Lily Wu was elected as the mayor for Wichita, Kansas, on Tuesday.
  • jeffw@lemmy.world
    674·
    1 year ago

    The party, which was formed in 1971 and supports laissez-faire capitalism and civil liberties

    lol, what is this, 2010? They haven’t been that way in a while

    • not_that_guy05@lemmy.world
      542·
      1 year ago

      For a libertarian, that’s ain’t very libertarian like. Almost makes me think that they might be a different party but scared to label themselves said party.

      • Billiam@lemmy.world
        312·
        1 year ago

        No, Conservatives are fascist conservatives. Libertarians are just conservatives who are too embarrassed to admit it.

        • awnery@lemmy.worldEnglish
          151·
          1 year ago

          i’m not here to defend libertarians, but what you say is incorrect. libertarians would happily dispense with all the religion, and let in the corporate overlords.

        • Telorand@reddthat.com
          91·
          1 year ago

          In my experience, they’re not embarrassed, they’re just plain confused. Their epistemology stops at the statement, “I don’t want the government to tell me what to do,” and the actual implementation of…well…anything just winds up being reactionary.

        • assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world
          4·
          1 year ago

          I can at least abide a Libertarian since they don’t want the govt to persecute minorities – if they’re actually libertarian and not just saying it, that is.

          It’s a sign of the times that my actual policy beliefs could not be further from Libertarian, but they’re still an adjacent ally because they don’t want to lock up LGBT people.

            • assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world
              1·
              1 year ago

              Oh he hasn’t, nor his son. They’re “libertarians” who happen to also want the government to go against any civil liberties they disagree with – the antithesis of being libertarian. I suspect most people who don’t want government to interfere with civil rights are with Democrats honestly

          • batmaniam@lemmy.world
            31·
            1 year ago

            There are sane libertarians. It was the first party to have same sex marriage as an explicit tent pole back in the 70s.

            Libertarians aren’t anarchists, laws and enforcement especially around an individuals rights are important, doubly so for any marginalized group. That’s like… THE purpose of government to a libertarian. You’ll also find plenty who are in favor of a strong social safety net.

            All that being said, there’s always been loons. People who think things like food safety inspections are an over reach and the like, but it’s in the minority. The climate has definitely gotten worse though. I still describe myself as one but ehhhhh. It’s just not as important to me as avoiding slipping into literal fascism.

            • assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world
              2·
              1 year ago

              Exactly, a true libertarian would be appalled by the government denying same sex marriage or abortion or adoption. Which says a lot about the people who claim to be libertarian.

              • batmaniam@lemmy.world
                2·
                1 year ago

                Absolutely. I’ll always admit that praxis of libertarianism is messy at best, because there isn’t much that really is the business of an individual alone, but anything lgbtq really is that cut and dry.

                Abortion is a tricky one for the reason it always has been: if someone genuinely believes a blastocyst is a human, then none of the other arguments are going to matter. I’m not one of those people, by the way. I think Buttigeg put it perfectly in the primaries. If science and philosophy can’t nail down personhood without debate for people who are 30, that leaves someone in the position to choose a termination required, by active decision or default, to choose with imperfect data. Whatever they personally come to then is correct for them and people should receive only support and compassion.

                I think you’d find more that support it, but I’m just saying that like always if someone is convinced of the “personhood” of that mass of cells there’s not a belief system out there that’s going to make it acceptable.

                All that being said, I get the wrap. It’s messy and scary out there right now.

        • bluGill@kbin.social
          25·
          1 year ago

          I’m a right wing liberal. Libertarians often represent me best, but I vote for who I think would get the best result.

            • Kata1yst@kbin.social
              11·
              1 year ago

              Look up the political compass. The test is mostly worthless, but the concept is politically true.

              You have liberalism (the literal kind: emphasizing personal freedoms and liberties) opposite authoritarianism and conservatism opposite progressivism. American “libertarians” are generally centrist or conservative liberals.

