Let me preface this article by saying that most people’s beliefs are heavily influenced by the people they hang around with, and their exposure to different ideas. I couldn’t be a libertarian until I knew what libertarianism was, and I would certainly be something else if I discovered something better. Ultimately, it comes down to the things I value. It would be foolish to say that my values are established on fundamental truths of the universe. The best I can say is that I value these things, so Libertarian ideas make the most sense to me.
I prefer “Freedom from” more than “Freedom to”. I would rather be protected from murder, theft, and arson, than freedom to access healthcare. This generally meshes with libertarian small governments which ideally provide a legal system but don’t provide free healthcare.
I prefer “Equality of Opportunity” over “Equality of Outcome.” A system that allows people to have economic mobility is more important to me than a system that cares for the poor. I don’t see value in a system that taxes the rich and gives it to the poor. Whereas, I do see value in a system that inspires people to take risks and make profit. In a libertarian government there would be no redistribution, which suits my fancy.
My view of “the people” includes all humans, as opposed to communist regimes who view “the people” as the working class. To me, that’s arbitrary and discriminatory. It would seem most equitable to treat all humans as the flawed beautiful creatures they are, even if some of them are born with extra privileges that they may or may not be aware of. To give special treatment to some and special mistreatment to others seems to be subjective discretion to me.
Central planning seems to be inherently flawed. I can’t understand how it leads to anything other than famine and waste, especially when applied to food production. They pay farmers to not farm, meanwhile there are people who literally can’t afford to buy food. In my eyes, if a farmer over produces or under produces, that’s a risk they take when they become farmers. That’s the entrepreneurial element to owning a business. Their business is producing food. When that risk is offloaded to the government, inevitably the taxpayers end up paying for the mistakes, with no negative repercussions for the government. I value a more efficient system. Not one with central planning. To me, that would point to a libertarian government.