1) Statist

This is by and large a curse word among libertarians. Statism is the belief that we need a government to take care of problems. A libertarian believes that the free market can resolve almost all problems.

Example: Johnny says, “I wish the city would fix these pot holes.”

Mr. Libertarian mutters, “Statist.”

 2) Keynesian

A lot of libertarians are drawn to economic arguments made by Austrian economists. Austrian economics argues that free markets can solve problems. Keynesian economist believe that government or some other entity (the federal reserve) should control the value of money. Keynesian economics creates a boom bust cycle best explained by the rap video below.

 3) Authoritarian

When discussing government policies with a libertarian, they will not always use the words republican or democrat. They see policies or politicians as either authoritarians, wanting to rule over our lives, or libertarian, wanting to maintain personal and economic freedoms.

 4) NAP

NAP stands for Non-Aggression Principle. This principle states that it is immoral to use force against someone unless in self-defense. The violation of NAP is the largest problem that libertarians see with government. The government uses forces on non-violent crimes i.e. police arresting a person for smoking weed.

5) Corporatism

Corporatism and capitalism are consistently confused outside of the libertarian community. Capitalism is simply free trade with no intervention. Corporatism is businesses getting in bed with the government to mandate regulations that benefit their business, but hurt other businesses. For example, a large business can afford to raise minimum wage so they lobby for minimum wage to be increased, this hurts the local small business owner who was competing with the corporation who cannot afford the hike. Libertarians oppose corporatism, but support capitalism.

 6) Taxation as Slavery/Theft

Remember that taxes violate NAP. The government is only able to collect taxes through force. There are not police officer enforcing taxes when a person works or when a person buys something, but they do come when you do not pay them. The government will throw you in jail if you do not pay your taxes. Just look at congressmen Mike Grimms who is facing 3 years in federal prison for not paying taxes.

7) Tyranny of the Majority

Libertarians believe in individual liberty. If the majority of people want to take away your individual liberty they should NOT be allowed. Democracy is tyranny of the majority.

8) An-Cap

An-Cap is a common shorting for the classification of anarcho-capitalist. It is a philosophy that anarchy is the freest type of society we can live in. In an anarchist society there would be no government so the market would be free as in the economic system of capitalism. Not all libertarians are anarchist, just the smart ones 😉

9) Natural Rights

There are books written on this subject, but in simplest terms it means that we are born with rights. These rights are not given to us by government or by another person. We can speak therefore we have freedom of speech. We are alive therefore we have a right to life. We can own items therefore we have a right to property.

[inside of joke]

 10) Unschooled

Libertarians in general do not like the public school system. First it is paid by money that was forcible taken from people. Second, school is compulsory, meaning if you do not send your kids to school you will be in trouble. Of course there are ways around this i.e. homeschooling. A small group of libertarians take it one step further and say that children should be given freedom in their school to be allowed to choose what they learn and how they learn. Parents should be there to help and support their children. For more on this topic click here.

How many of the terms did you know? Are you a libertarian?

Good luck in 2015!