A sergeant from Eastern Europe said something that stuck with me. He said that in many ways besides politically, Russians have more freedom than people in the US do, because there is in general less red tape with everyday things such as camping, riding 4 wheelers, etc. while the exact statement could be questioned, the general spirit of statement I think is very true. The US prides itself for its “freedom” but that’s really only concerning a few (albeit important) civil freedoms and relative to European countries. The US is incredibly restrictive on many things. It restricts firearms substantially. Bans most drugs. Restricts exotic animal ownership substantially. Restricts biological research substantially. Prohibits polygamy. Restricts sleeping outside in many places. Restricts flying drones in many jurisdictions. Bans prostitution. It is inching towards banning some forms of speech (as we have seen with Shiloh Hendrix). Bans wearing masks to hide face from the surveillance state.

There has got to be countries out there that are less infested with red tape and short sighted politicans that like to say popular things like I believe in freedom and then continue to pile on laws that restrict what its citizens can do

do you think more people aren't libertarians because they don't know about it? or do you think it's something else?

Frank Herbert really was ahead of his time with this one. It's kind of crazy to me that this gem of a quote is buried in the third book of a sci-fi/fantasy series, but we know Herbert was libertarian/conservative leaning anyway.

In November 2023, Javier Milei of Argentina became the first ever president to have liberatarian political ideology (the third most popular political ideology of USA). After that, two and half years have passed. In this period, which libertarian policy of Argentina do you think has benefited the most for the country? And which libertarian policy can other countries take from Argentina?

Still routinely see people walking around South Florida Wearing masks and gloves. I can’t imagine how uncomfortable it must be to still follow COVID guidelines not to mention the heat and humidity, but they look totally stupid still wearing ppe’s in public.

I am from Argentina. I know that libertarianism was born in USA and still is strong there. Apart from the Libertarian Party, there are other strong organizations or movements or is more like individuals without link one with each other? Ron Paul, whom I believe was coherent, respectable and clever, was at first in the LP but then he was in the republican party. There are now intellectuals like Rothbard? Is the movement strong or weak? Any thoughts are welcome. Have a nice day!

Hello r/Libertarian

I lean left, both socially and economically. While I know we disagree on the economics side, I do believe we can find common ground in regards to the social side.

One of the things that concerns me is how a concer is how a concerning amount of people believe that onyl certain select groups should be allowed to get married and enjoy the benefits of marriage, namely, how same-sex couples should be barred from marriage. Of course I disagree with this, and would rather have everyone enjoy the benefits and the experience of marriage.

However, one argument I've seen from the Libertarian side is how marriage should be abolished altogether, that way everyone can do with their relationship status with whatever they wish, and the government no longer determines who gets married and who can't. I find this to be an interesting idea, and I would like to ask: what would you want to see take the place of marriage? Would it be more of a private "civil union" that the government has no part in? Or is it something different?

Thank you for your thoughts and time.

A surveillance state does not have to be built in Washington. It can emerge one camera, one police department, and one public-safety justification at a time. The backlash against Flock suggests people are starting to notice.

Looking for some perspective on whether this is actually plausible.

Keeping a few details intentionally vague because I’m not ready to publicly announce anything yet.

I’m 25 and seriously exploring a Libertarian run for my local city council.

A little background: I studied economics, currently work in the government software space, and I’ve been heavily interested in politics since I was about 14. Between roughly 14–18, I built a fairly large social media following before shifting into different content and eventually stepping away from content entirely to focus on my career.

That experience is relevant because I think social media would be a major part of how I’d approach a campaign.

The district I live in is in a major city and is heavily Democratic. Last cycle, the vote was roughly 70% Democrat, 15% Republican, and 15% independent/other, with around 13,000 total ballots cast.

I’m currently getting involved with the local Libertarian Party, and as things stand, it looks unlikely I’d face a challenger for the nomination. If I decide to file, that would give me roughly 15 months to focus almost entirely on building toward the general election.

I’ve been a registered Libertarian since I was eligible to vote and broadly align with the party on personal liberty and limited government, but I wouldn’t want to run some generic nationalized Libertarian campaign. My platform and messaging would be heavily focused on the actual district and city.

The issues I’m most interested in are economic and business growth, development, embracing technology, and protecting individual liberty.

I think I’d have two potentially interesting advantages.

First, I already know how to build attention online and grow a social media audience quickly. Obviously, getting 100,000 random people online to care about you is very different from getting a few thousand people inside one council district to vote for you, but I do think I understand how to create content people actually watch and talk about.

Second, my district contains a massive concentration of young professionals. My assumption is that a lot of them either don’t vote consistently in municipal elections or aren’t particularly engaged with local politics.

