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In reply to the discussion: Hello, DU. I am a libertarian. [View all]Ravenna44
(40 posts)I have only talked with two Libertarians before you. The first was a guy I dated. His ideas were Darwinian - basically "it's a mean ole world and it's not government's job to rescue people.". For example, he wanted to see abortion outlawed, not for the usual reasons, but because it amounted to rescuing people from their own bad choices. I asked, "what if a woman cis too poor to afford prenatal care? What if she was raped? What if she has health problems? Would you be okay with that even if it meant her dying?" He said, well, whatever happens, happens. If she dies, then she wasnt strong enough to survive. And them's the breaks.
The punchline: he didn't have a condom but wanted to have sex anyway. . Meaning he was okay with impregnating me, and then shrugging and (if he ran the government the way he wanted it run), outlawing abortion, watching me die in pregnancy, and calling it my own problem.
This got me thinking of the function of government in repairing inequities so we can have a just society. Fact is, when two people have sex, only one of them bears the burden of pregnancy. When a minority goes to work or walks down the street, he is likely to be outnumbered by the majority. Women will always be in general weaker and less aggressive than men and outnumbered in some workplaces for the foreseeable future; gays will always be just a few percent of the population; etc. If we are okay with a dog-eat-dog world (like my date) we could say, "Those who can't defend themselves: eh, let them suffer!". But assuming we want something better, I think government involvement is the only option.
I am guessing libertarians are mostly straight and white and male. Tell me if I am wrong.
The evening ended with him saying, "Well I wouldnt stop YOU from getting an abortion!" at which point I laughed at him and told him to leave.
So: your thoughts on how to resolve the fact that we are not born equal, not really. And that the nature of the beast is that certain groups can and have and will get a raw deal. Unless the law (imperfect as it is) evens things out somewhat.