Reply #14: Libertarians have different beliefs, just like Democrats do

[Lasher]

I have also struggled to understand what libertarians are all about, with some success. Adding to the confusion, libertarians have sometimes been referred to as classical liberals. This is not consistent with common understanding of the term today. Some beliefs are commonly held by some libertarians and some liberals (little or no prosecution for victimless crimes, for example), but the differences far outweigh similarities.

They believe that individuals should be free to do whatever they wish with their person or property, as long as they do not infringe on the same liberty of others. There are extremes. Anarchists favor no governmental constraints at all, based on the assumption that rulers and laws are unnecessary because in the absence of government individuals will naturally form self-governing social bonds and rules. In contrast, Big-L-Libertarians consider government necessary for the sole purpose of protecting the rights of the people. This includes protecting people and their property from the criminal acts of others, as well as providing for national defense.

If you ever wanted to find a bunch of people who think their ideologies are self-justifying, look no further. Perhaps the most foolish aspect of this ideology is that they seem to think that removing governmental controls would mean corresponding power would not be assumed by others. If police protection were eliminated, for example, groups of individuals would certainly band together to provide the same thing for themselves. And without government regulation by agencies such as the FDA, corporations and other hucksters would quickly assume powers over us all that are frightful to imagine.

Good reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarianism