One Hour to Ask a Libertarian 2012!

Nick Gillespie and Meredith Bragg | 6.12.2012 10:02 AM

In about an hour, we're starting Ask a Libertarian 2012. From 11a.m. to 4p.m. Matt Welch and Nick Gillespie will be fielding any and all questions in rapid-response videos that will be posted right here at Reason.com.

Fire away!:

Should anything be banned?
Aren't libertarians just Democrats who hate poor people?
Do you really want to legalize Heroin?
Who will you be voting for in November?
Where did you get that blouse?

Gillespie and Welch are the authors of the book The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong with America, out in paperback June 26 .

On Tuesday, from 11AM ET til 4PM ET, Gillespie and Welch will receive questions via Facebook, Twitter, and email, and, with the help of Reason.tv's crack team of videographers, will post rapid-fire video responses to your most probing and provocative queries.

The lines are open, so think up your toughest question and send it our way.

To ask via email, send to letters@reason.com
To ask via Facebook, go to Reason's Facebook page
To ask via Twitter, send to @reason
To ask via YouTube, comment to this YouTube video

And on the day of the event, we'll scan the comments section at Hit & Run and our Ask a Libertarianpage.

About 40 seconds. Produced by Meredith Bragg.

Visit Reason.tv for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic updates when new material goes live.

For last year's Ask a Libertarian-athon, click below.

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NEXT: A.M. Links: AP Sues For NYPD Spy-Related Records, Town Sets Up Swear Jar, North Dakota May Abolish Property Taxes

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Fist of Etiquette 13 years ago

If one were to look into the face of true libertarianism, what evil would be staring back?
1. Chloe 13 years ago
  
  I think it would be more like looking into the heart of the Tardis.
sarcasmic 13 years ago

If a man is speaks in a forest, and no women hear him, is he still wrong?
Double D 13 years ago

If you put three libertarians in a room together, how many factions would you end up with?
1. LTC John 13 years ago
  
  2.5
2. Raston Bot 13 years ago
  
  Pi-something if it's a round room.
SIV 13 years ago

Democrats themselves hate poor people.
CockGobbla 13 years ago

Will libertarians finally agree that the 2011 motion picture adaptation of Atlas Shrugged, Part I, well, kinda sucked?
1. Double D 13 years ago
  
  No.
  1. Double D 13 years ago
    
    But it did suck.
    1. CockGobbla 13 years ago
      
      It works to piss of liberals who might see it on you DVD shelf, but for $20 I would rather just pack my shelf with a few mint-condition Ron Paul newsletters circa 1991.
      1. CockGobbla 13 years ago
        
        *off
LTC John 13 years ago

What is the libertarian position on "Never Again"? Given a Holocaust type situation, that is.
1. Mongo 13 years ago
  
  Good one, LTCJ.
xenia onatopp 13 years ago

Why do libertarians hate the children?
MOFO. 13 years ago

Do you just want to live in Somalia?
T o n y 13 years ago

On antiredistributionist grounds, how is a nightwatchman state fundamentally morally distinct from a social welfare state?
1. sarcasmic 13 years ago
  
  http://bastiat.org/en/the_law.html
2. ant1sthenes 13 years ago
  
  Well, it does a lot less, which means it costs a lot less to run, which requires less redistribution of wealth to the state and its employees and clients.
  1. T o n y 13 years ago
    
    So a little theft is OK. At what point does it become a morally reprehensible amount of theft? Or is that up to debate?
sarcasmic 13 years ago

How many times was Tony dropped on his head as a child?
TangoDing 13 years ago

Man that dude jsut looks corrupt as the day is long.

http://www.Anon-Geeks.tk
1. DesigNate 13 years ago
  
  Nice observation of Tony anonbot.
2. The Last American Hero 13 years ago
  
  Never judge a man until you've walked a mile in his jacket.
Fist of Etiquette 13 years ago

Did you ever do it to Ravel's Bol?ro?
1. Ska 13 years ago
  
  Does Beck's version count?
  1. Fist of Etiquette 13 years ago
    
    Pervert.
Dagny T. 13 years ago

Paging Hugh Akston. Any chance we can get a Typical Libertarian simulcast up in here?
CampingInYourPark 13 years ago

How will Libertarian principles be realized in government apart from promoting alliances with those that agree government should be minimal and constrained?
DesigNate 13 years ago

At what temperature should I store my monocle and top hat for maximum lifespan?

