Sunday, November 9, 2008

The Libertarian Purity Test

This is a good one.

Click here to take The Libertarian Purity Test.
Interesting stuff, interesting questions.

Please pay attention to the preface where he distinguishes between Privatization and Sub-Contracting.
Please note his assurance that this isn't some sort of McCarthyite purging device to separate the sheep from the goats.

I scored a 91, although I might have only scored an 89 if hooked to a lie detector.
The questions begin with common sense statements like "Is Government Spending Too High?" (Doh!) and end with "Should The State Be Abolished?" (Hmmmm....What other entity would protect me from Fembuttx, or my other enemies?)

Post your results in the comments.

15 comments:

Sew daze said...

59-I am a medium core libertarian....what the hell does that mean? I like my steaks medium rare, I like my medium sized....Does that mean that I like my government medium mediocre??

I need a hard core or pure libertarian to help me out here. Whited wont count, he is barely hard core.....

Anonymous said...

I scored 160, but I consider myself a voluntaryist more than a libertarian these days, most libertarians are too statist for my taste. So of course I had to consider this question:

Would you call yourself an "anarcho-capitalist?"

I decided yes, because I used to use that term, but have given it up as it doesn't really fit me as well as voluntaryist or anarchist does.

I also had to think about this question:

Do you think we spend too much on anti-poverty programs?

If by "we" he means the government, then yes. If by "we" he means, every one in the world, then I am not sure. In the free market there would be anti poverty charities, and I have no idea how much they would collect. I finally decided he meant the government.

Dr Ralph said...

I am proud to say I scored a 15.

I would probably scored a little higher but the phrasing of the questions seemed to be deliberately written to evoke a "no!" from me. So be it.

Alas, too much insistence on ideological purity is the curse of political parties. Witness the current blamification going on in the party of McCain-Palin.

Browncoat Libertarian said...

I got a 75, which is about right on the scale created by the author who apparently equates libertarianism with anarchism.

Honestly, I just don't understand why the anarchists just don't go off and form "The Anarchist Party".

Gar said...

What a fun little test. I scored a 38, but most of the time I felt there were no right answers. I don't like tests where they limit my choices. Same goes for government regulations.

Anonymous said...

I scored 111

blog deleted said...

49 - I guess I need to study up on my Libertarianism.
fembuttx, we should meet and discuss how to overthrow the system.

Fester said...

Jonestien, The libertarian party was formed by anarchists or those who these days are considered anarchists. We have to ask you, why are you messing with our party with your big government ways?

Lisa said...

I scored an 11! What can I say!

Anonymous said...

I scored 36, "my lib credentials are obvious and I will become more extreme as time goes on." WOW! I understand gar, I didn't like the fact that there was not an "undecided" or "dunno" option. Should we privatize this and that...I dunno. What's with the privatize stuff. Privatizing the Police Department? Never thought about it, don't have any sort of educated thought about it!

Dr Ralph said...

Privatizing the Police Force -- this will, of course be contracted out to the lowest bidder.

Think: shopping mall security guards, really underpaid shopping mall security guards. with convenience store clerk attitudes about their jobs, and live ammunition.

As soon as you make it just about how cheaply you can hire them, what kind of police force do you think you'll end up with?

The Whited Sepulchre said...

Doctor,
See the "Severin" comment above about the Anarcho-Capitalists. (I don't know if he's who you were referring to or if you were making a point about the test.)
That's why I peaked at a 91.

However, if you're interested in further reading..... Patterico's Pontifications has a recent rant that might shed light on this subject:

http://patterico.com/2008/10/13/13-of-new-atlanta-police-officers-have-this-in-common/

Fester said...

Dr. Ralph,

You do not know what you are talking about. In a free market, you would be responsible to hire your own protection and investigative services. I guess if you are a cheapskate you might hire some mall guard for your protection, others will hire more qualified police.

Dr Ralph said...

Uncle Fester -- so if I'm hearing you correctly, the Mexican drug cartels are a shining example of how this would work. Indeed, they are perhaps the purest example of free market capitalism we have available.

I stand corrected!

Fester said...

Dr. Ralph, I am not sure how you came to the conclusion that a Mexican drug cartel, operates a private security and investigative firm, instead of them operating a drug smuggling business. Your leap of logic is astounding. There are plenty of competent private security agencies and private investigators out there, it is not like I was referring to anything that doesn't currently exist. When Heath Ledger died, they didn't call the cops they called their private police force first.

Even if you just believe drug smugglers are a general example of a free market, you are crazy to think that government has no policies regarding the sale and distribution of drugs. If the government has policies about the sale of a product then that product is not sold under a free market system.