# Is Libertarianism the offspring of McCarthyism?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-libertarianism-the-offspring-of-mccarthyism/717187>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 9, 2015, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-libertarianism-the-offspring-of-mccarthyism/717187 "2015-04-09T06:14:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-libertarianism-the-offspring-of-mccarthyism/717187/21 "2015-04-09T23:53:11Z")

</div>

> [@Omar\_Little](#):
>
> Libertarianism is really just _[classical liberalism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_liberalism)_ whose origins predates McCarthy, Ayn Rand, etc.

This is pretty much what my name means, though I think I’ve drifted into a sort of liberalism that I would not equate fully with either modern or classical.

I was a registered Libertarian, LP National and State/County Member for a few years. I don’t think I have ever met or interacted with a Libertarian who would support McCarthy. There always was a sort of rightwing “libertarian” element that made me uncomfortable, and there were always huge debates and splinters over who the “real” libertarians were and anarchist vs. an-caps vs. left-libs vs. paleos, people who worshiped Ron Paul and/or Lew Rockwell for dubious reasons, and all that stuff.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-libertarianism-the-offspring-of-mccarthyism/717187.md?page=1)