Some people I know closely like to rail against government intervention and welfare, have urged me to vote for Ron Paul and been involved in the Constitution Party. But they used Medicaid without hesitation and are careful to ensure that their children are still covered by it.

Someone even closer to me comes from a conservative community likely to scapegoat Mexican immigrants as welfare sponges, but this person has suffered from lack of medical care that their family could not afford, even following principles of thrift and “self-reliance.”

It’s staggering.

Cheers.

Your points are well taken and appreciated. No doubt there is much I have to learn about Libertarianism, though nevertheless, I do stand by my assertions.

“Wow, we better shrink the government so when those nasty old Libertarians come for their handouts, we’re not screwed”.

Well, I hope I did indicate that this attitude belongs to a subset, and not to all Libertarians. Anyway, I doubt the folks I am writing of can organize a box lunch, never-mind a full scale assault on anything, so I suppose in the end they are a moot issue.

“By the way — the way to avoid becoming dependent on strangers is to maintain relationships, to take care of yourself, and to keep something socked away, because you never know when you — or somebody you care about — might need it.”

I agree with most of this, though I am not sure, short of total isolation, that it is ever possible be one hundred percent independent of strangers. I would imagine this view might upset some Libertarians, but I think that is because they are in denial of some realities. Good luck avoiding becoming beholden to, say, the ambulance attendant who takes you to the hospital, but maybe Libertarians see that as just another business transaction.

It seems to me that it might just be a numbers game. The philosophy of complete independence from those around you is a strong, powerful notion that is very possibly a cornerstone of our will towards existence.

So is the opposite.

There are somewhere in the region of six billion people here, as we know, and, in the abstract at least, I care about everyone of them. Even thieves and Neo Cons.

But systems break down by their very nature.

I’m guessing good judgement, hard work and wise planning are never worthless, though I take your point to mean they are less powerful in the face of a force (such as a monolithic, all powerful, tax grabbing, greed driven, financial and governing elite) that appears to be unbeatable.

Without wanting to be too judgemental, this sounds like a sort of Libertarian victimization mind-set.

No one here is asserting that there are not bastards and parasites out there, and maybe even a much, much higher percentage of sociopaths than we would like to accept. (if we think about it at all) It is also quite evident that many taxes are not needed and that Government wastes money. On the flip side, many manufactured products, for example, are not needed even as they are forced down our throats by the brainwashing faction of a marketeering monster gone haywire and business, of course, also wastes money big time. But it’s all good because they assure me they are doing all this in order to serve me better. ( I am not trying to suggest that a Libertarian outlook is necessarily connected to business, but observing the marketplace is a good way to see the inevitable result of many Libertarian ideas in action as they impact on the larger populations)

So I see a personal libertarianism as an important aspect of individual character, and the acceptance that we are all in this together as a necessary means of moving forward.

Thanks again Rich for your thoughtful and polite comment. Please feel free to return any time you like.

By the way — the way to avoid becoming dependent on strangers is to maintain relationships, to take care of yourself, and to keep something socked away, because you never know when you — or somebody you care about — might need it.

That is, of course, if the people you don’t care about haven’t stolen it through taxation. Then, good judgment, hard work, and wise planning are worthless.