Don: 
For just about all of us, the political center is somewhere close to where we are. Or so we like to think. And we all tend to shade things to make it appear to work out that way. That's human nature. Darned few of us care to be a "voice shouting in the wilderness." Here's to the few that do go out to the edges, even the ones in tinfoil hats -- it's hard and lonely work!
I will never ever argue with an Objectivist. Or a seriously commited conservative religious person. They've made their minds up. Most of 'em are decent people and honest to a fault, and unless you're fixing to marry one, that's all that matters. Something to be said for knowing where a person stands, and that they'll still stand there tomorrow!
However, the traditional Objectivist and conservative religious criticism of the Libertarian Party -- that it lacks philosophical underpinning -- is quite true and entirely irrelevant. It's a political party! Parties are creatures of compromise and consensus. The various schools of thought to be found among LP members and candidates have a great deal more in common than otherwise, and far more in common with each other than with either of the post-1861 Big Two parties in U.S. politics.
...And the simple three-line Lib/Demo/Repub comparision with Mom and Dad and the kid livin' in the basement is a bit off. Libertarians figure you already have (or have had) a set of parents or the functional equivalent, and don't need the Government to fill in for them now that you're all growed up. One does have to grow up eventually.
--Herself
For just about all of us, the political center is somewhere close to where we are. Or so we like to think. And we all tend to shade things to make it appear to work out that way. That's human nature. Darned few of us care to be a "voice shouting in the wilderness." Here's to the few that do go out to the edges, even the ones in tinfoil hats -- it's hard and lonely work!
I will never ever argue with an Objectivist. Or a seriously commited conservative religious person. They've made their minds up. Most of 'em are decent people and honest to a fault, and unless you're fixing to marry one, that's all that matters. Something to be said for knowing where a person stands, and that they'll still stand there tomorrow!
However, the traditional Objectivist and conservative religious criticism of the Libertarian Party -- that it lacks philosophical underpinning -- is quite true and entirely irrelevant. It's a political party! Parties are creatures of compromise and consensus. The various schools of thought to be found among LP members and candidates have a great deal more in common than otherwise, and far more in common with each other than with either of the post-1861 Big Two parties in U.S. politics.
...And the simple three-line Lib/Demo/Repub comparision with Mom and Dad and the kid livin' in the basement is a bit off. Libertarians figure you already have (or have had) a set of parents or the functional equivalent, and don't need the Government to fill in for them now that you're all growed up. One does have to grow up eventually.
--Herself
