Libertarian Party

[poppins]

Theres a very big difference between a Libertarian and a Liberal, a Libertarian is mostly on the republican side.

[GrapeApe]

But....another libertarian policy would be to remove the age of consent. Why should the state tell you who you can and can't have sex with?

[HeadingNorth]

Theres a very big difference between a Libertarian and a Liberal, a Libertarian is mostly on the republican side.

 

So is a Liberal, despite the Americans' ridiculous mis-use of the word.

[HeadingNorth]

from what i understand about Libertarians, they are more or less anarchists - would that be right?

 

It wouldn't be far wrong. The idea to have as little government as you can possibly get away with. The ideal would be to have no government at all, but that is impossible as long as there is at least one selfish, or antisocial, or crooked person in existence.

[Jeffrey Shaw]

A minimal state with minimal laws and government intervention, a real free market economy etc.?

So no EU, then; good start.

[flamingjimmy]

What reduction? All the evidence shows that cutting the top rate of tax from 50% down to 40% would produce more tax revenue.

 

Please could you substantiate this? I am not aware of this evidence.

[flamingjimmy]

So is a Liberal, despite the Americans' ridiculous mis-use of the word.

 

It's annoying isn't it?

 

I'm proud to be a republican and hold republican views, but I wouldn't have anything to do with the political party in the US with the same name.

[Supertramp]

Please could you substantiate this? I am not aware of this evidence.

 

It costs more to administer the 50% tax rate then it brings in, as there are not many people PAYE earning above 150k.

 

But Labour bought it in so they look like Robin Hood to the uneducated and the Tories kept it so that they don't get labelled as letting the rich off lightly. But they get labelled with that anyway.

[Supertramp]

from what i understand about Libertarians, they are more or less anarchists - would that be right?

 

Check out this little interview with Doug Stanhope, entertaining stuff:

 

Anarchists seem to be at the more extreme end but there certainly seems to be a case for a smaller state, much smaller.

[LeMaquis]

Anarchists seem to be at the more extreme end but there certainly seems to be a case for a smaller state, much smaller.

 

Anarchists believe in no state at all. They support communities governing themselves. The problem with that and calls for a reduction in the size of the state are manifold. First it's all down to political preference and so you'll not get a consensus among people of what to cut and what to keep. You say you want to get rid of the NHS but I think it's the 3rd biggest employer in the world and supported by most people in this country. So how many people are going to vote for a party that wants to get rid of one of the few things there's a genuine political consensus about in this country and which employs over a million people?

 

If you reduce some parts of the state you have to increase others as a result. For example if you cut the welfare state then crime will rise and if you don't increase the police to fight that then you''ll let crime flourish. So part of the plan at least will be counter-poductive.

 

Also, what replaces what the state now does? You quote quangos. There are quangos in housing for example that fund housing associations. These are non-profitable organisations. If they were abolished then private companies would have to replace them and make a profit which would be difficult to do. The state also supports other things that the private sector can't make a profit out of, such as transport and education.

 

Libertarianism isn't going to work. People aren't going to vote for it because most people rely on it for a lot of important things in their life - health, education, transport, homes, security, jobs, etc. That's a lot of vested interest to ignore just for the sake of someone else's dogma.