Why are *so many* Libertarians so smug and annoying?

[White Trash]

They are on the same level of smugness as most urban Progressives.

[Associate Justice PiT]

They are on the same level of smugness as most urban Progressives.

     It's true. Most ideologues of any stripe are very smug and very annoying. Libertarians have just done a great job of being visible on the internet.

[Tartarus Sauce]

The libertarians on here seem to be of a much higher stock than their more dogmatic brethren. Good blokes.

[Murica!]

I don't know if I'm smug, annoying sure, but smug? Not here at least, though then again maybe I am. *shrugs*

[dead0man]

This is reason #534546 why I'm not a libertarian.

because idiots define it in stupid ways and stereotype everyone that doesn't hate it as much as they do?  Did you even read anything but the title?  The OP came off looking like ranting loon with his thumb in his ears mumbling something about basement dwellers, Somalia and Ayn Rand.

[vanguard96]

This is reason #534546 why I'm not a libertarian.

because idiots define it in stupid ways and stereotype everyone that doesn't hate it as much as they do?  Did you even read anything but the title?  The OP came off looking like ranting loon with his thumb in his ears mumbling something about basement dwellers, Somalia and Ayn Rand.

Yes, I agree.

I only take ownership of one person, myself.

If one is prone to generalizations then one can do the same about Republicans or Democrats or Socialists or any group, nationality, etc but it is counterproductive.

[TheLeftwardTide]

This is reason #534546 why I'm not a libertarian.

because idiots define it in stupid ways and stereotype everyone that doesn't hate it as much as they do?  Did you even read anything but the title?  The OP came off looking like ranting loon with his thumb in his ears mumbling something about basement dwellers, Somalia and Ayn Rand.

Yes, I agree.

I only take ownership of one person, myself.

If one is prone to generalizations then one can do the same about Republicans or Democrats or Socialists or any group, nationality, etc but it is counterproductive.

Here's a tip; if someone says that "many libertarians are smug and annoying", and you're a libertarian, try to not be smug and annoying.

(Also he didn't say all libertarians are smug and annoying, just many Internet libertarians, which is frankly justified. Nobody cares that "you're only in ownership of yourself", because people tend to keep pseudo-intellectual cliches to one's self. That said, to be fair, there are many smug, annoying Sanders supporters too, and I'm one of them.)

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

It's the insulation that comes from never having your policies enacted. You are forever in a position to criticize.

[TheLeftwardTide]

It's the insulation that comes from never having your policies enacted. You are forever in a position to criticize.

Calvin Coolidge would like to have a word with you.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

It's the insulation that comes from never having your policies enacted. You are forever in a position to criticize.

Calvin Coolidge would like to have a word with you.

Calvin Coolidge was a conservative. What's your point?

[TheLeftwardTide]

It's the insulation that comes from never having your policies enacted. You are forever in a position to criticize.

Calvin Coolidge would like to have a word with you.

Calvin Coolidge was a conservative. What's your point?

To my recollection, out of all the presidents, he's the closest equivalent to a modern-day libertarian. His laissez-faire economic policy is largely what libertarians advocate today.

[dead0man]

I just realized the OP still posts here....how embarrassing this must be.  He STILL hasn't responded.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

It's the insulation that comes from never having your policies enacted. You are forever in a position to criticize.

Calvin Coolidge would like to have a word with you.

Calvin Coolidge was a conservative. What's your point?

To my recollection, out of all the presidents, he's the closest equivalent to a modern-day libertarian. His laissez-faire economic policy is largely what libertarians advocate today.

Okay.

[tschandler]

I'm going to play devil's advocate here since I once was a hopefully far less smug or annoying version of what you describe and moved extensively in those circles in my young and reckless days.

