r/Libertarian

(just for clarification: I'm using "Machine Gun" in the context of the legal definition. So a Colt SP1 with a full-auto trigger group is a "Machine Gun." Yes, it's stupid.)

Nowadays, I don't feel that regulation would do very much. If you're willing to put in the time and effort (or if you know someone who'll do it for the money), it's pretty easy to make an auto-sear. Glock switches are infamous nowadays, and 3d printed AR-15 auto sears are much more reliable compared to before. It's insane. if I had a basic knowledge of metalworking, I could manufacture an auto-sear that wouldn't break anytime soon. It seems relatively simple.

I'm honestly surprised that most criminals don't bother with these modifications, but it's only a matter of time before this becomes commonplace with gangs throughout the country.

If we are against regulations for almost every other gun, should Machine Guns still be controlled if they're so easy to illegally make?

edit: just to clarify, I'd want these to be unregulated. The arguments above were just my counters to the arguments for regulation

the US currently has an import ban on Chinese Electric Vehicles. Do you think keeping that ban in Place is the right decision. My thoughts on this are pretty split because on the one hand I am for a completely free market so I would allow the import of these evs but on the other I think it could be a bad idea to let Chinese SOEs which are effectively state monopolies to compete in our market. Not because I don’t want them to make profits but I have this feeling that XI and the CCP would fck their margins and voluntarily lose money just to damage our economy.

just want to hear your thoughts on this issue

Essentially the title. I keep seeing denial that facism and socialism are related. Despite the shared values of collectivism, command economics, market interventionalism, and more, people seem really defensive about the two being related. Most arguments revolve around the goals: socialism (ideally) meaning everyone is equal (not much in practice) and facism being hierarchical. They'll also say that Nazis banned unions and rejected marx and Lenin. As to the union argument, having choice as to your employer and the terms seems capitalist to me. Rejecting Marx and Lenin doesn't mean that the core principles of collectivism weren't employed.

The nazis attacking other socialists isn't anti-socialism, it's the encouragement of THEIR form of socialism as opposed to any other -- it's the ultimate expression of socialism. I also know that there are many different forms and perspectives on what "true" socialism is.

I know I'm going to get a lot of comments about how you can't change their minds and what not but I'm looking for some articulate and well researched arguments or sources yall could point me to. Thanks.

With the rollout of flock cameras, how long until our actions are tracked and the fact that we go “know drug dealer’s” house that we have no idea about and they pull us over and violate our rights because they think we’ve done something. 🤷🏻‍♂️🇺🇸

I personally don't care what a company sells to an individual, as long as the details are clearly given.

If I want to buy cigarettes, I'd like a warning telling me about the risks associated. If I'm buying breakfast cereal, I want a detailed label showing me what's in said cereal. If I'm buying a lottery ticket, I want to know the odds of me winning.

Should the government enforce laws regarding product transparency? Or is this something you'd trust the market to handle itself?

I'm currently leaning toward gov. requiring transparency, but I do want to hear what everyone else has to say so I can learn/have my opinions evolve.

Thx y'all!

Edit: Sorry for some spelling mistakes, I’m quite ADHD and try to type really fast. Also iPhone autocorrect throws me off. I’m going through and correcting as many as I find.

For the past 8-10 years I used to be the typical young MAGA Republican, mainly because of my parents and friends, but I would go on to learn about politics myself to the fullest extent I could comprehend from the ages of 10-14. Even with my immaturity and lack of true political understanding or education, I honestly thought Donald Trump (and the Republican Party) did a solid job during his first term. But when all the COVID-19 drama and January 6th happened, I really distanced myself from it all, so I just gave up on politics until 2023-2024 when Trump really started to come back into the spotlight again. I felt like maybe it was going to be different this time and I was 18 by then (it was my first election that I could vote), so I voted for him. It felt so good at the time when he won in that major landslide.

