There are several distinct clusters of very different kinds of people who call themselves libertarians or are likely to be identified as such by the mainstream. Although there is some occasional overlap, they typically don’t like each other at all. Two major sharply opposed clusters are the Beltway libertarians and the Mises Institute ones. There is also the techno-geek cluster, which has some overlap with the Beltway one and much less with the Mises one, the gun-show netherworld cluster (nowadays largely faded), and a large assortment of independent crackpots. (There are of course also the Randians, but they are apt to perceive the L-word as a gross insult.)
The U.S. Libertarian Party, from what I’ve observed, is rather loose and decentralized and isn’t limited to any particulat cluster, though unsurprisingly it tends to draw disproportionately from the crackpot elements.
though unsurprisingly it tends to draw disproportionately from the crackpot elements.
Right.
Dancing with crackpots is so complicated that the Ockham dude might advise us to ignore them completely. I don’t think I will be attending any more Libertarian Party events for a long foreseeable future time interval.
There are several distinct clusters of very different kinds of people who call themselves libertarians or are likely to be identified as such by the mainstream. Although there is some occasional overlap, they typically don’t like each other at all. Two major sharply opposed clusters are the Beltway libertarians and the Mises Institute ones. There is also the techno-geek cluster, which has some overlap with the Beltway one and much less with the Mises one, the gun-show netherworld cluster (nowadays largely faded), and a large assortment of independent crackpots. (There are of course also the Randians, but they are apt to perceive the L-word as a gross insult.)
The U.S. Libertarian Party, from what I’ve observed, is rather loose and decentralized and isn’t limited to any particulat cluster, though unsurprisingly it tends to draw disproportionately from the crackpot elements.
Right.
Dancing with crackpots is so complicated that the Ockham dude might advise us to ignore them completely. I don’t think I will be attending any more Libertarian Party events for a long foreseeable future time interval.