Ah yes.
Ron Swanson, A fictional diehard libertarian who earned his living as a government bureaucrat. Who then became the poster-child for actual libertarians who have no understanding of irony.
this post was submitted on 14 Nov 2023
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The Libertarianism of a Ron Swanson is based on being in the position of Ron Swanson and the privileges that comes with that. Anything that encroaches that is anti-liberal. Any liberties desired by others are unrealistic daydreaming or not Ron's problem, since they don't impact him. Libertarianism suits Ron when it suits Ron.
For most "libertarians", the hardest thing to accept is that in order to be one, an individual will often have to fight for things they may not agree with or fight against things that currently benefit them. People love to disagree with the state, but deep down they like what they're getting out of the state. So long as they're seen to aggressively promote liberty, they'll enjoy all the perks of any institutional society that has them further up the ladder. That's Ron Swanson Libertarianism and is quite anti-libertarian.
There are only two types of libertarian:
- 14 year olds
- Those who wish to exploit 14 year olds.
I have no problem with that.
The cult of the individual in the US is more Norman Vincent Peale than Milton Friedman. American libertarianism sprang out of new-age thinking and self-help solipsism.
We all know that the hippies grew up to stop worrying and love capitalism. What's forgotten is that they brought all those new-age-self-help ideals into the boardrooms with them. Think of the quasi-spirituality of the motivational poster in your manager's office.
I've also heard strong arguments that individualistic politics and culture has been more causal to Christianity's decline than the bigotry and child abuse scandals that are usually blamed.