Hacker News Reader

Being libertarian leaning is not being an anarchist. A core part of being a libertarian is a strong judicial system and only the fringiest of an already fringe are against police, such as the sovereign citizen types.

FBI does counter intelligence as its primary mission anyway (as opposed to just law enforcement) and Thiel seems to be concerned with China, not using the gov as a weapon against citizens domestically.

View on HN

> A core part of being a libertarian is a strong judicial system and only the fringiest of an already fringe are against police, such as the sovereign citizen types.

Does that make taxation a core part of being a libertarian as well? To pay for vital government services?

Yes, taxation is a core part of being a libertarian. Generally, libertarians believe in taxation only for essential government services, but policing is definitely considered essential to libertarians. It is central to the ideology.

Colloquially, anarcho-capitalism is sometimes also referred to as libertarianism. Those who subscribe to anarcho-capitalism believe in stateless societies, of which taxation would be incompatible. However, Thiel purports to be a libertarian in the stricter sense. This usage is not applicable here.

They’re all “libertarian” until their favorite bank goes belly up and needs a bail out.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com