What is the difference between a Teabagger and a Libertarian?

[Tuesday Afternoon]

not a joke. Honest question.

[mediaman007]

1. A Libertarian can actually tell you the difference, the Teabagger must be told.

[proud patriot]

16. +1

[azurnoir]

2. Libertarian's own a bong Teabagger's get an extra 6 pack of Blue Ribbon n/t

[greymattermom]

3. That's our next reality tv show

We'll find out soon. Rand Paul will surprise Kentucky when he supports reducing federal support for the state. Kentucky needs agriculture subsidies.

[w8liftinglady]

4. While we may disagree with a lot of Libertarian stances,they DO believe in personal freedom

gay Marriage,legalization of marijuana,ending of "The Patriot Act".
I protested with a lot of Ron Paul supporters who wanted us OUT of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
They were very clear in their beliefs.
Tea party..."take our country back"
Period.The end.

[mediaman007]

18. There is a group that is left and libertarian! We are called anarchists.

Find out if you're one of us. Take the quiz at Political Compass:

http://www.politicalcompass.org/

[aikoaiko]

5. The average Libertarian actually thinks about the "big government" issues

[lib_wit_it]

6. Teabaggers are so-called "family values" Xtians. Libertarians worship Ayn Rand, & now, apparently

Rand Paul. Most Liberetardians also *claim* to be Xtians, but openly celebrate WWF values.

[Recursion]

7. There's not a single "Tea Party Ideology", so it's hard to say

There are tea party participants who are libertarians, and tea party participants who are theocrats.

[kwolf68]

13. Yep

But the Tea Bagged Party is downplaying their theocratic tendencies, because no one wants that bullshit.

Come at 'em with nebulous govt is too big, 'they' want to take all your money claptrap and the centrists don't find it so bad.

The Tea Bagged Party is against everything that affords us an avenue to become a modern society...

things like knowledge, open mindedness, science, intellectualism...

[Vickers]

8. About 45 pounds. n/t

[OHdem10]

9. Teabaggers are confused group who believe the working class

have been screwed by the Elites, Business, and every
insitutions including Academia.Confusion and Anger
has permitted them to be manipulated by the GOP for\now.
This is going to be an on going problem.

Libertarians have a phiosophy many of whom are followers
of Ayn Rand's Teaching. Individualism to the extreme.
Individual perfects himself and becomes excellent
what else is needed. Read Virtue of Selfishness.
To a Randian, the State is almost evil. Interferes
with freedom of the Individual. All Libertarians
are not Randians. Not quite as extreme..

Here is an example: Dick Armey can almost be moved
to tears because he has to be in the Medicare System.
He has threatened to sue the Government to be taken
off Medicare. I think this would have been more of
a test case but Lawyers probably told him he could
not prevail.


TeaBaggers and Libertarians are almost from two different
planets.

Richard Viguerie, a most well known senior Conservative
spent many years helping build the Republican Party
was a guest on MSNBC.
He Nailed the Teabaggers IMO, and both parties had
better listen.
Viguerie has never been one with whom I agree on much
of anything. THIS TIME HE IS CORRECT.

He says the Teabaggers represent an unrest that runs
through the Working Class. The Working Class believe
they have been screwed by the Elites, Banks Business
Academia and the Government. This unrest is going to
continue to boil for next decade.

Right now some of the Teabaggers are giving the Republicans
a chance. Who knows what happens when these few see
what is really going on and how both parties on the
Hill stick up for the Elites and Big Business.

[phasma ex machina]

15. Re: Tea Partiers "represent an unrest that runs through the Working Class" Noam Chomsky said as much

on NPR this afternoon.

(Edited to drop the baggage.)

[Meldread]

10. A lot.

The Tea Party are not Libertarian - they're conservative. The only agreement they have with Libertarians is on tax policy and a handful of other economic issues.

When it comes to social issues, the bulk of Libertarians are to the LEFT of Democratic Party progressives and liberals - embracing the notion of complete and total personal freedom without government restriction. It's perfectly possible to be a liberal and support laws that restrict personal freedom under the auspices that it's for the good of the people. (I.E. Anti-gambling laws because those who gamble lose more money than they win, thus viewing the Casino as a predator upon the ignorant or foolish.)

Likewise, when it comes to foreign policy issues the Libertarians are likely to take an even more aggressive approach than most Democratic Party progressives and liberals. They're staunchly against intervening in other nations affairs - virtually against all types of war except in perhaps the most dire of circumstances. (Literally self-defense only.) A libertarian, due to their view on government, would likely slash Defense spending dramatically. Though the proper amount of defense spending is a point of debate among libertarians, ultimately though I believe if they ever got serious power their view on taxes and debt would force them to slash defense spending - likely bringing us in line with a nation like Canada.

When it comes to immigration libertarians favor - if not completely open borders - then borders that are extremely porous. Again, this would put them to the left of the Democratic Party.

Where the Democratic Party, liberals, and progressives part ways with Libertarians is the role of government. If a liberal or a progressive supports any of the above it's generally under the notion of fairness, equality, or some other emotional entanglement. A libertarian is more focused on philosophy than emotion. There is nothing inconsistent with a libertarian viewing pot as evil and sinful, and yet at the same time staunchly demanding the government to fully legalize it. Why? Because personal views do not color philosophical views. A libertarian does not believe the government should tell its citizens what they can and cannot put into their bodies.

It's that same view of government that leads the libertarian to be against taxes, welfare, and all the other economic issues. Libertarians are first and foremost about personal freedom. They strongly oppose the government entering their lives. A libertarian reasons, if they want to help the needy, they'll give to a charity - that way they know where their money is going and can hold that charity directly responsible. On the other hand, if they give to the government, how will they know it won't go to something they don't support? (Like funding a war.)

In Europe libertarians are more often identified with the left because of their stances on social issues. Here in the United States they're more often identified with the right because of their stances on economic issues. The truth of the matter is they do not easily fit on the left-right scale. They're neither conservative nor liberal - they're a different philosophy entirely. Even if there is agreement on issues - such as ending DADT - the reasoning that brings liberals and libertarians to stand together is vastly different. A liberal supports repeal of DADT for moral and emotional reasons (fairness, equality, etc.). A libertarian supports the repeal of DADT because the government has no damn business meddling in the personal lives of citizens - including soldiers.

In my mind, libertarians have more in common with the left than the right - thus I take the European view. They may agree with conservatives when it comes to tax policy, but the difference between a libertarian and a conservative - a libertarian would actually cut the size of government. Conservatives just hate taxes, it's an emotional response. Libertarians actually have philosophical reasons - Conservatives don't. If there was an actual strong libertarian movement in the United States, they'd quickly find themselves at odds with Conservatives.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

11. thank you for taking the time to draft a comprehensive reply. nt

[Naturyl]

12. Not a whole lot.

Teabaggers probably don't smoke much weed.

[gulliver]

14. Libertarians voted Libertarian in the 2004 election...

...and Tea Partiers ("baggers" getting old) voted for George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. Tea Partiers are just Republicans who can't deal with the baggage of being Republicans.

[Posteritatis]

17. Every last self-styled libertarian I know in the states votes Republican. (nt)

[Stevenmarc]

19. Libertarians are just uppity teabaggers

Simply because they read Ayn Rand and are under the delusion that they possess critical thinking skills.