My wife and I both find that right now we cannot stand Democrats. The ones I have run across seem to be so hard headed. Republicans, on the other hand, seem to be fairly receptive to ideas of liberty. But I was thinking about this today, and I wonder if it is just because the Democrats in power? What do you all think? I have only been in the libertarian movement for a few years. I had heard about libertarianism about six years ago, but only came to really claim to be a libertarian about the time Ron Paul decided to run for president.
I think some has to do with being out of power. The Republicans are just as hard headed though on issues of defense. I mean have you ever tried to convince a constitutionalist that we don’t need the constitution.
And that is what I am getting at. Would I be just as frustrated with people who claim to be Republicans, if the Republicans were in power? And would I get along better with Democrats if the Republicans were in power? Or are Republicans truly more open to the ideas of liberty, in general, than their Democrat counterparts?
I think it’s equally as annoying to have family members that incessantly talk about Sarah Palin or the ones that associate the tea parties with her/ other “Conservative” demagogues.
Democrats piss me off equally as well.
I usually keep my mouth shut when my relatives talk about politics, being an An-Cap is as popular as being a leper.
Although my dad does appreciate the integrity of my argument from time to time.
Most of it is just partisan hackery. If someone labels themselves as a Republican or a Democrat first I’d be skeptical.
Spideynew, I suggest you go on the Sean Hannity forums and search for topics about Ron Paul. I’ve never seen anything like it, It’s like Neocons gone wild.
Also, I suggest you read this for laughs:
He rips on free-marketers to the point where it becomes non-sensical..
I don’t understand his logic where an individual that is pro-free market can actually be head of the FED without abolishing it.
The best Crazy Coot, is when you have a girl in your class who claims she is a “moderate” Republican, but actually turns out to be the biggest socialist there and doesn’t understand even the most basic economic arguments.
She would attack me at every turn she got in the class to the point where everyone just started ignoring her remarks.
It’s too bad though, she was probably the best looking Russian I’ve ever seen. Oh well…
Insert ‘study session’ joke here.
I find myself in the same exact boat. I always favored democrats over republicans, so much so, that I voted for Kerry in 2004 because he promised fiscal restraint (I know..). Now that the democrats are in power, the republicans don’t look so bad. Though, I must say, I really don’t like Sarah Palin. I realize that both parties are practically identical, but Obama and the national dialogue at the moment really pisses me off. The democrats were anti-war and anti-police state until their savior came along.
I tell people who identify this way that “I’m better than either because I don’t associate with either” 
Sometimes it can get people thinking. Often, they have tunnel vision and this helps them open their minds.
As a Republican, I find Dems to be very annoying, although I have come to understand them better as time has worn on.
I have also found that anarcho-capitalists find me to be just as wrong headed as they seem to find Dems so I don’t really think it makes much difference to an-caps who they’re talking to. As long as someone thinks there should be a state, an-caps are going to be annoyed to say the least.
The only thing that I can think of that could bridge the gap between an-caps and liberal Dems is that a lot of liberal Democrats share the same “unconstrained vision” about man in the sense that they think war can be gotten rid of and things like this.
It is in the nature of Republicans to dive head first into debates without any preparation. The only thing they accomplish in the process is playing right into the hand of their opponents. Watching one take on a socialist (regarding capitalism) is an unsophisticated, embarrassing spectacle. You would witness a litany of concessions (conflating capitalism with mercantalism/protectionism/fascism, appealing to charity, paying lip-service to unions below the early 20th century etc…) appeals to Ronald Reagan, use of America as the benchmark for free-market (American health care rocks! We rank #1 in expenditure on the WHO! Suck it liberals!), pseudonyms for “enemies of America”, and a Republican’s idea of a smoking gun (Community Reinvestment Act). In the end the Republican comes out none the wiser. It will pat itself on the back for a “job well done”, and tenaciously persist in repeating the cycle of sophomoric antics.
Where did this happen?
The Internet.
I am just speculating here, but it could be that the difference emerges because you approach people with arguments and vocabulary that to the uninitiated sound more right-wing than left-wing?
I mean if you open up with the 2nd amendment then naturally Republicans are going to sound more receptive. But if you open up with the 1st, then it should be the Democrats.
When talking to the Democrats show them how the state screws whatever their values are, not the values of Republicans.
All this being said I must say I dislike the Democrats more. They are more hypocritical, especially when they go to war. Republicans openly lust for blood but Democrats try to hide it. And also there is more of them. The whole of Europe is full of people who are very much Democrats but nothing analogous to the Republicans exists. So maybe it is because they are further away from me. And also Democrats have this thing where they will be openly smug over hillbillies, rednecks or Southerners and I don’t like that as it is reminiscent of some other superiority complexes I have a problem with.
I have a pretty funny story:
In Economics we had a small assignment where we were given the national budget from 2006, and we had to rearrange the expenditures however we wanted. In my little group, I was pretty much telling everyone to cut everything in half, or put everything at zero. Of course, one of my group members was saying, “No! No! We can’t do that! If we do that we’ll have no government and no one would have any services! You can privatize everything!”
So eventually I gave up and they decided to take all of the money I had originally saved by cutting things drastically and put it back into the budget. I called them all Democrats and they didn’t seem to offended at the term.
I use blanket terms like “statist”. People are usually a little taken aback that they are lumped together with their rival party.
Don’t bother with democrats, they are hard-core socialists. At best you can get them to support some vague hypocritical view of personal liberty but they refuse to understand economics. They don’t think logically, rather they rely on “feelings” to guide them. The more libertarian ones have broken away and now consider themselves independent. But don’t think for a minute they are anarchists (thankfully), they are limited government libertarians. A huge chunk of the Republican party, including the tea-parties are limited government libertarians. The problem with the Republican party is when you start to question Christianity being “America’s religion”. Do that and you will see about 30% of the party defect away from you. There are no libertarians in the Democratic party, only socialists, while you have a large number of independents and a good chunk of the Republican party favoring limited government libertarianism.
Well, they actually aren’t.
Bloom, this happens all the time, in high schools/ college/ barbecues etcetera. I’ve almost never heard a coherent discussion on politics or economics without inchoate ideas rearing their ugly heads. It’s quite pathetic actually and it has nothing to do with arrogance.
I blame this on the various “Conservative” commentators out there: Limbuagh/ Wilkow/ Church/ Hannity/ Levin
I consider Levin and Hannity to be the absolute worst, because both of them have execrable talking points.
The other 3 can be right on occasion, but generally it’s like rubbing your head against a cheese grater.
Democrats are no better to say the very least.
Edit: Limbaugh also has no idea how much more sound his arguments would be if he actually paid heed to the Austrian School (besides, only paying lip service to it when it aids his point at the moment)