[ExI] How slow is capitalism?

[F. C. Moulton]

On 04/29/2011 09:52 PM, Jones Murphy wrote:
> You
> will frequently see American libertarians nominate Presidential
> candidates like Ron Paul and Bob Barr who are Republicans with a
> consistent history of opposition to Civil Rights, Voting Rights, gay
> rights, birth control rights, and other conservative bugaboos.

A small bit of clarification is needed here.  There is a difference
between libertarian as used in the name "Libertarian Party" and
libertarian as referring to a political philosophy and tradition
deriving from diverse sources.  In the USA these sources go back to the
1800s to such figures as Lillian Harman and Voltairine de Cleyre;
although these figures did not have a well formed and complete
libertarian political philosophy because they lived prior to the
development of some of the intellectual framework that we now have. 
More about both can be found at:
http://www.voltairine.org/womenresisters.html

As for the "Libertarian Party" it has long ago ceased being even close
to what I would consider libertarian. The name "Libertarian Party" is
just that; a name.  It does not mean that members of it or position
taken by it are necessarily libertarian.  This is why it is important
not to confuse the name of a thing with what it actually is.

As for Ron Paul; he is a conservative who sometimes calls himself
libertarian.  Do not be confused; he is a conservative not a libertarian.

As for Bob Barr.  Have you ever put a drop of water on a very hot flat
griddle and watched it skitter around?  I can not predict where that
drop of water will skitter to next and I can not predict where Bob Barr
will skitter to next.  Supposedly Bob Barr has renounced and apologized
for his past views; but I have not seen any convincing evidence that Bob
Barr has become a libertarian.

A major problem is that there are a lot of conservatives running around
afraid to say they are conservative so they start using the term
libertarian and causing needless confusion particularly amongst persons
not versed in the history of the libertarian movement.

Fred