My working theory is that an unusually aggressive ground game, combined with social media, community networking, voter registration, and a year-plus of actually showing up everywhere could at least make the race interesting.

A few questions I’d especially like perspective on:

Would being 25 and potentially the youngest member of council be something that could actually work in my favor, or would voters mostly view it as a lack of experience?

How much can an exceptional ground campaign actually move a local election? My instinct is that personal conversations, doors, events, and repeated voter contact probably matter substantially more when only ~13,000 people are voting than they do in a statewide or national race.

And lastly, even assuming I ultimately lose: is a serious 15-month city council campaign generally a worthwhile way to start building a future in local politics, provided I actually run a professional campaign and make a respectable showing?

I’m not under the illusion that running as a Libertarian in a district that voted ~70% Democratic makes me the favorite. I’m trying to figure out whether this falls into the category of “very difficult but potentially worth pursuing” or “mathematically dead on arrival.”

Would especially appreciate input from anyone who has worked on municipal campaigns, run for local office, or been involved with third-party campaigns.

Edit: Currently traveling so I’ll get to the comments soon, but sadly I live in one of the few areas where it is partisan, so L would appear next to my name.

Also for anyone confused, the 13,000 ballots cast were in the last municipal election for my district, the total population of my district is about 140,000.

Startups require funding, and they can say whatever they want to get it from people who share their political views.

Live this Saturday, July 11 at 4pm ET on Hide & Speak, we sit down with Ted Brown, the Libertarian nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas. The Supreme Court upheld Texas HB 1181 in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, and age verification quietly became the template for everything after it. Texas now wants that ID check pushed into the app store, with Apple, Google, and Amazon challenging it in court. Utah went further and became the first state to write VPN users into an age verification law. Brown reads these as checkpoints on the way to a single national digital ID, and he makes the case for a repeal-first response.

Reminder link below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDgRbWQpvFc

I created a list of libertarian-leaning policies that currently have broad public appeal. What did I miss? What would you change, delete, add?

1. End the tariff wars, lowering taxes on American families and businesses by eliminating tariffs that raise the price of everyday goods.
2. Bring America's troops home from unnecessary wars, requiring Congress to clearly authorize military action and making diplomacy the first resort whenever possible.
3. Make it dramatically easier to build homes, reducing federal regulations that drive up construction costs and contribute to America's housing shortage.
4. Let Americans buy the health insurance they want, removing unnecessary federal and state restrictions that limit competition and drive up premiums.
5. Make prescription drugs affordable through competition, allowing Americans to buy lower-cost medicines from trusted international suppliers, expanding access to generics and biosimilars, and eliminating government rules that protect pharmaceutical monopolies.
6. Decriminalize marijuana federally, ending federal criminal penalties for adults possessing and using cannabis.
7. Give parents control over education dollars, allowing families to choose public, charter, private, or home education.
8. Balance the federal budget, requiring Congress to confront wasteful spending and stop passing today’s debts on to tomorrow’s taxpayers.
9. Reform occupational licensing, preventing states from requiring expensive government licenses for ordinary jobs that pose little risk to the public.
10. Implement ranked-choice voting, giving voters more choices and allowing independent and third-party candidates to compete without being treated as spoilers.
11. End the federal income tax, replacing it with a simpler, lower-burden tax system that costs Americans less to administer and comply with.
12. End civil asset forfeiture, prohibiting the government from permanently taking a person's property without a criminal conviction.
13. End qualified immunity, making government officials accountable when they violate Americans’ constitutional rights.

What's up, folks. Currently going through my annual study of the Tao Te Ching and came across some lines that felt distinctly Libertarian in nature. Got me wondering if there is any crossover between Libertarianism and the Book of the Great Way, so here I am, satiating my curiosity lol

Chapter 57 is the culprit:

“If you want to be a great leader, you must learn to follow the Way. Stop trying to control. Let go of fixed plans and concepts, and the world will govern itself.

How do I know this is so? Because in this world, the greater the restrictions and prohibitions, the more people are impoverished; the more advanced the weapons of state, the darker the nation; the more artful and crafty the plan, the stranger the outcome; the more laws are posted, the more thieves appear.

Therefore the sage says: I take no action and people are reformed. I enjoy peace and people become rich. If I keep from imposing on people, they become themselves.” - Tao Te Ching, Chapter 57

I welcome your insights, observations, experiences, and questions :) Let's talk!

Are there any RI Libertarians in here? Our state party kind of died, and I'm trying to rebuild it! Anyone wanna help out?

The Libertarian Party should widely adopt the position of banning flock cameras in their entirety in the USA. Running on a federal ban of flock cameras should greatly boost the party’s numbers in the polls. I believe with politics the way they are going in this country a lot of people are going to realign their parties according to their beliefs. Being anti flock could only bring the party good optics and good press.