libertarianism
About us
An open, user owned community for the general disscussion of the libertarian philosophy.
- Libertarianism is the belief that each person has the right to live his life as he chooses so long as he respects the equal rights of others.
- Libertarians defend each person’s right to life, liberty, and property.
- In the libertarian view, voluntary agreement is the gold standard of human relationships.
- If there is no good reason to forbid something (a good reason being that it violates the rights of others), it should be allowed.
- Force should be reserved for prohibiting or punishing those who themselves use force.
Most people live their own lives by that code of ethics. Libertarians believe that that code should be applied consistently, even to the actions of governments, which should be restricted to protecting people from violations of their rights. Governments should not use their powers to censor speech, conscript the young, prohibit voluntary exchanges, steal or “redistribute” property, or interfere in the lives of individuals who are otherwise minding their own business.
Source: https://www.libertarianism.org/essays/what-is-libertarianism
Rules
1. Stay on topic
We are a libertarian community. There are no restrictions regarding different stances on the political spectrum, but all posts should be related to the philosophy of libertarianism.
2. Be polite to others and respects each others opinions.
Be polite to others and respects each others opinions. We don't want any form of gatekeeping or circlejerk culture here.
3. Stay constructive and informational
In general, all types of contributions are allowed, but the relevance to this community must always be evident and presented openly by the contributor. Posts that do not meet these requirements will be removed after a public warning. Also remember to cite you sources!
4. Use self-moderation measures first before reporting.
This community is fundamentally built upon freedom of speech. Since everyone understands libertarianism differently and we do not want to exclude any kind of content a priori, we appeal to the individual users to block/mute posts or users who do not meet their requirements. Please bear this in mind when filing a report
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Lemmy seems incredibly left wing overall. That could be a big part of it. I get downvoted quite a lot if I imply that being against the currently in vogue left-wing policy does not make one a fascist. 🙄
I don't think it's simply "left wing" being the problem any more, at least not the classical left. I'm generally left-leaning libertarian yet over the past few years (particularly since 2020) I've been called far-right, far-left, and every "-ist" and "-ism" in between, by people in various places. I think people in general have become "woke", childish, and tribal – incapable of comprehending a point of view other than what is fed to them. One could see the mass downvoting without discourse as a minor form of "cancel culture". These things are reflected in the general state of politics at large in many countries, also contributing to their decay.
While I do agree that Lemmy, on the whole, appears rather "left-wing", by the morern usage of the term -- or perhaps there are simply just some small, but very active, left-wing groups -- I don't think that that is a perfect reason, as libertarianism isn't inherently non-left (although, it does entirely depend on how one is defining left, and right wing); libertarianism is simply the antithesis of authoritarianism (more accurately speaking, anarchism would be the true antithesis of authoritarianism, but, for the purpose of this comment, libertarianism should suffice).
All this being said, I do agree that I have seen that the public has some weird notion that libertarianism is some "alt-right", or "right-wing" philosophy; however, this makes little sense to me. What could possibly be so unpalatable about equal liberty for all? Who would want to willingly be oppressed?
I’ve noticed 🥸
No, it makes them a racist. Get with the times, old man!