A social libertarian is a person who believes in social liberty, i.e., individual independence and communal autonomy from overarching government or state control.
A social libertarian typically rejects the concentration of decision-making authority into distant, oligarchical, centralized bureaucracies - federal or monolithic - favoring instead the diffusion and localization of that decision-making authority.
Social libertarians support a political, social, and economic environment which allows voluntary accession to associations, but also permits a person to choose to remain free of restraint by society, except in cases in which an individual's claim of freedom interferes with another individual's right to be free from unwarranted, aggressive coercion or harm.
Social libertarians regard free-market capitalism and democratic, communalistic socialism as equally conducive economic means towards the ends of generalistic liberation from tyranny.
A social libertarian typically rejects the concentration of decision-making authority into distant, oligarchical, centralized bureaucracies - federal or monolithic - favoring instead the diffusion and localization of that decision-making authority.
Social libertarians support a political, social, and economic environment which allows voluntary accession to associations, but also permits a person to choose to remain free of restraint by society, except in cases in which an individual's claim of freedom interferes with another individual's right to be free from unwarranted, aggressive coercion or harm.
Social libertarians regard free-market capitalism and democratic, communalistic socialism as equally conducive economic means towards the ends of generalistic liberation from tyranny.
Murray Bookchin's support of decentralized, non-hierarchical communal autonomy, coupled with a belief in individual liberty, indicates that he and his adherents are social libertarians.
by rogue-economist January 23, 2011
Social libertarianism is the belief in social liberty, i.e., individual independence and communal autonomy from overarching government or state control.
Social libertarianism reject the concentration of decision-making authority into distant, oligarchical, centralized bureaucracies - federal or monolithic - favoring instead the diffusion and localization of that decision-making authority.
Social libertarianism supports a political, social, and economic environment which allows voluntary accession to associations, but also permits a person to choose to remain free of restraint by society, except in cases in which an individual's claim of freedom interferes with another individual's right to be free from unwarranted, aggressive coercion or harm.
Social libertarianism regards free-market capitalism and democratic, communalistic socialism as equally conducive economic means towards the ends of generalistic liberation from tyranny.
Social libertarianism reject the concentration of decision-making authority into distant, oligarchical, centralized bureaucracies - federal or monolithic - favoring instead the diffusion and localization of that decision-making authority.
Social libertarianism supports a political, social, and economic environment which allows voluntary accession to associations, but also permits a person to choose to remain free of restraint by society, except in cases in which an individual's claim of freedom interferes with another individual's right to be free from unwarranted, aggressive coercion or harm.
Social libertarianism regards free-market capitalism and democratic, communalistic socialism as equally conducive economic means towards the ends of generalistic liberation from tyranny.
Murray Bookchin's support of decentralized, non-hierarchical communal autonomy, coupled with a belief in individual liberty, indicates that he and his adherents ascribe to social libertarianism.
by rogue-economist January 23, 2011
Social libertarianism is the belief in independence from government or state control that is advocated for by libertarians without the individualistic orientation associated with traditional libertarianism. Many social libertarians believe that small, non-hierarchical community councils are better than large-scale representative governance.
Afraid of the social stigmas associated with the term "anarchism," they referred to their beliefs as social libertarianism.
by adamdouze September 25, 2009
A nice way of saying communist
Many of them tend to be vegetarians and relatively pretentious. Sometimes even rude and obnoxious.
Many of them tend to be vegetarians and relatively pretentious. Sometimes even rude and obnoxious.
"Social Libertarianism stresses that it's believers should think that they are the best thing to happen to the world since sliced bread. It sucks that my girlfriend is a social libertarian, oh well, at least she is only a practice girlfriend."
by California_lateshift June 20, 2008
by california_lateshift June 18, 2008
Not an oxymoron. In fact, the term "libertarian" was first used by a French anarcho-communist back in 1857 to describe himself (an anarchist). The modern term libertarianism (economic freedoms) was originally called liberalism. The term "libertarian" describes liberty (thus, the term is also used to describe metaphysical liberty within philosophy and metaphysics), and the term socialism describes a society in which wealth is fairly distributed. Thus, it is neither a literal nor a practical contradiction.
A libertarian socialist would argue that a society based on such huge disparities of wealth is unfree. If you wish to enter into employment, you choose first and take orders later (as with liberal democracy). Libertarian socialists believe in voluntary association and economic democracy. This will allow the individual to reach his/her full potential.
The most famous example of successful libertarian socialism is the anarcho-syndicalist experiment in Spain during to Spanish Civil War, which was eventually destroyed by Communists and Fascists (see Orwell' "Homage to Catalonia" for excellent first hand reportage of this). At its peak, the anarchist union (CNT) had one million members.
Although sharing much of (if not all of) the Marxist analysis of capitalism, lib socialists vehemently oppose state socialism, especially the authoritarian socialism of Lenin, Trotsky, Mao and, more recently, the socialism of Hugo Chavez. The modern dispute between the two schools of socialism began in the First International, in which Karl Marx and Mikhail Bakunin bitterly argued over the road socialists should take. This dispute has continued ever since, with many Marxist regimes imprisoning, murdering (Russia), and exiling (Cuba) anarchists.
A libertarian socialist would argue that a society based on such huge disparities of wealth is unfree. If you wish to enter into employment, you choose first and take orders later (as with liberal democracy). Libertarian socialists believe in voluntary association and economic democracy. This will allow the individual to reach his/her full potential.
The most famous example of successful libertarian socialism is the anarcho-syndicalist experiment in Spain during to Spanish Civil War, which was eventually destroyed by Communists and Fascists (see Orwell' "Homage to Catalonia" for excellent first hand reportage of this). At its peak, the anarchist union (CNT) had one million members.
Although sharing much of (if not all of) the Marxist analysis of capitalism, lib socialists vehemently oppose state socialism, especially the authoritarian socialism of Lenin, Trotsky, Mao and, more recently, the socialism of Hugo Chavez. The modern dispute between the two schools of socialism began in the First International, in which Karl Marx and Mikhail Bakunin bitterly argued over the road socialists should take. This dispute has continued ever since, with many Marxist regimes imprisoning, murdering (Russia), and exiling (Cuba) anarchists.
Modern advocates of libertarian socialism include linguist Noam Chomsky, historian and playwright Howard Zinn, and the Industrial Workers of the World ("One Big Union"), and the International Workers Association (of which the Spanish CNT is its largest affiliate).
by Anarcho-Atheist October 4, 2008
Libertarian Socialism is a political philosophy that advocates abolition of the state and private property. The term can also be synonymous with anarchism or left libertarianism. The term chould be differentiated from right libertarianism with it's emphasis on laissez-faire capitalism as opposed to libertarian socialism's anti-capitalism and anti-statism ideals.
Johnny is a libertarian socialist who believes in abolition of private proverty along with the state. He believes in a non-violent organic shift to libertarian socialism as opposed to a revolutionary overthrow of authoritarian regimes.
by Jean-Paul Marx December 19, 2010