Libertarianism Is Stupid

Libertarians do have some beliefs that I support wholeheartedly among them legalization of marijuana, pro-gay marriage, anti-censorship, pro-privacy, women's right to choose and pro-property rights. Most of the rest I find kinda screwy. If we were to go so far as the Libertarians would like, our highways and other roads would not be maintained, environmental protection would be solely up to the individual and unproven medical treatments would be widely available. Bush has personally proven that a totally free market economy would only bring our republic further ruin.

Libertarianism is not practical. It's stupid.

In my experience, there are only two kinds of libertarians:

1. The wild-eyed true believing anarchist types.
2. The "former" Republicans who claim they're "Libertarian" because they're currently ashamed of their party and wish to duck responsibility for the George W. Bush Presidency.
   

Almost all* those in category #2 are TLINOs (Temporary Libertarians In Name Only). They have no intention of leaving the GOP or joining the Libertarian Party. They'll either hold their noses and vote for McCain or sit this one out instead of working to rebuild their party for within. Until Republicans regain their self-respect back, Libertarianism is serves as a fashionable holding pattern. Whatever happens, it's not their fault.

I respect the crazies in category #1 far more than I do the #2s.

-AF

*The exception to this rule being the Bob Barr/Christine Smith types (though I've never seen anyone join a party, make a bid for that party's Presidential nomination and quit that party as quickly as Christine Smith).

"I Didn't Get Nominated. Waaaaaah!"

Christine Smith quits the Libertarian Party. That was quick. After her surreal literally fangs-bared condescending performance at last Sunday's Libertarian Party Convention, the newbie and wannabe became a has been. Smith couldn't overcome the perception that she was a band wagon jumper. By jumping off the Libertarian wagon, she proved their point. She also came off as a very sore loser.

Claiming her exit was in protest of fellow newbie-band-wagon-jumper-ex-Republican Bob Barr's nomination, Smith ripped her now former party in a rambling resignation letter of sorts, The LP as "The Party of Principle" is DEAD. Here's an excerpt:

I think the party is a waste of time and resources...

No true libertarian would support (or defend) the selection of Bob Barr. (For those who choose to remain in the LP to try and repair it, it will take many years to even return to the place the party was a few days ago.) The hope and enormous potential the LP, as "The Party of Principle," had in 2008 was enormous - now that has been destroyed.

It was my devotion to libertarian philosophy that led me to join the LP, and it is the reason I must leave.

I'm going home and I'm taking my ball with me. Waaah!

Rather than than expend the necessary effort to put her adopted party of some three years back on course thus earning much needed credibility, Smith threw the baby out with the bath water. This story dovetails nicely with an upcoming post.

Stay tuned...

-AF

Bob Barr?!?

The loud derisive jeers directed at Bob Barr supporters parading before their fellow party members was among the more memorable moments of the Libertarian Convention today. Mr. Barr's supporters chose to do so "spontaneously" in the transition between the various candidates' nomination pitches and the nominating speeches from each states' delegations. That they chose to do so during Bill Redpath's instruction to the delegations could not have gone over well with the LNC's Chairman.

Imagine my surprise when hours later, the Libertarian Party chose Barr as its 2008 Presidential Candidate.

They Said It. I Repeat It.

The word evol?

"The Word 'Evol' In 'Revolution' Revolved Is Spelled 'Love'"

Dr. Dean Ahmad
Libertarian Party Nomination Speech
on behalf of Mary Ruwart for President

Umm, there is no such word as "evol," Doctor. This in a nutshell (emphasis on the "nut") epitomizes the Libertarian Party. Intriguing rhetoric speeding down the political highway only swerve and take the first exit to Crazy Town.

Now despite the above evidence of his zaniness, Dr. Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad is one of the Libertarian Party's most interesting figures. As a Harvard-educated Palestinian-American college professor, Ahmad doesn't fit the Libertarian stereotype. Did I mention that he's Muslim? That raises a simple question. If Dr. Ahmad hadn't spent the past 30+ establishing his Libertarian bona fides, would he be readily accepted as a Libertarian in this post-911 landscape?

Anyhoo, Dean Ahmad is also noteworthy as the founder the Islamic libertarian think-tank the Minaret of Freedom Institute. (Who knew there was such a thing as an Islamic libertarian think-tank?) Perhaps MFI's most interesting position is that on riba or usury. In a 2003 interview with Reason Magazine, Ahmad blames Islam's prohibition on usury for the Muslim world's relative technological backwardness. Here's why:

...When you have an entrepreneurial idea that is so radical that you can't convince anyone that there is a profit to be shared in it. I believe this may be why Islam never had an industrial revolution. If you look at Islamic history, they had strong business, they had international trade, they had factories, science, innovation. Yet somehow they never made that final leap to an industrial revolution. And when I look at the fact that the steam engine was called Fulton's Folly, I can't help but wonder, to what degree did the availability of interest play a role in the commercialization of the steam engine? And is it possible that the Islamic prohibition on interest meant that that just wasn't gonna happen in the Muslim world?

Seeing that as for centuries, the Arab world dominated all comers in the fields of science, mathematics, etc., this angle demands a closer look from Islam's leaders. All the more so since Ahmad confesses that he's made little progress pushing his position forward. Additional deets on his riba argument here.

-AF

Christine Smith For President

Libertarian Presidential candidate Christine Smith tries to make her mark challenging her party in a most condescending and strident manner.





Fun Facts To Know & Tell about Christine Smith:

1. Christine packs heat. She has a 95% kill rate with "seemi"-automatic pistol.
2. She's the author of A Mountain In The Wind - An Exploration of the Spirituality of John Denver
3. Christine Smith is an aspiring model & actress.
   

You can't make this shit up folks.

-AF

Libertarians Gone Wild!

I'm watching the Libertarian Party Convention on C-SPAN live from Denver. I highly recommend you watch some of it. It's surprisingly compelling TV but not for the reasons the Libertarians want. Chock full o' comedy gold too. More soon come…