Tag: Libertarians

Member Post

Kelly D Johnston
Kelly D Johnston
137
 

America has become increasingly ripe for a third party, led by an independent and charismatic figure with the right message for these times. No one has come along. Third, fourth, and even fifth parties have been a part of our landscape for most of our existence. Abraham Lincoln in 1860 defeated 3 opponents, including the man who […]
Join Ricochet!

This is a members-only post on Ricochet's Member Feed. Want to read it? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

Member Post

Hoyacon
Hoyacon
189
 

For those who may be unaware, Jo Jorgensen is a Professor of Psychology at Clemson University. She is also the 2020 Presidential candidate of the Libertarian Party. While continued focus on voting irregularities is certainly worthwhile, I think there’s some value in the following voter tabulations taken a little while ago from the ABC News election […]
Join Ricochet!

This is a members-only post on Ricochet's Member Feed. Want to read it? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

Local Montanans Decide They’re Done Wearing Masks

sawatdeeka
sawatdeeka
16227
 

I first noticed the pattern when picking up my cheese pizza at Little Caesar’s. Signs were everywhere: “Due to the Coronavirus, we are asking that you not wait in the lobby.” “Due to the governor’s order, masks are required for entry into this establishment.” With a little intake of breath, I realized I’d left my mask in the car. Then I saw that no one behind the counter was wearing a mask. Neither was the other customer, a man waiting casually in the lobby for his special order. The next time I got a hankering for pizza, I noticed the same thing. Montanans in our town are just finished with the mask mandate, and certain establishments and their clientele have tacitly agreed that going maskless is fine.

If I had a graph of mask compliance around here, it would show a steep, narrow curve. It’d start with about a third of locals in the stores wearing them, often older women and workers. Before the governor made the order, there were national guidelines, and probably some state and county recommendations, too, so we all had the feeling we were supposed to be wearing them. But the mask wearers stood out. And then the governor gave the order in July, some weeks after our re-opening, enforced through the businesses. Everyone was masked, and one of my friends told a story about being ordered out of a coffee shop after protesting she had a health condition, and told never to return. My graph shoots up to about 98%.

Preview Open

Are Conservatives Fresh Out of Ideas for Cities?

DougMcCullough
DougMcCullough
5019
 

In the conservative state of Texas, the largest city that regularly elects a conservative mayor is Fort Worth. Across the nation, it is uncommon for midsize and large cities to elect right-of-center mayors. The notable exception would be New York City, which has elected Rudolph Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg in recent memory.

Why do conservatives struggle to win elections in big cities? Do conservatives have any policy solutions that appeal to urban dwellers? Do city residents reluctantly turn to conservative candidates to address hard issues like rampant crime or budget crises, or after preferred candidates face personal corruption scandals?

Preview Open

Member Post

Victor Tango Kilo
Victor Tango Kilo
910
 

Did you know that enforcing border control and immigration laws will lead to Government-run Eugenics? I didn’t, until I read this.  The drive to control immigration is rooted in the search for ever more ways to control the choices and behaviors of American citizens. It is rooted in the government’s presumed control over the demographic […]
Join Ricochet!

This is a members-only post on Ricochet's Member Feed. Want to read it? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

Steve Forbes Warns Washington

Dave Sussman
Dave Sussman
79
 

Steve ForbesSteve Forbes warns the Republicans why they are about to lose the House unless… Steve Forbes, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media sits down with Dave Sussman at Whiskey Politics for a discussion about Free Markets at the home of Libertarian thought, Freedom Fest. Topics include Obamacare, Tax Reform, the border adjustment tax and why “Paul Ryan has been snagged by the Body Snatchers.”

Preview Open

Member Post

Brian Wolf
Brian Wolf
21818
 

I am a conservative and I come from the social conservative side of that camp. This post is all about building understanding and defining terms. So I will start. For me Conservatism is a reaction to the political consensus that came after 1948. This Consensus rejected much of the classical liberal order that was fully […]
Join Ricochet!

This is a members-only post on Ricochet's Member Feed. Want to read it? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

Member Post

Could Be Anyone
Could Be Anyone
2917
 

For many on the right side of the political spectrum it would seem that Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton are unsuitable, very unsuitable, candidates for Presidency. Valid and verifiable evidence exists which indicates their lack of consistency, integrity, and virtuous character. The results of these defects have manifested in various ways from covering up the […]
Join Ricochet!

This is a members-only post on Ricochet's Member Feed. Want to read it? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

Vote Libertarian!

Dan Hanson
Dan Hanson
8126
 

Here’s a thought:  If Trump is nominated, I know a lot of you plan to just stay home.

