Natasha on libertarianism (was Re: The FAQ is completed!

Tim Bates (tbates@karri.bhs.mq.edu.au)
Sun, 21 Feb 1999 17:45:42 +1100

Wolfkin said
>>Hm. Does this mean that you and Max now (or always did?!) advocate
>>the use of force for political purposes? Perhaps I have misunderstood you?
Natasha Vita-More said
>I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you are talking about in the
>above-sentence.
He is noting that not being a libertarian means that you believe in using force to compel individuals to obey authority: that is the core definition of libertarianism: no first-use force, ever.

>What I advocate is freedom of choice.
That doesn't answer the question? Do you believe that it is moral to use force to achieve political ends? To make this concrete, is it transhuman to have freedom of choice about paying taxes?

>As far as I understand, Extropy
>Institute does not align itself with any one political party.

Libertarianism is not a party anymore than republicans "are" capitalism. Parties are at best imperfect instantiations of a philosophy.