Now, I don’t know what to think. Trump has sold-out. He’s a gaseous sycophant for Netanyahu and Israel. (Before I continue, I must make it clear that I am NOT antisemitic. I am anti-zionism, or against Netanyahu and his ultranationalist government of Israel, whatever you want to call it.) He and the Republicans have poured billions of our tax payer dollars into a nation that is without shame committing genocide of thousands of women, children, and the elderly, while covering it up with the lie of destroying an extremist terrorist organization. The truth is Israel and their zionist movement are the terrorists. Why are all these Republicans (and many Democrats) and Christian organizations in America so adamant about supporting this war of death and destruction? Do they not know the zionists in Israel hate the Christians living there in the Old City, harass, spit on, and assault them, and even disgrace their churches?

Trump has made it clear he’s turned his back on his promise of America First, fixing the economy, restoring order to our great country, and keeping us out of wars. He has done the complete opposite of all that. But I guess the left warned us about him, so I’m not supposed to be upset. But I am upset, and I should be. Trump is not the same person he was 10 years ago. He was always a narcissistic asshole, sure. But this? This is authoritarianism. ICE is borderline the Gestapo. Even now as a Libertarian (which I will get into), I still somewhat believe that at the very least PROVEN undocumented illegal immigrants that are: violent criminals, drug or human-trafficking, stuff like that, should be deported. ETHICALLY and through LEGAL MEANS. What is happening now is genuinely too far. ICE has been using the most unethical, aggressive, and just blatantly illegal methods to achieve their goals. Raiding people’s property without warrants or just obtaining warrants without an actual judge signing off on them, targeting people on the basis of their skin, occupation, accents, or appearance (essentially stereotyping immigrants. It’s called “Kavanaugh Stops”), detaining legal immigrants AND AMERICAN CITIZENS. The shootings and killings are also just disgusting. Now in my all honesty, I really can’t speak much on the Renee Good shooting. I’m not informed enough on it, nor have I seen enough footage or angles of it, so I can’t determine whether or not if she was the aggressor or the victim. But what nobody can argue about is the killing of Alex Pretti. If you are pro-2A, his execution I should call it was absolutely 100% unjust. It does not matter if he was a Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative, or a damn vegan-rights activist even. He was an American citizen, exercising his right to protest, free speech, and to bear arms. There was no video evidence that he brandished his handgun or flashed it to threaten anyone, and he was legally carrying it with an open-carry permit. What there is clear and undeniable video evidence of is ICE agents taking him to the ground on his face, removing his firearm from his holster, and THEN shooting him in the back. Again, this should anger anyone who supports the 1st and 2nd amendments.

Even after all these things, it’s the handling of the Epstein Files that truly disgusts me. 7 years. 7 fucking years since he was exposed, arrested, and “committed suicide” in prison, and besides Jean-Luc Brunel (who also committed suicide) and Ghislaine Maxwell (which the Trump admin. transferred to a literal holiday resort level prison), not one person on that list has been has been arrested (unless you want to count Prince Andrew, and Peter Mandelson in the UK, and Thorbjørn Jagland, Mona Juul, and Terje Rød-Larsen in the Norway, but all of them were released). The Epstein Files are wha truly solidified my stance on Trump. He showed his true colors when he did his little 180 on them, denying their existence, telling us to get over it because it’s “boring stuff that only bad people would care about”, saying they’re a “woke Democrat hoax constructed by Obama and the Clintons”. Like come on, this needs to be a bipartisan issue (Which it is, but only because clearly both sides want to cover it up as much as possible because there’s guilty people involved in both parties). But obviously we know why he’s acting like this, it’s because he’s on the list. He’s one of the most, if not the most mentioned persons in the files after Epstein himself. He was one of Epstein’s closest friends, it irritates me when I see the hardcore MAGA loyalists on facebook, and social media in general that don’t even deny he’s in the files, but just make excuses to defend him for being in there to make it look innocent. Being in those files at all makes you not innocent. Maybe not guilty just yet, but certainly not innocent. And there are numerous documents in the files, accounts from women at Mar-a-Lago, or the limo driver story for example talking about Trump that do not help his case in any way.

