Daily Kos Slams Libertarianism

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/4/17/858324/-What-Conservatives-Mean-When-They-Say-Libertarian

The difference between actual Libertarians and Republicans hiding from their tarnished name is quite easy. Actual Libertarians are concerned about the freedom of individuals. Conservatives use Libertarian as a code word meaning "I want to continue to enjoy all the privileges I do now, but I don't want to share them with you and most of all I don't want to pay any taxes." Push come to shove, they're happy to abbreviate that to "Screw freedom. I just don't want to pay taxes."

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Leftards stole the term "liberal" from the liberals, and now, they would like to steal "libertarian" from the libertarians. At some point, the lovers of freedom are going to run out of words to describe themselves.

This article slams the Gilded Age as being a time of wretched treatment of blacks, women, and working class people. Compared to today, this was a hard time to live. Compared to what had been before, it was a giant leap forward. Whenever a leftard tosses out these laundry lists of Bad Shit That Happened To People, you must always ask the question. Compared to what?

If you want to see what progressivism leads to, look no further than live under the Soviet Union, life under Chairman Mao, and life under the regime in North Korea. Ironically, thanks to technology, life there was better than life in the Gilded Age. East Germany did have cars and televisions.

The story of liberty and tyranny is akin to the parable of the wheat and the tares. These two visions compete, and when tyranny gets the upper hand, it is always bad. Leftards will argue that Somalia is free from government, and it sucks. But compared to the tyranny that preceded it, it is a giant leap forward.

Tyranny does not produce justice, freedom, or prosperity. The logical error that the author of this article makes is that our present justice, freedom, and prosperity is the result of good government. No, it isn't. It is the product of a free society that has strived in spite of government. Saying that government is good for you is like saying that dysentery is healthy because it helps you lose weight. In all the arguments I have heard so-called progressives make, they always resort to cherry picking the data and making false comparisons. In this case, the author makes the argument that the 1880s sucked because justice, freedom, prosperity, and the personal computer didn't drop from the heavens into the laps of its citizens. Therefore, we need to turn over our freedoms and our incomes to centralized control. Neat trick there.

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