If I had a dime for every time I’ve heard a statist say libertarians are selfish I’d have, well not that much, but that’s not because I never hear that statement it’s because the Federal Reserve has devalued our currency to the point of being almost worthless.
Anyways, as I was saying it’s a common misconception that libertarians are selfish. Unfortunately for statists their accusation is far from the truth, in fact the exact opposite is true. Statists are terribly selfish people who use the government’s monopoly on violence for force everybody in society to comply with the statist’s desires. They want the government to pass laws banning firearms, they want laws that prohibit drinking or using other substances they don’t like, they want laws banning swearing in public places, they want laws telling connecting adults what they can do in their bedroom, and the list goes on. They want these laws that control the actions of others and they want the government to use their monopoly on violence to enforce these laws.
Libertarians on the other hand want everybody to live a life free of coercion. We want the government to get out of our bedrooms, gun safes, liquor cabinets, and everything else they’ve put their fingers in. It is the belief of libertarians that everybody should be free to do as they please so long as they’re not hurting anybody else or anybody’s property. If you want to drink a bottle of whiskey, smoke a joint, and go have sex with three other people all of whom are the same gender as you then by all means go for it. It’s your life to do with as you please and we’re not going to demand that the government use violence to prevent you from pursuing what makes you happy. Even if I don’t approve of something that doesn’t give me the right to demand violence be used on those who do enjoy that thing.
While statists want violence used against everybody to make them comply with their selfish ideals libertarians detest the use of violence. How can anybody think wanting to give everybody the right to do with their life as they please selfish?
Wanna guess who gives more to charity, libertarian types or liberal types?
You’ll never guess. 😉
I’ve seen those reports as well and it always amuses me that the “selfish” individualists give far more charitably than the “benevolent” socialists.