[Buddha-l] Re: Buddhism and Politics

[Steven Rhodes]

Dear Curt,

What is "genuine" libertarianism?  What makes it "genuine"?  How does 
one discern the frauds?

You're not seriously conflating a "libertine" and a "libertarian" are you?

Steven Rhodes

curt wrote:

> Genuine libertarianism is completely incompatible with
> conservatism. That doesn't mean some people don't try to
> make a go of it - but it just flies in the face of common
> sense and all that is decent and right. So called "conservative
> libertarians" don't really believe in freedom - because freedom
> means freedom for everyone. Economic inequality - which
> is the primary thing that conservatives want to conserve -
> is only possible with a proportionate amount of political
> repression. The greater the inequality, the greater repression
> is necessary to keep it going. Without the repression the
> inequality will quickly be eliminated by people taking matters
> into their own hands.
>
> Oscar Wilde, probably the worlds most famous Libertine, once
> wrote a wonderful little essay on why he was a Socialist. To
> truly enjoy oneself, he wrote, you have to be surrounded by
> people who are happy. Being around poverty and oppression
> is, as the kids say today, a real buzzkill.
>
> - Curt
>
>
> Steven Rhodes wrote:
>
>> Dear Curt,
>>
>> I believe that there is another way to look at the term 
>> "libertarian." This is within the context of discerning two strands 
>> within conservatism:  the authoritarian and the libertarian.  An 
>> authoritarian conservative is one who wants to tell other adults how 
>> to conduct their lives (you may not take drugs, you may not gamble, 
>> you may not have abortions, etc.), whereas a libertarian conservative 
>> wants to minimize government control over one's personal affairs.  
>> Some might see the latter as "compassionate," others may not.  How to 
>> correlate this with Buddhist thought escapes me at the moment.
>>
>> Steven Rhodes
>
>
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