In French we have two distinct words for that, so that clears up the confusion:
- libertaires (left-wing)
- libertariens (right-wing)
♪♫ Watch what you say or they'll be calling you a radical, liberal, fanatical, criminal…
(1) See note 1 here for instance: https://www.lacoccinelle.net/247861-supertramp-the-logical-song.html
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@vv221 I would say that libertarian is a term that does not exactly land on the left/right spectrum in that sense, from an american view
It basically refers to a capitalist hardline in which all of society is structured around laissez-faire capitalism to the point where government is negligible if present at all and individual liberties and "rational self-interest" is the core philosophy as an explicit contrast to collective ideas
a capitalist hardline in which all of society is structured around laissez-faire capitalismOK, full-blown right-wing it is then, at least on my European political compass ;)
Thanks for the explanation, it means I can stop using the "right-" prefix when speaking about libertarians without a risk for confusion.
left-wings idealists are called "liberals" thereWhile here we use "libéraux" to talk about the conservatives, what a mess…
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@drewdevault @vv221 I think Chomsky said it best: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/8940473-but-you-see-libertarian-has-a-special-meaning-in-the
Very few Americans on the left would identify as libertarians with no other adjectives, so that's not unreasonable.
On the other hand, American libertarians tend to have some views that are left-wing even by European standards; for example many of them support completely eliminating restrictions on immigration.
In the U.S. they're also left-of-center in the sense of (usually) supporting LGBT rights and abortion, as well as opposing military intervention.
(…) many of them support completely eliminating restrictions on immigration.Is that real support of the underlying causes? It sounds more like blind rejection of any kind of rule/law/control, with the examples you listed being lucky side-effects.
(…) supporting LGBT rights and abortion
On the other hand maybe I’m missing something in their history that would explain progressive takes on some specific topics.
CC: @drewdevault@fosstodon.org