Regarding Jefferson and Locke, I think there is a tendency among what I might call the "wrong kind of libertarians" to basically just take a bunch of paragraphs from the Federalist Papers or any other colonial era writing out of context and try to shoehorn it into their very 'Murica view that this country was founded to be all about stockpiling deadly weapons and rebelling against governments and defending our "God-given Constitutional freedoms" (because God totally wrote the Constitution and the world of the Biblical Middle East was such a liberty-lovin' place with its slavery and theocracy and absolute monarchy and high taxes imposed by Caesar). This sort of mentality seems disturbingly common among a lot of ex-military guys, particularly the kind who support people like Ron Paul and Adam Kokesh. Kind of ironic considering they are also the very people who literally personify the notion of the State as the sole holder of the "legitimate" use of force and violence.

What those people adhere to is a bizarre form of what you might call "anti-state authoritarianism."

But if you're interested in what might be called "classical liberal" writing, I would recommend Frederic Bastiat or Lord Acton. There's also that Scotsman by the name of Adam Smith. And, if you're looking for something witty, H. L. Mencken. I also still have a copy of David Boaz's The Libertarian Reader from ages ago, which is an anthology of writings that I think sum up what "real" libertarians actually base their philosophy on.

Wow this answer came out before anyone who openly identifies as Libertarian, yet we are the smug ones?

[All Along The Watchtower]

I just realized the OP still posts here....how embarrassing this must be.  He STILL hasn't responded.

lol

It's OK though; most of the people whom I was originally thinking of when I started this thread have metamorphosised into the white supremacist/"Alt Right" horror that we all have come to know so well. Which makes sense when you think about it, since Ron Paul himself is basically a neo-Confederate (remember those newsletters??). This is what happens when you think civil rights/human rights are subordinate to (private) property rights.

But don't worry, I don't see you as being part of the aforementioned group! Even if you are a contrarian Gen X'er with terrible politics, you're certainly no "deplorable."

[dead0man]

awww, not even a witty insult this time, just giggling?

[SNJ1985]

They are on the same level of smugness as most urban Progressives.

Libertarians are nowhere near as smug as urban white liberals.

[DC Al Fine]

They are on the same level of smugness as most urban Progressives.

Libertarians are nowhere near as smug as urban white liberals.

Agreed. I'd rather have a beer with a Randroid than a Samantha Bee acolyte any day.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

Libertarians aren't really a thing anymore. They've mostly drifted into fascism.

[dead0man]

oh a hot take!

You know nothing of libertarians (or fascism)....what with them being almost complete opposites and all.  I understand that this is a popular meme on the left, but it's just silly if you think about it for more than 2 seconds.  Unless you're like many on the left and don't really understand complex concepts like "don't tell me what to do in my bedroom and I won't tell what to do in yours".

[TheSaint250]

Libertarians aren't really a thing anymore. They've mostly drifted into fascism.

Wow, quite the hot take.

I didn't realize advocating for individual liberty and equality meant that you want an authoritarian, government-rules-all nation where groups of people are superior to others.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

No, I mean the alt-right is mostly made up of former libertarians. It's where the Paulites of 2008 and 2012 went.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Libertarians aren't really a thing anymore. They've mostly drifted into fascism.

Wow, quite the hot take.

I didn't realize advocating for individual liberty and equality meant that you want an authoritarian, government-rules-all nation where groups of people are superior to others.

The point of this take is not that the ideological tenets are directly related, but that those attracted to certain iterations of the philosophy are also attracted to certain aspects of fascism. I have my own theory of confluence between the two, though I'm on mobile, so I'm not in a good position to expound on it right now.

[dead0man]

I've seen the idea outside of this message board quite a bit and was wondering when the parrots were going to start squawking.

[Santander]

No, I mean the alt-right is mostly made up of former libertarians. It's where the Paulites of 2008 and 2012 went.

Yes, some of them even still identify as libertarian.

Libertarianism attracts trash from all across the political spectrum. If their views are too sh*tty to fit into an actual mainstream ideology, they call themselves libertarian and moan about "both sides". (yes, I identify as libertarian, too)