A close family member posted a paranoid screed on his Facebook timeline yesterday....this person used to be a Democrat until he married his wife five years ago.....and slowly but surely, he's morphed into a rabid, and seemingly right-wing "libertarian." Reading this irrational rant is at once scary and hysterically funny.....but more than that, it's confounding.
The rant was "shared" from the Libertarian's Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/....
Seems like what they are worried about these days is government "tyranny."
"Recently, president Obama warned graduate students about libertarians, saying, “They’ll warn that tyranny is always lurking just around the corner. You should reject these voices.”
Did Obama really use the word "libertarians" in his speech? I can't find the speech, but I sincerely doubt he said that. But it's a jumping off point for what follows.
"Mr. Obama, you completely misunderstood. Tyranny is not just around the corner. It’s here. When half of your earnings are taken from you and used for foolish or harmful purposes, that’s already tyranny. When a government tells you how much you can eat or drink, or how you can enjoy yourself, that’s already tyranny. When your money is used to fund immoral and unneeded wars that serve only to enrich crony corporatist defense contractors, that’s already tyranny. When you are not allowed to exercise your natural and fundamental right to defend yourself or your children, as is the case in “gun free” school zones, that’s already tyranny."
It goes on to rail against the the unconstitutional "duopoly" of the two party system, handouts that are given out by taking other citizens money unlawfully, on and on and on.
Then it goes on to say that "freedom is coming." All of this government takeover will be disappearing soon. Never actually outlining any strategy for accomplishing that daunting task, it does use very threatening language.
For the life of me, I'm not sure why people call themselves Libertarians and continue to support Ron Paul, which these people do, who is a failed grifter of the first order. They continue to send him money, and of course support his son, Rand, a U.S. Senator who will never rise above his current post, and who once said in a committee hearing that he is against big government interference in his life to the point that he is furious that he can't even buy a toilet that works because of government regulations. Apparently, he does not know how to shop for a good toilet.
I'm thinking now that this whole Libertarian thing is simply a way for its adherents to avoid responsibility , civic involvement, and it gives them a false enemy to rail against. That party will never ever be in power in this country, Ron Paul lived off the government for years but was pretty much a failed Congressman, and Rand is going to ride off into the sunset of history in the end without really doing much of anything meaningful. But their followers seem to believe that somehow they will make a huge difference in America.
These Libertarians remind me of ineffectual children throwing tantrums, but never succeeding in getting what they want. But I guess if you want to feel somehow superior and powerful, even if it's a mirage, choosing the Libertarian Party works just as well as having a real tantrum in the town square.
My family member? I don't know who he is anymore. But I think he needs a therapist. The irony of all this is that this person was an active duty Air Force member for 22 years, retired out, gets his pension, and now works as a civilian government employee for the AF, racking up a second pension. I've reminded him of that from time to time...but he says he worked for it and deserves it....