What's your opinion on modern libertarian ideologies?
I generally favor smaller, limited government. But I find the more extreme camps of libertarianism (ex. "anarcho-capitalism" or "individualist anarchism") to be cult-like philosophically faulty as well.
The jist of them that I hear in modern politics is that taxation is always wrong regardless of the reason because it is "theft" or "aggression".
However from a philosophical point of view the notion that "aggression" is always wrong is easy to debunk:
1. If aggression is always wrong then there's no difference between shining a flashlight on a person and blasting them with a 100,000 gigawatt laser since both are "acts of directing photons" on a person without their consent.
Heck, even talking in a public place causes soundwaves to 'aggress' upon a person's eardrums without their consent, so according to them there is no difference between talking within hearing distance of someone, and blasting a megaphone right in their ear.
2. Likewise the idea that one has no obligations at all beyond what they voluntarily agree to has holes in it:
-By that logic then a parent has "no right" to set any rules for their child since the child didn't "voluntarily" agree to be born to them, therefore any parental discipline is an "act of aggression against a non-consenting individual").
-Likewise if the believe on has no obligations but what they verbally agree to then why stop at 'aggression' and not simply delve into pure nihilism; if one didn't "agree" to be born at all, why should one respect anyone's rights and not kill, rape, or steal as they see fit?
3. They also simply stop at "humans"; if the non-aggression views were applied literally then it should also mandate non-aggression against animals or militant veganism.
---
Plus libertarians simply argue a false dichtomoy that the only alternative to their literalist worldview is one of 'might makes right' or 'totalitarianism', even though this is false, as there are many other more well-thought out ethical and philosophical systems out there, such as those of Thomas Aquinas and Kant.
Not to mention most of the Founders themselves were not in favor of "no government" or "no taxation", just taxation with representation limited by the Constitution's provisions.
So what are your thoughts on these types of libertarian-ism?
I generally favor smaller, limited government. But I find the more extreme camps of libertarianism (ex. "anarcho-capitalism" or "individualist anarchism") to be cult-like philosophically faulty as well.
The jist of them that I hear in modern politics is that taxation is always wrong regardless of the reason because it is "theft" or "aggression".
However from a philosophical point of view the notion that "aggression" is always wrong is easy to debunk:
1. If aggression is always wrong then there's no difference between shining a flashlight on a person and blasting them with a 100,000 gigawatt laser since both are "acts of directing photons" on a person without their consent.
Heck, even talking in a public place causes soundwaves to 'aggress' upon a person's eardrums without their consent, so according to them there is no difference between talking within hearing distance of someone, and blasting a megaphone right in their ear.
2. Likewise the idea that one has no obligations at all beyond what they voluntarily agree to has holes in it:
-By that logic then a parent has "no right" to set any rules for their child since the child didn't "voluntarily" agree to be born to them, therefore any parental discipline is an "act of aggression against a non-consenting individual").
-Likewise if the believe on has no obligations but what they verbally agree to then why stop at 'aggression' and not simply delve into pure nihilism; if one didn't "agree" to be born at all, why should one respect anyone's rights and not kill, rape, or steal as they see fit?
3. They also simply stop at "humans"; if the non-aggression views were applied literally then it should also mandate non-aggression against animals or militant veganism.
---
Plus libertarians simply argue a false dichtomoy that the only alternative to their literalist worldview is one of 'might makes right' or 'totalitarianism', even though this is false, as there are many other more well-thought out ethical and philosophical systems out there, such as those of Thomas Aquinas and Kant.
Not to mention most of the Founders themselves were not in favor of "no government" or "no taxation", just taxation with representation limited by the Constitution's provisions.
So what are your thoughts on these types of libertarian-ism?