Oh and what would you suggest to get the blood of your migrant child slaves workers out of your Armani tux?
heller 13 years ago

Officer, am I free to gambol across plain and forest?
1. Chloe 13 years ago
  
  No, there is currently a gambol lockdown in process. All gamboling is prohibited and those caught gamboling across plain and forest will be shot.
Palin's Buttplug 13 years ago

Why do libertarians wish to force gold hegemony on everyone else?

(OT GDP -8.9% in q4 2008 http://www.treasury.gov/resour.....alEcon.PDF)
1. heller 13 years ago
  
  Why is shrike such a twerp?
  1. SugarFree 13 years ago
    
    Watch your mouth, heller. Or he'll settle the argument by posting your address.
2. ant1sthenes 13 years ago
  
  Do they? I thought they (to the extent there is any pro-gold strain) support free competition in currency, as opposed to the dollar hegemony your side is currently forcing on us. You intellectually dishonest piece of human garbage.
  1. Palin's Buttplug 13 years ago
    
    Eat shit. You are free to carry pesos, yen, or any currency you wish. No one is stopping you.
    
    You just can't pass off some loony Liberty dollar as official FRNs.
    1. ant1sthenes 13 years ago
      
      Judging by your list, you strategically left out the words "state-backed fiat" before currency.
      1. ant1sthenes 13 years ago
        
        And how can you pass a metal coin off as a paper bill anyway?
sage 13 years ago

What was the bestest episode of Firefly?
1. Mo' $parky 13 years ago
  
  The last one.
  1. DEG 13 years ago
    
    Was Christina Hendriks in it?
    
    (For the ladies, Adam Baldwin was probably in it.)
Cole Gentles 13 years ago

Under libertarian rule, how many licks would it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll tootsie pop.
1. Mo' $parky 13 years ago
  
  Science has already determined that the answer is three. It's settled...
  1. AlmightyJB 13 years ago
    
    I thought Li'l Kim settled that?
Warty 13 years ago

How much joy did it give you to destroy the griefers? Come on, I know you cackled at least a little.
Mongo 13 years ago

A tortoise is lying on its back, baking in the hot sun. Do you help turn it over?
1. Chloe 13 years ago
  
  I would. I also help the little turtles that are crossing the street so that they are not hit, by picking them up and taking them to the other side of the street. And yes, in case you are wondering, I hit a squirrel with my car and started to cry.
  1. Mo' $parky 13 years ago
    
    I ran over a chipmunk the other day. I swerved a little to avoid it because there were no other cars on the road but it ran right under my tire as I was about to pass harmlessly over it. I called it a dumbass.
    1. Mongo 13 years ago
      
      Please don't swerve. Don't slam on the brakes. Just slow down as safely as possible.
      1. Mo' $parky 13 years ago
        
        Are you telling me how to drive on an open road?
        
        Fuck off, slaver!
  2. Warty 13 years ago
    
    I almost cried when I ran over my first chimpmunk as a 16-year-old. I was even more of a giant girl back then.
    1. Mongo 13 years ago
      
      Chimpmunk?
      
      Did you hit a rodent or a fucking primate?
      1. Warty 13 years ago
        
        ALL CREATURES DESERVE TO BE HAPPY
        
        Except for our griefers. I would happily run them over.
  3. Mongo 13 years ago
    
    I betcha you're a cutie-pie.
Mo' $parky 13 years ago

Given almost 250 years of data, is a supposed democratic republic the best form of government for maintaining individual liberties? Do you believe that human nature will ever get past the need for rulers and peons?
sage 13 years ago

Stolen from Bill Murray: You encounter Justin Beiber and Obama drowning in a lake, and you can save only one of them. Do you go to lunch or read the paper?
1. AlmightyJB 13 years ago
  
  If I was at the lake I would probably go fishing assuming I had some beer.
2. Warty 13 years ago
  
  Justin Beiber is unfairly maligned here. I mean, he's only killed people that had it coming, which is way more than any president could claim.
Carston 13 years ago

Another one I often hear (similar to "Aren't libertarians just Democrats who hate poor people?") from people who are libertarian illiterate is:
Aren't libertarians just Republicans who want drugs legalized?

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