[Gllug] amongst the maddness

[Bruce Richardson]

On Sat, Sep 15, 2001 at 12:20:30AM +0100, gllug at uncertainty.org.uk wrote:
> the word libertarian seems to mean something different in the US of A

I think the distinction to be careful with is between liberal and
libertarian.  Libertarians focus on the rights of the individual,
liberals balance this against the needs of the social group.  There is
some common ground - attitudes to drug legalisation - some areas of
total opposition (e.g. gun control) and some areas of ambivalence
(libertarians tend to hate government, liberals tend to be wary of its
abuses while believing in its value to society).

The social mix on technical mailing lists/ngs with a strong American
membership is different - many libertarians, fewer liberals (the word
still seems to mean 'communist' to many Americans), no socialists
(unless there are any Europeans on the list;)).

-- 
Bruce

I see a mouse.  Where?  There, on the stair.  And its clumsy wooden
footwear makes it easy to trap and kill.  -- Harry Hill
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 261 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.lug.org.uk/pipermail/gllug/attachments/20010915/83c03712/attachment.pgp>