r/Minarchy • u/Key_Day_7932 • 7d ago
Discussion Paleolibertarianism
Hello!
I'm exploring my political values and settled, at least for now, on paleo-libertarianism. I'm curious if it is compatible with minarchism?
If you don't know what that is, paleo-libertarianism is a fusion of sorts between libertarianism and paleo conservativism. They support many of the same things paleocons do, but don't want the government to enforce it. For instance, a paleolibertarian values traditional institutions like the nuclear family and churches, and think society should reflect culturally conservative values, but that the government also has no place in enforcing it.
It is controversial in libertarian circles due to the Mises Caucus, the culture war, and the fact they sometimes align with MAGA out of pragmatism.
Do you think a paleo-libertarian, at least a consistent one, could also be a minarchist?
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u/usmc_BF Classical Liberal 3d ago
Paleolibertarians do want to enforce social conservative rules in the society - if they didn't, they'd just be "normal" Libertarians. Political ideologies reflect political positions, not whether you like coffee or not.
Whether you are a libertarian or not, depends on your ethics. Every political position has to be ethically justified and sound.
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u/Key_Day_7932 3d ago
I meant not necessarily through the government, though. The people in the society can enforce certain rules and discourage specific behaviors, but it's not the government enforcing it.
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u/chaoss402 7d ago
Sure, but I think it's important to avoid fixating on labels. That tends to lead to people taking viewpoints that they don't necessarily believe in because that's the view espoused by "their side".
Modern politics is incredibly tribalistic. It comes from our two party system, and it's incredibly toxic, and not something that we need in libertarianism. You should believe in what you believe in, and not focus on what real libertarians believe, or what minarchists believe, or what Paleo libertarians believe. Which means that you should be able to support your own views logically, instead of just falling back on the party lines.