But these files are more than about Trump. It’s about the failure of America. The failure of our government. The failure of the system. The failure of society. How one man was able to control the pockets and influence of so many politicians, elites, billionaires, celebrities, scientists, etc, with pure lust and deplorable acts. We are supposed to look up to these people everyday and trust them with our livelihoods, believe what they tell us, trust that they know what’s best for us, trust that they will follow the system the same way we do. And just as history always shows, they shit right in our faces with that trust. These depraved corrupt deep-state reptiles that we’ve been electing for the past 30-40 years over and over again sit in that Capitol Building and the White House looking down at us, talking to us like we’re fucking idiots in hopes we all just forget about these files. These disgusting and inhumane acts of violence against innocent children will not be forgotten.

All of this is why I finally decided to solidify myself as a Libertarian. I’ve always had some Libertarian roots because of my father, but never truly adhered to all its ideals. You cannot trust the government. Politicians are slimy reptiles, and are not your friend. They do not care about you and never will. Gun rights are inalienable and should not be infringed upon, nor get you executed in street by an immigration enforcement agent parading around like a wannabe Gestapo officer. Immigrants, illegal or not, do not deserve to be treated like animals dragged to the slaughter house. Property owners deserve to live free of unfair government laws and taxation. Marijuana needs to be decriminalized at the federal level and the War on Drugs needs to end its non-stop relentless pursuit of first time and low-risk offenders that need rehabilitation instead of incarceration. We need to stop intervening in global conflicts like Israel, Iran, and Lebanon. If we are not going to end Israel’s crusade and genocide in Gaza, then we have zero business helping them continue said genocide, nor do we have any business helping them fight Iran, “Hamas”, and “Hezbollah”. Americans don’t want these wars in the Middle East anymore, and we don’t want our tax payer money being poured into a nation that proudly advocates for the destruction of an entire people and spits on our culture in return without shame. After learning more about Libertarianism, I adhere to the non-aggression principle, that being basically non-intervention, don’t attack unless attacked. But honestly, especially when it comes to the Epstein Files, We The People should have the right to march inside the Capitol Building to protest and demand (peacefully obviously) that those files are fully 100% released, not classified, and that everyone involved is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. But that’s all just a pipe dream ain’t it, because even though our taxes pay for that big glorified retirement home, we’re not allowed to go in there as we so please.

I’m sure this isn’t exactly the right sub to post something like this. But I wanted share my thoughts, and what made me turn Libertarian. Most people seem to just always switch Democrat or Republican when current events rile America up, but I don’t really see people talk about turning Libertarian. Most former MAGA supporters just stayed either moderate Republicans or went straight to the Democrats. it’s always just two sides in this country. There needs to be change. The two party system doesn’t work anymore. But then again, what does it really matter. There will always be bad actors and partisanship. I do believe there is some hope in the form of Thomas Massie, though he isn’t a full on Libertarian I believe, he is actively trying to push for the Epstein Files release and for justice to be served. I think of anyone in that wretched dungeon, he and possibly Rand Paul could do some good. But you never know. The Constitution gave us the foundational rights and power to stop corruption and overthrow tyranny. But now in our modern day and age, democracy and capitalism has been so conditioned and manipulated by the crony elites in power, which in turn have conditioned and manipulated the American people to become overly comfortable with our lives. The majority of people have too much to lose, despite knowing full well their lives are constantly monitored and their rights are infringed upon.

Without central govt things would collapse into a Mad Max apocalypse?

What say you all?

An Anarchist Libertarian Constitutionalist told me both Liberal Democrats, Conservative Republicans, Trump, and Monarchies are all too centralized. To him that is all Government Socialism.

He said what he wants is an Earth with local villages and no cities.

Local village councils and local armed citizen militias to protect the USA and other nations.

No welfare states.

Each village and county makes its own laws.

He said no Federal and no State governments because those become too corrupt.

Could his dream work in the real world or not?