Is libertarianism an 'ivory tower'?

Is libertarianism an 'ivory tower'?
by Kent McManigal

I was told yesterday that I live in an Ivory Tower. Nice! But it doesn't seem to lift me beyond the height of the ground around me, and it's made out of reddish-brown sandy dirt instead of ivory.

The assertion of my ivory-tower dwelling was made because I claim that voluntary charity is better than coerced welfare, and that instead of government protecting "the weak" from "the strong", it has become "the strong" that preys on "the weak" and it therefore attracts the very worst of "the strong" who wish to prey on others with impunity.

I assure you I would qualify for all sorts of government "benefits" due to my income and situation. I could also "benefit" by using government against people who have harmed me. Many people don't understand why I refuse to take advantage of the government's offers of "help". It's because the cost of "free" is too high for me to afford.

It is pure delusion to claim that The State is in any way good or beneficial. The real problems of real life can not be solved with coercion; only shifted, rearranged, or delayed. They accrue compound interest as well while you move them around to avoid dealing with them. That's the reality, no matter what some might wish.

Respecting liberty and the rights of others always works, in real life, every single time it is applied. That isn't "ivory tower", that's the real world.

absolutely true.

I cringe when I hear people say they want to "reform government." I scream and want to get violent when I hear conservatives say we need to "cut out waste, fraud and corruption."

What nonsense! Government=waste, fraud and corruption!!!

Conservatives seem to thing that they can do big government right. But the real problem IS big government, and modern conservatives have no solutions, because the fact is they love big government as long as they're in control.