# Giving one's libertarian friends a hard time **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 8, 2023, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-ones-libertarian-friends-a-hard-time/980876 "2023-03-08T14:11:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-ones-libertarian-friends-a-hard-time/980876/21 "2023-03-09T15:19:08Z")
I throw myself on the mercy of the card catalogue cabinet! Stranger ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-ones-libertarian-friends-a-hard-time/980876/22 "2023-03-09T16:21:16Z")
But with all seriousness, mask wearing is essentially over, and with the exception of doctor’ offices and hospitals, has been over since August or so. Starting April 3, they won’t even be required in healthcare settings in California, which AFAIK, is in line with federal CDC guidance. But librarians are free to wear masks if they want. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-ones-libertarian-friends-a-hard-time/980876/23 "2023-03-09T16:29:53Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > I’m not really sure what ‘Libertarian’ means nowadays. Is it even a useful term any more? It allows one to support regressive and authoritarian Republican measures and candidates without being labeled a Republican. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-ones-libertarian-friends-a-hard-time/980876/24 "2023-03-09T17:04:26Z")
Seriously though, does it have any useful meaning today? There is a large spectrum of nutjobs: flat earthers, holocaust deniers, anti-vaxxers, young earth creationists, etc etc. Are they ‘libertarians’? The term seems to have originated, oddly enough, in left-wing political circles, but appears to have been co-opted by right wing views in the 20th century. One wonders if any two self-proclaimed libertarians nowadays would find much to agree about? ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-ones-libertarian-friends-a-hard-time/980876/25 "2023-03-09T17:52:02Z")
Obligatory cartoon: [![](https://front.moveon.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/24-types-of-libertarian.png) ](https://front.moveon.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/24-types-of-libertarian.png) ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-ones-libertarian-friends-a-hard-time/980876/26 "2023-03-09T18:26:46Z")
Oh yes, that does seem to cover most of the classic syndromes very well. Who is the cartoonist? ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-ones-libertarian-friends-a-hard-time/980876/27 "2023-03-09T18:30:20Z")
Looks like it’s B. Deutsch ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-ones-libertarian-friends-a-hard-time/980876/28 "2023-03-09T18:59:19Z")
I thought it was your _Liberian_ friends. If you happen to visit this beautiful country of five million people and 43,000 square miles on your way to Sierra Leone. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-ones-libertarian-friends-a-hard-time/980876/29 "2023-03-09T21:34:31Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > It allows one to support regressive and authoritarian Republican measures and candidates without being labeled a Republican. Support for authoritarians is utterly inimical to libertarians. They may support Republicans but only because they are opposed to regulations and taxes. They are totally opposed to welfare, medicare and the like. The one I knew rather well was opposed to government infrastructure like streets and roads. He thought you should own the street in front of your house and be free to pave it or not, charge a toll for users (i.e. trespassers) and block it if you like. After getting a PhD in math, he became a lawyer and I lost track of him. FWIW, I believe libertarians are completely against any restrictions on abortion. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-ones-libertarian-friends-a-hard-time/980876/30 "2023-03-09T21:36:44Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Support for authoritarians is utterly inimical to libertarians. But not to those that use the label as a cover. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-ones-libertarian-friends-a-hard-time/980876/31 "2023-03-09T21:38:02Z")
Some years ago my niece’s new husband told me he was a libertarian. When I asked him what that meant, he only had some vague idea about “freedom”. 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-ones-libertarian-friends-a-hard-time/980876/32 "2023-03-09T22:16:51Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > FWIW, I believe libertarians are completely against any restrictions on abortion. You might think but I’ve heard many ‘pro-life libertarians’ espouse complete legal prohibition against abortion for all but absolute medical necessity (and some even not for that) to the extent of calling for capital punishment for physicians and nurse practitioners who perform them even when they are otherwise against state executions. There is a substantial overlap between self-identified ‘little-l’ libertarians and Evangelical Christians, and the disconnect between supposed freedom from state control and the forced imposition of religious strictures is a massive blind spot (more of a mountain, actually, that they pretend to not see). > [@Chefguy](#): > > Some years ago my niece’s new husband told me he was a libertarian. When I asked him what that meant, he only had some vague idea about “freedom”. 🙄 I call those ‘liberticians’. They understand the general form of libertarianism in the broadest of strokes but can only walk through the motions of it with a procedure in hand. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-ones-libertarian-friends-a-hard-time/980876/33 "2023-03-09T22:37:54Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > What if the friendship was of a purely transactional nature? First thing that came to my mind: **Conan O’Brien** : “We need to talk about the future”… **Andy Richter** : “The Future, Conan?” **Conan** : “That’s right, my _contractual_ friend. The Future!” (Cue intro for “In the year ~~2000~~ 3000” sketch.) ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-ones-libertarian-friends-a-hard-time/980876/34 "2023-03-10T17:00:14Z")
> > I call those ‘liberticians’. They understand the general form of libertarianism in the broadest of strokes but can only walk through the motions of it… \<\< I don’t know… IS there a ‘general’ form of libertarianism? Apart from a sort of overall dislike or distrust of authority and/or government? Which, to a very mild extent, I share myself…? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-ones-libertarian-friends-a-hard-time/980876.md?page=1)