LarkenRose | A lot of statists are trying to hijack the term, in the hopes of making themselves sound learned and principled. When anyone says, “I’m libertarian on certain issues,” he’s either demonstrating his ignorance, or intentionally lying. Libertarianism is a philosophy, based on the non-aggression principle, which says that it’s wrong to initiate violence against someone.
To say that someone is fiscally libertarian but socially conservative, or socially libertarian but fiscally liberal, doesn’t mean anything. Adhering to a “sometimes-aggression” principle, which ALL statists do, doesn’t make someone a libertarian. Claiming to be a part-time libertarian is equivalent to saying, “I’m a vegetarian, except when I eat meat,” or “I’m a pacifist, except when I beat people up.”