Personally, I hope Ted Cruz pulls it off or Trump gets ousted at a contested convention.   But if that doesn’t happen …

Preview Open

Member Post

Titus Techera
Titus Techera
219
 

I use adblock. I recommend it. It makes ads go away. I worry sometimes if I’m not doing something stupid to websites I should be supporting–I’d like to be able to find out, I’m not too unreasonable or entitled… What I am is yellderly, only I don’t yell. I’ll get back to this later. I […]
Join Ricochet!

This is a members-only post on Ricochet's Member Feed. Want to read it? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

Libertarians Should Help Save the Most Libertarian Part of Government

Mike H
Mike H
4615
 
640px-US_Supreme_Court_Building

SCOTUS by Duncan Lock, Dflock – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Libertarians rarely get many outright victories in our political system. The median voter is a moderate socialist statist and Congress is filled with law-makers, not law-repealers. The president and Congress are — more often than not — in a symbiotic rather than an adversarial relationship, with calls of “bipartisanship” almost always working against freedom.

Preview Open

Mirror Libertarianism

Casey
Casey
4715
 

ProposalA young man once came to me with a paper in his pocket. On it was a list of reasons he and his beloved should be married. Convincing her was necessary, for she had once again turned down his proposal.

I thought the list odd but I scanned and shrugged.

“Aren’t my reasons good enough?” he asked.

Preview Open

Member Post

C. U. Douglas
C. U. Douglas
117
 

I originally just joked about this, really. I wasn’t actually serious about it. I mean, for most of my voting life I’ve been in the minority party. In my early voting adulthood, I registered independent because at the age of eighteen I was smarter than all the other voters in the room. Oh, and I […]
Join Ricochet!

This is a members-only post on Ricochet's Member Feed. Want to read it? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

Member Post

Mike H
Mike H
4618
 

Here are some questions about economics. I’ll post the incorrect answers after I get sufficient responses or after 24 hours. Please leave one comment, with just your answers, without explanation. (We’ll discuss later.) Try not to look at others’ responses. I expect Ricochetti to do very well. Your options are: Strongly agree  Somewhat agree  Preview Open
Join Ricochet!

This is a members-only post on Ricochet's Member Feed. Want to read it? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

Your Conservative Fall Brawl Bracket

Done
Done
2321
 

Though the primaries for the 2016 presidential election are still a ways off, news organizations can already be seen spending an inordinate amount of time talking about them in an attempt to fill a 24-hour news cycle that contains less than one hour of actual news. It is a signal to us that it is time for the greater coalition of the right to begin the process of pummeling each other into submission, in order to ensure our ideal candidate wins the Republican nomination.

Here on Ricochet, social conservatives and libertarians battle for supremacy on a daily basis. Recently, VirtuCons have appeared, to the consternation of some FiCons. The NeoCons continue to plug along to the dissatisfaction of many factions. In order to better facilitate these death matches, and ensure no faction of conservatives is left out, I have created a Fall Brawl bracketed tournament for different types of “Cons” to battle it out.  

Preview Open

Libertarians and VirtuCons: What Are The Differences?

Tom Meyer, Common Citizen
Tom Meyer, Common Citizen
6923
 

In the last few weeks, we’ve had VirtuCons and libertarians striking out their stances and trying to better understand each other. Interestingly, many of the threads featured exchanges where both sides expressed similar — if not identical — goals and suppositions, but remained certain that the other side rejected them. The differences between the groups may be profound, but they’re more subtle than we credit them.

So what are the differences? There may be other ways to cut it — and stipulating that ideological Turing tests are hard — but the basic disagreements seem to be over 1) The extent of the danger posed by the state; and 2) What it will take to revive the culture. Everything else flows from those disagreements.

Preview Open

Big-Government Conservatives: Who Are They?

Rachel Lu
Rachel Lu
11322
 

4634992731_63ec506cba_mWe’ve been arguing a lot about libertarians here on Ricochet. I’ve been criticized for quoting from a blog that some Ricochetti took to be non-representative of libertarians. For the record, I never claimed it was representative; I was mainly just interested in the argument being made. But some people were irritated even by the reference, and reminded me that they could cherry-pick some pretty terrible big-government conservatives if they chose.

Actually, I’m quite interested in this. Who are the obnoxious big-government conservatives out there? Don’t tell me George W. Bush, because he’s retired. (Although, on that point, I grant that he was bad about spending and permitting government bloat, but how much morality policing did he really do? Not a whole lot.) I’m mainly interested in people who are influential in conservative politics right now. Are there prominent, unapologetic advocates of bigger, more intrusive government out there? Rick Santorum? Mike Huckabee? I want to know who really gets under your skin, libertarians. If you want to provide links as well, that would be awesome.

To me it seems like small government thinking is pretty solid conservative orthodoxy these days. If you want more government, you’d better be real quiet about it because that won’t fly in almost any conservative setting. But we do spend a lot of time accusing one another of favoring big government. Are we just shadow-boxing? Suspecting one another of insincerity or just naiveté? 

Preview Open