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this post was submitted on 19 May 2024
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Why the hell do you think that libertarians don't believe in universal healthcare?
Because it's incompatible with the non-aggression principle.
It's not the idea of healthcare being provided to everybody that's the issue for libertarians. Generally, the issue revolves around how funds are raised for the healthcare. Namely, taxes.
And since when did libertarians oppose taxes?
The relationship between libertarianism and taxes is rather complex, imo. The main issue with taxes that a libertarian would have typically revolves around the interpretation of the NAP. It could be argued that the enforcement of taxes is an aggression that has not been consented to, so, since a libertarian is more in favor of negative liberties, they would take the position that they want freedom from being compelled to pay them. Do note that, like many things, there is a spectrum of this belief — not all libertarians completely oppose taxes. Many libertarians recognize that some amount of taxation is necessary for a properly functioning society. What is essentially universal among libertarians, however, is the minimization of taxes.
I think we seem to have different understandings of what "libertarian" means. I think that libertarian is simply the opposite of authoritarian and has little to do with taxes or other economic stuff.
From my experience, it certainly feels common that people tend to have different definitions and/or misunderstandings of libertarianism.
I take issue with the usage of the word "simply" — I advise against such types of reductionism. That being said, the comparison gets kind of tricky when one considers the different variants/offshoots of libertarianism, or other freedom/liberty oriented political philosophies. It's tempting to try and reduce political philosophies to a point on a 2D plane, like the political compass, or, worse, a 1D line, like the left/right dichotomy, but it's often quite a bit more complex — thinking in terms of absolute "opposites" can lead one down the wrong path. That being said, without being overly pedantic, libertarianism can be thought of as in opposition to authoritarianism.
While it may be possible that a definition of libertarianism doesn't directly reference economic topics, they still arise as a dependency or result. Economics and politics are often tightly intertwined.