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Cheeks wrote

Not to mention their serious economics hang ups. They preach that shit at you like its gospel and when you remind them that economics is philosophy not science they act like youre a damned fool. And dont bring up the FEDS Guide to Modern Money Mechanics to illustrate a factual point, theyll start treating you like a child and quote friedman or smith as if it has weight.

And the damned NAP, what scientific basis does that shit have? Interpersonal violence is part of being human, (class) war is not!

Sorry, those people really piss me off.

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NeoliberalismKills OP wrote

And NAP conveniently only belongs to the present so they can pretend that it doesn't matter private property is completely dependent on raping and pillaging. Whoops. Can't help what my dad did. Let's hit reset. It's just convenient we are doing it when I already won.

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Cheeks wrote

Exactly! What a convenient privileged position.

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squirrels wrote

Oh boy, I actually have a friend who is. It's strained our friendship a couple of times. The problem is that he (and a surprising amount of right-wing libertarians) is a case of "so close, and yet so far." We'll have fantastic conversations about the drug war, sexual freedom, etc. And then we'll get sooooo close when we get into his disgust for the elite class and corporations.... only to lose him somewhere around how capitalism is still the best system we've got because "freedom." Sigh.

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notanaccout wrote

Your friend might be an uneducated multualist, have you tried talking about the differences between market based economies and capitalism?

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squirrels wrote

I admit that I've never actually thought of it that way. I've had a hard time getting past his love of Gary Johnson, but now that I think of it that may be a reasonable avenue of conversation.

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Catsforfun wrote (edited )

Yes. There is significant amount of variance between American "libertarians". Some are definitely more center, center left while some are far right. The hardest part of talking to the more palatable ones will be the unquestioning ignorance of social issues and contexts.

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zorblax wrote

In person, I almost never talk about politics unless I am a close friend. So, no, I don't think I've ever met a confirmed lolbert irl.

Online they're insufferable.

I did buy some bitcoins from a very nice guy who was almost certainly a lolbert, though.

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Izzat wrote

Mensa became a org almost totally populated by these evil MFs--secular religionists.

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Glenarchist wrote

I used to have friend, a very good friend, who was U.S libtarian. We used to argue every single night, but could always walk away friends. Then he started claiming the holocaust was a hoax , it was then our friendship died it's death. He just couldn't understand why i wouldn't even consider it. That freaked me right out.

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JazzSpeedruns wrote

I had a pretty good conversation with one before. He wanted to end the war on drugs, basically disband the police entirely and a bunch of other agreeable things. We didn't really talk about economics though, so that's why it wasn't so bad. I occasionally try to pull him over to the left because he basically is most of the way there, but hasn't lost faith in capitalism (he's a rich white kid).

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PlannedCanada wrote (edited )

Yes. Tonnes, actually.

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tnstaec wrote

I've met all kinds. A guy who talked a good talk about not voting and the whole system being corrupt who has since become a Trump supporter. I met an Australian American-libertarian who followed that "free market is the solution" mentality, but was open-minded enough to be familiar with Bookchin and Benjamin Tucker. Some civil libertarians who are generally OK but centrist on economics or have crappy opinions on frozen peaches. Survivalists who I could come to an agree-to-disagree understanding with. Anti-drug war activists of varying racial self-awareness.

It largely depends on how much they actually care about freedom on principle vs. "don't tread on me".

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free wrote

Some Americans may have felt uneasy 35 years ago when DUI laws, DWI checkpoints, seatbelt laws, and car liability insurance laws were started, but most people felt that the experts must be right.

Pro-police state shows like "COPS" and "America's Most Wanted" were then aired, neighborhood watch groups were formed, "get tough on crime" candidates were elected, and laws allowing mandatory minimums, IMBRA, 3 strikes laws, curfews, police militarization, teen boot camps, school metal detectors, private prisons, and chain gangs were enacted.

Nanny state smoking laws then started appearing.

When 9/11 happened, the Patriot Act was passed, NSA wiretapping, no knock raids, take down notices, no fly lists, terror watch lists, Constitution free zones, stop and frisk, kill switches, National Security Letters, DNA databases, kill lists, FBAR, FATCA, Operation Chokepoint, TSA groping, civil forfeiture, CIA torture, NDAA indefinite detention, secret FISA courts, FEMA camps, laws requiring passports for domestic travel, IRS laws denying passports for tax debts, gun and ammo stockpiles, laws outlawing protesting, Jade Helm, sneak and peek warrants, policing for profit, no refusal blood checkpoints, license plate readers, redlight cameras, speed cameras, FBI facial and voice recognition, tattoo databases, gun bans, the end to the right to silence, free speech bans, searches without warrants, CISPA, SOPA, private prison quotas, supermax prisons, sex offender registration laws, and sex offender restriction laws were allowed.

Now that the USA is a total police state, Americans are finding out that changing anything is impossible and that freedom is lost forever.

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