

    OK, let’s start from the beginning. Basically, there are two notions of how to approach a political system. Either you go to one extreme and say “basically everything is forbidden but every individual has (positive) rights that should ensure his freedom”. On the other hand, you can also say “basically everything is allowed but your rights can be restricted by the (negative) rights of others” (see positive and negative rights).

    I would argue that most modern societies try to achieve an ideal balance between freedom and regulation. Libertarianism seeks to maximise the freedom of each individual and minimise restrictions. In other words, it is not against regulations, but tries to achieve its goal by means of them. However, these rules should be as minimal and basic as possible, without redundancy and unnecessary burdens that could somehow hinder people. How exactly this balance between regulation and freedom should look and where exactly one draws the line for the extent of regulations ultimately depends on the interpretation of each individual.

    Personally, I am a strong advocate of the logical approach in law and politics. The laws should be an unambiguous, logically coherent and broad foundation on which one can trace back every action as far as possible. The clearer and more minimal the law, the easier it should be to understand. I see this realised in the basic principles of natural law, the non-aggression principle or the self-ownership principle. I believe that all problems can be broken down to a few basic principles, from climate change to property damage or theft.

    In my opinion, a (minimal) state is needed to enforce these rules and thus protect freedom. To do this, you have to give up some of your competences to the state, which reduces your own freedom to a certain extent but ensures stable and maximum social freedom (if everyone were maximally free, they could also take away each other’s freedom). In a way, you could describe me as an effective freedom altruist.

    But what exactly this minimal legal basis should look like is difficult to say and can only be found through trial and error. Therefore, with every action I take and every decision I make in my everyday life, I work for a change that is directed towards this libertarian vision, and thus I also try to test and adapt these theses again and again. Sustainable change will never be achieved through a radical leap or the demands that follow, but through a step-by-step approach to it. Without a clear final goal or a final vision, however, it is not possible to indicate a direction and the effort is lost in the turmoil of political and social discourse.

    In this sense, I do not want to explain to you what is right or wrong, but rather motivate you to find and explore your own vision. I have made my vision from a libertarian point of view but as I said it depends on how you see it. Good luck on your path!