[Buddha-l] Re: Buddhism and Politics

[curt]

A genuine libertarian is someone who believes in
freedom - and in my opinion that means freedom
for everyone, not just for oneself. Everyone wants
freedom for oneself - so its trivial to speak of any
kind of libertarianism that does not propose freedom
for everyone.  I am sorry if this is obvious. I am even
more sorry if it is not.

- Curt

Steven Rhodes wrote:

> Dear Curt,
>
> What is "genuine" libertarianism?  What makes it "genuine"?  How does 
> one discern the frauds?
>
> You're not seriously conflating a "libertine" and a "libertarian" are 
> you?
>
> Steven Rhodes
>
> curt wrote:
>
>> Genuine libertarianism is completely incompatible with
>> conservatism. That doesn't mean some people don't try to
>> make a go of it - but it just flies in the face of common
>> sense and all that is decent and right. So called "conservative
>> libertarians" don't really believe in freedom - because freedom
>> means freedom for everyone. Economic inequality - which
>> is the primary thing that conservatives want to conserve -
>> is only possible with a proportionate amount of political
>> repression. The greater the inequality, the greater repression
>> is necessary to keep it going. Without the repression the
>> inequality will quickly be eliminated by people taking matters
>> into their own hands.
>>
>> Oscar Wilde, probably the worlds most famous Libertine, once
>> wrote a wonderful little essay on why he was a Socialist. To
>> truly enjoy oneself, he wrote, you have to be surrounded by
>> people who are happy. Being around poverty and oppression
>> is, as the kids say today, a real buzzkill.
>>
>> - Curt
>>
>>
>> Steven Rhodes wrote:
>>
>>> Dear Curt,
>>>
>>> I believe that there is another way to look at the term 
>>> "libertarian." This is within the context of discerning two strands 
>>> within conservatism:  the authoritarian and the libertarian.  An 
>>> authoritarian conservative is one who wants to tell other adults how 
>>> to conduct their lives (you may not take drugs, you may not gamble, 
>>> you may not have abortions, etc.), whereas a libertarian 
>>> conservative wants to minimize government control over one's 
>>> personal affairs.  Some might see the latter as "compassionate," 
>>> others may not.  How to correlate this with Buddhist thought escapes 
>>> me at the moment.
>>>
>>> Steven Rhodes
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> buddha-l mailing list
>> buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com
>> http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/listinfo/buddha-l
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> buddha-l mailing list
> buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com
> http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/listinfo/buddha-l
>
>