General

Re: From ??? to Libertarianism...

MacFall — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 04:13:52 GMT

What do you mean by the way Heinlein "presents things"? Do you mean the way he narrates? Because if that's the case I'd like to know what your objections are, as a science fiction writer myself. A matter of professional curiosity.

Re: From ??? to Libertarianism...

Fephisto — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 04:02:50 GMT

MacFall:

...Proving again J. Neil Schulman's saying that science fiction is the best available "hook" to get people interested in libertarian philosophy. Heinlein's work is probably second to Ayn Rand's in making libertarians out of the statists that are mass-produced by the public school system.

(My 11th grade English teacher HATED Heinlein.)

I tried reading Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress myself. I got to the hundredth page and then I stopped myself, I just don't like the way Heinlein presents things.

Other than that, as for myself:

Socialist -> Took an econ class -> Keynesian -> Saw Free to Choose -> Neo-Classical -> Read Road to Serfdom -> Minarchism/abandoned utilitarianism -> found out about David Friedman -> Anarcho-Capitlism/Minarchism, iffy about ethical system -> Read Rothbard -> Took up ethical system derived therin, Anarcho-Capitalist

Re: From ??? to Libertarianism...

scineram — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 01:58:32 GMT

I was a quite mainstream european liberal, with some minor distractions. Started reading some Friedman and Hayek a while after entering university in fall 2003. Found Libertarian Alliance, read their online publications. These brought more radicalism (like Taxation Is Theft by Chris Tame), meanwhile found Mises.org also. Libertarian anarchist by end of 2004, I guess.

Re: From ??? to Libertarianism...

Jon Irenicus — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:34:57 GMT

Pretty much a free market conservative.

Re: From ??? to Libertarianism...

ViennaSausage — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:14:47 GMT

Whatever day the first televised debate of the Republican Convention was my "moment" or turning point. Ron Paul was the only one that sounded sane in the mix of neocons, he totally stood out. I guess I can look up that date. However, similar to mr_anon, it was a transition period until I discovered Mises sometime in the mid summer/early fall last year.

Re: From ??? to Libertarianism...

mr_anonymous — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:03:11 GMT

MacFall:

Not that it's particulary relevant to anyone but me, but I discovered basically the exact time at which I became an anarchist. It was recorded in a Facebook conversation (God bless internet) at three minutes 'till midnight, on May 11th of last year. I guess that means the timeline I described earlier is a bit off. Oh well.

So my first day as an anarchist - not counting the three minutes immediately following my "enlightenment" - was May 12th, 2007, a date of greater sentimental importance to me than my birthday.

And for easy personal reference, five days before my mother's birthday, of second-greatest sentimental importance to me by only the narrowest of margins.

Haha, Nice story. I wish my "enlightenment" could have been that memorable. Mine was more of a transition, not an immediate change.

Re: From ??? to Libertarianism...

MacFall — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:37:35 GMT

Not that it's particulary relevant to anyone but me, but I discovered basically the exact time at which I became an anarchist. It was recorded in a Facebook conversation (God bless internet) at three minutes 'till midnight, on May 11th of last year. I guess that means the timeline I described earlier is a bit off. Oh well.

So my first day as an anarchist - not counting the three minutes immediately following my "enlightenment" - was May 12th, 2007, a date of greater sentimental importance to me than my birthday.

And for easy personal reference, five days before my mother's birthday, of second-greatest sentimental importance to me by only the narrowest of margins.

Re: From ??? to Libertarianism...

Ego — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 03:55:36 GMT

I love your avatar, ChaseCola!

Re: From ??? to Libertarianism...

ChaseCola — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 03:35:26 GMT

After 9/11 I was a "bushist" in that I supported everything Bush did. After a couple of years I was a limited government conservative that questioned much of what bush did. Then I thought victemless crimes should be legal. Then I was curious about enconomics and read Capitalism by Rand, and then I was exposed to Rothbard. Now I am an anarcho-capitalist.

