Ooh, I got this one. I realized my hatred of libertarians was unfounded, so I started researching them.
I just watched the 2016 Libertarian Presidential Debate. I didn't know they had one, but apparently they win. I had been arguing about libertarianism the other day, so I thought I'd give the other side a view. Honestly, I don't know how Johnson was the choice, because the other guys all seemed better, but I suppose his governorship gave him a layer of legitimacy that the party craves, and also he was the most moderate.
It was interesting to watch, because unlike the democratic or republican debate, there was no real conflict. The disagreements were short and small, besides Johnson taking a few reasonable points that got him booed. But mostly, this was the Libertarian party having a rally as they all took turns making promises and showing their ideas, and they all had a degree of friendliness above them. I thought it was really well done, as it gave me at least a slightly better opinion of them. Unfortunately, it was still a shitshow as the question guy skipped out members in the debate and the other candidates had to point it out or ask if they were supposed to be skipping that guy. That wasn't ideal.
They were super pro-Immigration, which I thought was shocking. Most of the libertarians I've seen have pretty much been harsher conservatives who are OK with drugs and gays. These guys were actually pretty reasonable on the topic. They also had a pretty cool "Fuck the military!" stance that they argued pretty well and I stood by. Johnson held an anti-coal stance to stand against Global Warming that I found incredibly impressive and ballsy, because his own party booed him for that. Abandoning the general principle of your party for pragmatically solving a problem, that's impressive. The rest of them were idiots, saying "No government!" as always. Oh, and they were pro-Letting Trans people use whatever bathroom, besides one guy who pointed out it was private owners who should restrict it which the audience loved, which makes me think maybe the party isn't as far as I thought.
I think it's a shame the party doesn't have more power in the US. Although their economic ideas were dog shit for the most part, what with killing healthcare and social welfare with only vague solutions offered by "charitable voluntary private sector programs", which should be fairly easy to decimate as an argument. However, their arguments for pro-drug, their support of anyone marrying anyone in whatever numbers, their "Free non-violent prisoners" and their anti-military stances were all actually far more liberal than the Democratic party held. Hell, one of them even said "There is no Islamic terrorism, there are Muslim terrorists!" and I think adding a third party would spice up the shitty two-party system.
So, I'm curious. Did any of you vote for or consider voting for the libertarian party? If so, why? If not, why? Do you not disagree with them, or have you not bothered to listen to their points because they'll never succeed? Also, if you got shit in your eyes, should the government, if you'd even like it to exist, help get it out?
