| ashu |
Posted
on 23-Nov-01 03:10 AM
BP wrote:
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Ashu...? Now I am reading Bill O'Reilly. He is a big time conservative, and a newscaster, in case you don't know him. I know our community is in general liberal, but perhaps through the influence of my college friends, I have a lot of conservative views myself. My feeling is that people (and countries for that matter) gravitate naturally towards conservatism when they are secure in their existence. People become more conservative when they get married, settled down and have kids etc, and the same is true for a nation that has become self-sufficient and wants some "space" so to speak. What do you think? I mean all of you out there.
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BP, you have a point there, but, in my case, having witnessed how aspects of personal freedoms and opportunities for free enterprise are ROUTINELY
squelched in the name of some supposed greater good and often to greater deteriment in Nepal, I find myself being more and more of a libertarian here.
Democracy and free markets are NOT perfect entities.
But in Nepal, the ALTERNATIVES to them are much, much, much worse, and I can cite examples!
So, what is a libertarian?
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(Taken from a Web site),
Libertarian
Libertarians are self-governors in both personal and economic matters. They believe government's only purpose is to protect people from coercion and violence . They value individual responsibility, and tolerate economic and
social diversity
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Though I am open to debate/discuss/explain the DEGREE to which I, as an individual, am a libertarian (for instance, I see a greater role for government
that most hard-core libertarians would allow!), this libertarian philosophy sums up, on the whole, my own thinking re: an ideal for human societies.
For further info: http://www.lp.org/quiz/
oohi
ashu
ktm,nepal
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| ashu |
Posted
on 23-Nov-01 04:03 AM
I should clarify.
Do NOT take my reasons for supporting libertarianism.
Decide whether it's for you by reading more about it yourself.
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While libertarians are a diverse group of people with many philosophical starting points, they share a defining belief: that everyone should be free to do as they choose, so long as they don't infringe upon the equal freedom of others.
Human interaction should be peaceful, voluntary, and honest. It is never acceptable to use physical force to achieve your goals. The only time force is acceptable is when you are defending against force.
This might not seem very radical. After all, your parents probably taught you not to cheat, steal or pick fights -- in other words, not to use force against others. What sets libertarians apart is that they don't make any exceptions to this principle -- not even for governments.
In the libertarian view, governments should be held to the same standards of right and wrong as individuals. As a result, libertarians believe that governments should not interfere with the interactions and exchanges of peaceful people.
Why do libertarians feel so strongly about individual freedom? What about other social values, such as equality and security? Where does libertarianism come from? How do libertarians apply their principles to contemporary public policy issues?
The abover taken from: http://www.libertarian.org
oohi
ashu
ktm,nepal
|