Re: From ??? to Libertarianism...

minorgrey — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 03:16:20 GMT

MacFall:
Then I discovered Protest Warrior

It's kind of amazing anyone got anything out of that forum... Oddly enough my ideas solidified there as well.

Re: From ??? to Libertarianism...

drogue — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 03:06:10 GMT

I was raised in a family that was staunchly democrat. For whatever reason I entertained quite hawkish views on foreign policy and became Repub part way through the Reagan era. Then I joined a Protestant denomination that expects the USA ultimately under popular pressure to forsake its principles of religious liberty. Many of these people are apoliticial, but some are staunch Republicans. At that time I removed all affiliation and became non-partisan. However, I would regularly vote for hawks and low taxes candidates. Each election cycle saw me looking, without success, for a political home. About five years ago I read David Boaz' book on Libertarianism and that was a help (ran into him at NRO?). Took the short quiz and landed on the line between libertarian and conservative. I began voting regularly for Libertarians and fiscal conservative Repubs. Joined the LP. Not completely satisfied, I continued searching.

Enter Ron Paul. I don't recall how. It was not long before the first debate. Along the way I discovered LewR.com, Mises, listened to Rothbard's A New Liberty. Became a Repub and voted for RP in the primary. Have ordered books perhaps four times from Mises now. Presently reading Man, Economy, and State, and LewR.com every night. I score perfect libertarian now on the short quiz.

I have found home.

Re: From ??? to Libertarianism...

Miklos Hollender — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:04:06 GMT

Coming from the Conservativism of Oakeshott, Burke, Scruton etc. still not abandoned it: I'm trying to unify Libertarian economic/political theory to Conservative cultural/political theory. I'm relying on Voegelin, who was a Conservative but a student of LvM and will perhaps research the ideas of Ludwig Lachmann (not sure about that yet).

Re: From ??? to Libertarianism...

Spideynw — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 02:49:09 GMT

About four years ago, I was what I would call a conservative Democrat. However, I had never actually voted. Politically speaking, I was against the war on drugs, thought prostitution should be legalized, thought gay marriage should be legal, and I was against the Iraqi war/occupation. I also thought regulations were a good thing. Then I found my350z.com, which was full of libertarians. I started talking in their politics section, and I was eventually converted to libertarianism, something I had never heard of until about four years ago.

Re: From ??? to Libertarianism...

mr_anonymous — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 01:59:57 GMT

When I first began paying attention to politics and economics, I was pretty much a neo-conservative. I felt that a strong military was neccesary to protect our country from terrorism. I fell into supporting the Bush campaign in 2000 and 2004, mainly for his tax cuts and my utter disgust with the democrat party. However, sometime around 7th grade and the launch of the invasion of Iraq, I began to question what the Republican Party stood for. It was probably my freshman year of highschool when I realized the Iraq war was a terrible mistake fabricated by the rightists in power. I began to search for people who believed in ending the war, and all nation building activities conducted by our government, but still believe in private property rights and limited government. I eventually was introduced to Mises.org where I began to read the Daily articles every day. The articles on Mises.com got me to begin thinking about more about property rights and anti-interventionism. From Mises.com I began reading books the site advertised like the politically incorrect guide to capitalsim, the politically incorrect guide to history, various walter block essays and listening to many of the mises.com media files. That combined with taking my first college level Economics class (I know it teaches keynesian princibles) and learning the basics of capitalism, I found myself here, a libertarian.

Re: From ??? to Libertarianism...

shazam — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 01:31:12 GMT

I'd say that I've been a libertarian for most of my political life. Having parents that voted for Browne twice, I grew up in a suitable environment for libertarianism to develop. However, I consider the degrees of libertarianism to have changed, mainly over the last year. From supporting Ron Paul's campaign, I found Tom Woods's Politically Incorrect Guide to US History, through which I found Lewrockwell.com, which had many archives which led me to perfect my libertarian positions.