“you wont pass libertarian policies under a socialist dictatorship!! Trump was the harm reduction candidate!! you could have push trump to the libright!!”
-chuds
Now’s a good time to reach out to that segment of libertarians that actually gives a shit about people, because they’re getting slapped in the face with how much of a joke libertarianism is and if you can get them to seriously interrogate their beliefs they’re persuadable.
It’s tricky, because a lot of libs can be brought over, too. I think what you’re running into there is that Warrenite libs are pretty convinced they’re right and have at least some electoral skins on the wall as evidence, while ancaps – convinced as they might be – have nothing to show for their ideology but having to answer questions about Somalia and “flourishing free markets in children” all the time.
If you eat shit long enough you become open to other ideas. If you have a senator who might get a cabinet position, and can plausibly claim a lot of New Deal-type policy accomplishments, you dig in.
Not really apolitical. It’s more that they don’t think too deeply about their political opinions (and you can hold strong political opinions without having really thought them through) and are disillusioned with both Republicans and Democrats. It’s easy for people like that to see libertarianism – the biggest third-party alternative in the past few decades – and glom onto it because superficially it doesn’t seem too bad. You like freedom, right? You like free speech, right? You like lower taxes and weed, right?
Some of these people are just soulless ghouls who would sell everyone they’ve ever known down the river to make a buck. They’re not worth bothering with. However, there are others who do care about other people, but they’ve been sucked into libertarianism because it was there when they abandoned major party politics. Those people are reachable.
EDIT: Of course, there are some truly apolitical people who self-describe as libertarians, mostly because they need an answer when people ask them what their politics are, and they don’t want to present themselves as either a Democrat or Republican. What the fuck have I done with my life that has given me an ethnographic understanding of these people.
EDIT: Of course, there are some truly apolitical people who self-describe as libertarians, mostly because they need an answer when people ask them what their politics are, and they don’t want to present themselves as either a Democrat or Republican.
Now I’m completely confused. According to this definition is South Park political in an “apolitical” both-sidesing of American politics way or apolitical in a “so far outside of mainstream politics that you can’t even call it politics, it’s like, the opposite of politics man” kind of way?
has such little power that your ideas never have to meet reality
That’s definitely a recurring theme among libertarians – they just don’t know or don’t consider how their ideas have actually panned out when implemented in the real world.
Honestly, it’s surprising how much radicalization strategy comes down to “target disillusioned young people”
Fantastic point.