A Visual Guide to Libertarians

So THATS what they look like under their white hoods...

@NeonCat: Did you see that last picture on the poster?

Also love how some people (republicans I presume) blame every single thing that goes wrong in society on "those damn commie liberals". Usually about things the republicans are responsible for.

As a libertarian, I enjoyed this. The majority of the (rather glib and simplistic) comments here, not so much.

I don't think organized labor should be banned, nor that poor are oppressors, nor do I want government to dictate the business of others but not my own. Libertarians, oddly enough, believe in LIBERTY. You should be free to live your life as you please so long as you do not physically harm other people. Government should be neutral, not telling people what they can and cannot consume, what work they may and may not do, what property they may and may not own - and should be restricted by law and custom from taking from the people, especially when so much of what is taken is given to the politically connected few if it isn't just wasted on endless wars domestic and foreign, on programs that leave people dependent on government and keep poor people poor.

I love it when I hear libertarians are naive or utopian. To me, it is much more naive to think that if we just elect the right members of Team Red or Team Blue that government will be honest, effective and efficient, that crony capitalism will cease if we just give government more power.

As for the FDA, and other good and noble Federal agencies, do you believe nothing has changed in the nine decades since The Jungle came out? Have you no faith in the ability of people to learn about such issues, to boycott or even sue companies? Have you never considered the complacency some people have because they're sure the government is taking care of the problem, or how often people go from working at regulatory agencies to working in the industries they have regulated (and vice-versa)? Have you never read of how expensive it is to bring new pharmaceuticals to market, how people are literally dying because they cannot access drugs that aren't approved yet?

To me, if you are not a libertarian, you are someone who looks at this country and says "Things are basically okay the way they are. Our leaders, the ones I agree with, are noble and honest and true and will give me what I want, and only those bastards I don't agree with are holding us back from American glory." To me, being a Democrat or a Republican means saying "I know it's not perfect, that far too many of our politicians are crooked as hell and/or incompetent busybodies but it's the system we have and by God it'll do."

But that's okay. As a libertarian, I support the right of people to believe any ridiculous thing they want. Just please keep your laws off my body and your hand off my wallet. Of course, I know that Democrats and Republicans won't.

Every Libertarian I've ever met is a Republican in disguise. They want government out of their business, but want government to dictate the business of others.

I think of them as mirror Marxist extremists - take standard naive Marxism, go to the opposite, and there are the Libertarians:

Property is theft - Property rights are sacred
Markets should be fully controlled by the government - Markets should be fully independent of all government
Capitalists are baby-eating villains - Capitalists are noble Nietzchean heroes
Organized labor should be the foundation of governance - Organized labor should be banned by the government
The poor are oppressed - The poor are oppressors

And of course, for both, no past failed attempt at realizing their political/economic goals ever counts. There is always the excuse that every historical example wasn't sufficiently ideologically pure. So they turn to even more extremism.

But that's hard to put in a little picture... Maybe a preacher thumping Ayn Rand?

Edward - Eh? Instead of "food and drug administration" they want "drug administration"? Read Sinclair's book "The Jungle" if you want some perspective on why food regulation laws are needed...or were you just thinking the "f" meant "federal"?

The first square should be someone putting books away.

No picture of a toddler playing with his own poop? My perception of libertarians is not represented, then.

Small 'l' or large 'L'?

Large 'L' Libertarians want to get rid of the FDA. Small 'l' libertarians just want to get rid of the 'F'.

As if being a Ferengi is a bad thing.

Members of both parties lament the two party system, then yell at the little third one even though it poses little to no threat to them.

Dena: at Accordion Guy's website.

Doc Aquatic: she's talking to a wall.

You have two cows

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIPDJ1Cc_uw

Is that last image someone sucking the mortar out of a brick wall with a cone? I'm not entirely sure what that indicates but I feel that's fairly accurate.

I would replace the final image with that of a chimp jerking off.

Where did you find the poster?