At 01:33 PM 3/28/98 +0100, you wrote:
>Two possibilities (AFAIKT):
>
>1. Most people do not make al of their decisions rationally and don't
>always take their long-term interests into consideration. This would
>explain why there are still many people smoking cigarettes, climbing
>mountians and riding bikes without a helmet.
>
>2. Libertarianism is not in the best interest of most people and they vote
>accordingly (for a minority group it is, or seems to be, in their best
>interests and they also vote accordingly).
You forgot the third possibility:
3. People don't believe that it is in their long term interests. Either
they have never heard arguments for libertarianism or they simply believe
these arguments to be incorrect.
The third is a highly relevant factor in this situation; after all, we're
having this discussion, aren't we? Of course, Possibility 3 alone is
sufficient to kill elections, which may explain why the libertarian party
isn't as large as it might be.
>Personally I think it's a combination of both. If a true libertarian party
>wins a national election in the US or a major European country and that
>country is still well (preferrebly better) after few years I'll change my
>opinion and congratulate everybody on this list who had more foresight than
>I did.
This is a good policy; the economy is rather complex and there may be some
factors which I have not yet thought of. My bet is on that state which
chooses libertarianism growing rich within about twenty or thirty years.
Best of luck!
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