Posted by
Andrews on Sunday, January 11, 2009 8:39:06 PM
I know I entitled my last post "
Just Asking For It", but this one really is asking for it. But the quote is so great I can't resist.
As Everyone knows, I have libertarian beliefs, but I am not a libertarian, and think the party itself is a bit delusional. Well, my new favorite site,
Stuff Geeks Love, has a great post on
Libertarianism. Including the following (slightly redacted for obscenities):
Some famous Libertarians are Penn Jilette, Matt Stone, Trey Parker,
Robert Heinlein, Ayn Rand, Matt Drudge, and Howard Stern. Possibly
related is the fact that all of the above are also a[...]holes.
A political affiliation where they are the smartest people on Earth
and everyone else can go screw themselves? No wonder geeks LOVE
Libertarianism!
Of course, I have to disagree slightly. The geeks tend to belong to a strange hybrid libertarian-left philosophy. They tend toward libertarianism, but also often accept rather extreme left wing regulations. In short, they aren't very consistent. They love property rights, but hate the RIAA, for instance. (Read any slashdot post on politics to see the bizarre hybrid political philosophy they espouse.)
However, as it is hard to form a consistent philosophy that is one part libertarian, one part liberal and one part anarchist, most often when pressed geeks will express libertarian beliefs. (And, strangely, there has recently been a wave of conservative thought among geeks. Well, not conservatism, but a wave of libertarianism without the left-wing bit. Maybe that explains the
geeky, conformist FairTax advocates I mentioned earlier.)
Anyway, I couldn't resist the quote. And I am preparing for comments form three or four irate libertarians.