Quote:
Originally posted by smooth
Actually, I read your whole post. You explicitly stated that their views regarding civil rights could be placed far-left. That's incorrect. They don't believe in protecting equal treatment for minorities and women. That's incorrect. Your conclusion that they believed that the government should be involved in the civil rights sector but not the economic one is incorrect. A more correct articulation is that they believe that the government should be removed from *all* sectors of private life.
|
Umm. This is exactly what I said. I stated that the left and right believe that the government should be involved in some things (such as personal morality for the right, and economic justice for the left). Libertarians, I said quite clearly, are for wholesale government non-interference. Keep in mind, too, I don't think that the left and right are inconsistent, I just mean that viewed along a certain axis they can be perceived that way. That's the trouble with one-dimensional political spectrums!
My inclusion of civil rights issues into the platforms is also valid: I was making the point that there are several civil rights issues (for instance, gay rights) on which the left and Libertarians agree. But again, this is just a coincidence - they do so for entirely different philosophical motives, as you pointed out. And you're right, there are some civil rights issues that Libertarians and leftists disagree on, such as affirmative action. But you missed the point of my post, which is that, despite some superficial similarities, the left and Libertarians are more deeply opposed than the left and the right. (Which is what you seem to be trying to argue!)
Bingle