              American politics have (mostly on purpose by those who it benefited) twisted together liberalism and progressivism into Left, conservatism and authoritarianism into Right. But there are progressive authoritarians (Stalinists, Maoists) and conservative liberals (Ayn Rand types).

    • gregorum@lemm.eeEnglish
      64·
      1 year ago

      There are actual libertarians, and there is the American Libertarian Party. There is almost nothing in common between the two.

      Well, weed and some edge-case anti-vax bullshit… but almost nothing else.

      • awnery@lemmy.worldEnglish
        81·
        1 year ago

        agreed, but the lower-case L libertarian stance is just Ayn Rand type shit. i had a buddy who went to objectivism conferences and that sort of thing, then he had kids and joined a union.

        • gregorum@lemm.eeEnglish
          8·
          1 year ago

          In the US, yes. Elsewhere, libertarians are much more liberal. Here, they’re just often-stoned, fascist conservatives who hate paying their taxes more than the rest but without the courage to admit to the fascism part. It’s a façade.

          As for you buddy, I’m glad he woke up. 👍🏻

  • Dem Bosain@midwest.socialEnglish
    441·
    1 year ago

    Libertarians often mistake deregulation for freedom. However, I kind of like being able to buy food without worrying about deadly pathogens.

  • TeoTwawki@lemmy.worldEnglish
    261·
    1 year ago

    The party, which was formed in 1971 and supports laissez-faire capitalism and civil liberties, is the third-largest American party by voter registration. Its website says: “Libertarians strongly oppose any government interference into their personal, family, and business decisions.”

    There I fixed the atticle to be truthful.

      • PeleSpirit@lemmy.worldEnglish
        151·
        1 year ago

        I forgot about the bear town, hilarious. Thanks for the laugh again.

        The experiment was called the “Free Town Project” (it later became the “Free State Project”), and the goal was simple: take over Grafton’s local government and turn it into a libertarian utopia. The movement was cooked up by a small group of ragtag libertarian activists who saw in Grafton a unique opportunity to realize their dreams of a perfectly logical and perfectly market-based community. Needless to say, utopia never arrived, but the bears did! (I promise I’ll explain below.)

          • PeleSpirit@lemmy.worldEnglish
            6·
            1 year ago

            Sorry man, it’s the animal. You can’t keep bears away from people not cleaning up their garbage and feeding the bears with one policeman and no vehicle, because they won’t pay for upkeep.

  • kaiomai@lemmy.world
    18·
    1 year ago

    The Libertarian Party doesn’t even recognize her as a member. This article didn’t dive very deep.

  • SoylentBlake@lemm.ee
    11·
    1 year ago

    I’m still waiting for any libertarian to go ahead and tell me how deregulating the sewers is gonna work out for everyones best interests.

    Anyday now, I’m sure. I’ve been asking this since 1996, I’m sure they’ll get back to me soon.

  • TransplantedSconie@lemm.ee
    91·
    1 year ago

    Well, Wichita, hopefully you enjoyed basic services up til now. Libertarians don’t like that stuff. You’ll see.

    • SoylentBlake@lemm.ee
      3·
      1 year ago

      Nothing like bears taking out yr trash. Out of your house that yr also in. Libertarian-land is too hxc for me man.

  • ForestOrca@kbin.social
    7·
    1 year ago

    Umm, “biggest ever” meaning mayor of Wichita, population 400,000. Biggest ever, since formation in 1971. “Since its creation, 10 Libertarians have been elected to state legislatures. The most recent candidate was Marshall A. Burt, who represented Wyoming’s 39th district from 2021 to 2023.” A total of 10, since 1971, sounds like they are really on the move. /s

    • DahGangalang@infosec.pub
      12·
      1 year ago

      Yeah you’re not wrong. But as the most promising option to break the two party system, I can’t help but root for them.

      It is wild seeing them talk internally about how much they’re growing and such though. Lol, they seem to think they’re gonna follow the analogy of the algae in the pond.