Libertarians confuse me to a degree. I understand the basics of the philosophy, which amounts to live and let live with minimal governmental involvement. All of which I'm OK with. What I'm confused about is the strategy for implementing the philosophy as a basis for government.
Libertarians like to promote the three "P"'s. Now I know the first thing some of the more intellectual of the group will say is they also promote honest money and limited government and no public debt etc. All of which I will readily admit to be true and I'm ready to get on that bandwagon. Except that isn't what the guys I meet on the street are pushing. They're all about the Three "P"'s. For the uninitiated those are: Pot, Porn and Prostitution. Pot of course is a catch all for unlimited drug use and the other two are what they are. Now the Libertarian will quickly point out that it is the government that needs to butt out and that society would provide the necessary constraints to limit the use of the "P"'s in the world.
In Libertarian theory anyone would be able to discriminate against anyone else on the basis of any criteria that they chose. So an employer could drug test and not hire someone who does pot, or tobacco etc. Thus social mores would control most peoples behavior.
Rather than promote the philosophy on the intellectual merits of personal political freedom and limited federal law, the Libertarian activities I seem to meet all fit a specific mold that I think most Americans find less than attractive. Like the guy who accosted me out side of the store today promoting Ron Paul as the answer to making Pot legal. I believe a Ron Paul presidency would be a great answer to some of Americas ills but making it legit to get high isn't my first priority. In fact that issue doesn't make my list at all.
The limited government crowd needs a better mascot than the Potheads of Wal-Mart.
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