bh01@CLUTX.BITNET (Russell Nelson) (03/26/87)
1) I'm Russ N., not Robert H. 2) I think you're right - libertarianism *might* be practical. My point, which I stated quite badly (if at all), is that libertarianism will not be adopted as mainstream political thought for many years. The Quakers took generations to reach a consensus amongst themselves that slavery was wrong. Similarly, I feel that a libertarian America is generations away. 3) I'm ripe for a change in the political system in America. The current Republican/conservative and Democrat/liberal views are too close together to encompass my ideals. So please continue trying to convince me that libertarianism is good. 4) As an aside, has anyone heard of the "Pournelle axes"? I saw it mentioned in a book by him (not SF), but I can't locate the book again. Can anyone give me a reference to it? The axes (the word LOOKS mis-spelled) were, as I recall, "Government has the best interests of its citizens at heart", and "Big government is better". Rather than the losing left/right scale that many people use now, you have many more degrees of freedom to describe your political position. Quite useful. -russ