<story><title>Peter Thiel Speaks at the National Press Club – Live Stream</title><url>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob-LJqPQEJ4</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>jonathanstrange</author><text>I cannot take anyone seriously who calls himself a libertarian. For Christ&amp;#x27;s sake, learn something about the various traditions of right- and left-wing libertarianism, study the basics of anarchism (e.g. Stirner), and read some Adam Smith.&lt;p&gt;Libertarianism is either mislabeled right-wing liberalism, which has a long-standing tradition, or it turns out to be no more than a fairly inconsistent mix of classical liberal and anarchist ideas peppered with some generic right-wing gun-nuttery and diffuse anti-government sentiment. You know, in the end somebody has to pay for the military, police, firemen, ambulances, roads, drinking water, sanitation, food safety, consumer safety (like not getting electrocuted by your vacuum cleaner), schools, hospitals, ...</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Analemma_</author><text>In general, I can take libertarians seriously... but not Peter Thiel. The depth of his convictions can be measured in microns. He&amp;#x27;s the perfect example of the &amp;quot;libertarian&amp;quot; who espouses that philosophy not out of any genuine commitment to its ideals, but just because he wants lower taxes and more leeway for whatever despicable business practices he has in mind.&lt;p&gt;For instance, he founded a company whose, no joke, entire raison d&amp;#x27;être is providing surveillance-as-a-service to increase the power of the State. This is something I wouldn&amp;#x27;t even do, and I&amp;#x27;m what might be derisively called a &amp;quot;big-government liberal&amp;quot;.</text></comment>
<story><title>Peter Thiel Speaks at the National Press Club – Live Stream</title><url>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob-LJqPQEJ4</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>jonathanstrange</author><text>I cannot take anyone seriously who calls himself a libertarian. For Christ&amp;#x27;s sake, learn something about the various traditions of right- and left-wing libertarianism, study the basics of anarchism (e.g. Stirner), and read some Adam Smith.&lt;p&gt;Libertarianism is either mislabeled right-wing liberalism, which has a long-standing tradition, or it turns out to be no more than a fairly inconsistent mix of classical liberal and anarchist ideas peppered with some generic right-wing gun-nuttery and diffuse anti-government sentiment. You know, in the end somebody has to pay for the military, police, firemen, ambulances, roads, drinking water, sanitation, food safety, consumer safety (like not getting electrocuted by your vacuum cleaner), schools, hospitals, ...</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>hyperpape</author><text>It&amp;#x27;s a shame you weren&amp;#x27;t around 15 years ago to tell Robert Nozick he was an idiot for calling himself a libertarian. &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Anarchy,_State,_and_Utopia&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Anarchy,_State,_and_Utopia&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;(I&amp;#x27;m not going to argue etymology with you, and I&amp;#x27;m not inclined to defend libertarianism per se, I just think your condescension is gross).</text></comment>