Libertarianism

Despite Concerns of Economic and Political Outlook, Over 70% of Business Owners are Happy and Expect to Thrive in 2024

Retrieved on:

Sabato, Marzo 9, 2024

Uncertainty, Guidant, Small business, Pain, Growth, Democrat, Libertarianism, Guidant Financial, Face

BOISE, Idaho, March 8, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Despite wavering confidence in today's economy and political uncertainty among nearly half of respondents, an optimistic majority of 77 percent anticipate thriving in the face of economic setbacks and are actively planning for growth in the upcoming year — and an encouraging 73 percent of surveyed business owners reported being happy.

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In its latest 2024 Small Business Trends study, Guidant Financial surveyed over 1,000 business owners nationwide, providing valuable insights into the current state of American small businesses.
"Government regulations often burden small businesses with added complexities, which may be contributing to the growing political divide and uncertainty.
- Jeremy Ames, CEO and Co Founder
However, the study illuminated significant challenges faced by business owners in 2024.
The report delves deeper into the political inclinations of small business owners, discovering that most plan to vote conservative this upcoming election year.

Why have authoritarianism and libertarianism merged? A political psychologist on 'the vulnerability of the modern self'

Retrieved on:

Martedì, Gennaio 2, 2024

To be libertarian is to see the freedom of the individual as the supreme principle of politics.

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To be libertarian is to see the freedom of the individual as the supreme principle of politics.
It is core to the economics and politics of neo-liberalism, as well as to some bohemian counter-cultures.
Consider Donald Trump, whose re-election in 2024 would be seen by many as adding to the international rise of authoritarianism.
Alongside them were the Proud Boys, whose misty libertarianism is paired with a proto-authoritarian commitment to politics as violence.

New age meets anti-vax

But they were also facilitated by libertarian ideologies which rationalise suspicion of and antipathy towards authority of all sorts – and support refusals to comply with public health measures.
One might have thought that Totnes and some other towns like it would be the last places we’d find sympathy for authoritarian politics.
And of that group, 60% believed the use of violence in the name of such a movement would be justified.

Two responses to the same anxiety

As Erich Fromm and others have shown, our ideological affinities are linked to unconscious structures of feeling.
At this level, authoritarianism and libertarianism are the interchangeable products of the same underlying psychological difficulty: the vulnerability of the modern self.
Authoritarian political movements offer a sense of belonging to a collective, and of being protected by its strong leader.
This may be completely illusory, but it nonetheless provides a sense of safety in a world of threatening change and risk.

Barry Richards does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

How this summer's hit 'Rich Men North of Richmond' was appropriated by both the right and left

Retrieved on:

Giovedì, Agosto 31, 2023

Rich Men North of Richmond by Oliver Anthony, which appeared on YouTube just a few weeks ago, is the No.

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Rich Men North of Richmond by Oliver Anthony, which appeared on YouTube just a few weeks ago, is the No.
Sociologically speaking, although its content is essentially libertarian, the song muddies the waters between the American populist left and the right.
His hit is clearly on the right of the political spectrum and lauded by Republicans.
As researchers working in the field of political sociology, we are interested in representations of those within nationalist and populist movements.

Two visions of the “people”

Each sees the political field as divided between the people (seen as organic, authentic and moral) and elites (which are considered disconnected, strategic, inauthentic and above all, immoral).
In their view it is characterized by its high capital of autochthony, of “local people,” as opposed to immigrants or elites.

Work valued, work despised

From this perspective, Anthony’s evocation of the situation of miners activates solidarity among the people who do this kind of work.
In this way, they reconfigure their identity by responding to the contempt in which their occupation is held.
Finally, assiduous religious practice is often associated with adherence to a populist conception of politics.

A class discourse with a libertarian dimension

However, what sets Anthony’s song apart from the usual populist right-wing discourse is that it formulates a class opposition based on socioeconomic income.
This goes further than the vague evocation of an opposition between common people and elites.
This type of occupational retraining will attenuate the anxiety generated by the “New World” Anthony evokes in his song.

Inflation and ‘peripheral regions’

Firstly, there’s the widespread perception that the left has abandoned the blue-collar workers to whom Rich Men is de facto addressed.
Part of this segment of the population feels scorned by “elites” who monopolize symbolic, educational and cultural capital.
Inhabitants of the rural areas tend not to feel represented by elected representatives and the media.

Polarization benefits populists

But there are some sociological lessons to be learned about polarization.
To defuse the polarization that feeds the populist right, its opponents must stop appealing to them as a “basket of deplorables,” to cite Hilary Clinton’s elitist phrase.
Opponents of the populist right must also stop pathologizing them, as is often the case in psychological approaches to political radicalization.
Rather than defusing the framing and polarization that benefit populist politicians, these approaches reinforce them.

Why do voters have to pick a Republican or a Democrat in the US?

Retrieved on:

Lunedì, Luglio 10, 2023

Why does it have to be Democrat vs. Republican in elections?

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Why does it have to be Democrat vs. Republican in elections?
Why can’t it be Republican vs. Republican or Democrat vs. Democrat?
– Gianna, age 13, Phoenix, Arizona
Why does it have to be Democrat vs. Republican in elections?
Why can’t it be Republican vs. Republican or Democrat vs. Democrat?

Why do we have a two-party system?

It states that only two major parties will emerge whenever elections follow a set of rules known as single-winner plurality voting.
Single-winner means only one candidate can win a given election.
Think of it this way: Suppose a teacher threw a class party and agreed to order whatever food the students wanted.
While other options exist, many voters decide to pick between the only two that can win.

It doesn’t have to be Republican vs. Democrat

While a Democrat or Republican wins most elections in the United States, that doesn’t mean voters can only have two choices.
Second, plenty of candidates run for office every year as something other than a Republican or Democrat.
As my research shows, Libertarians generally agree with the Republican Party on economic issues and the Democratic Party on social issues.
This system allows voters to rank all candidates – Democratic, Republican, independent or minor party – from their favorite to least favorite on the same ballot.
So voters often do have more options than simply Democrat vs. Republican.

Our hybrid media system has emboldened anti-LGBTQ+ hate – what can we do about it?

Retrieved on:

Lunedì, Maggio 15, 2023

Anti-LGBTQ+ hate from religious conservatives and far-right extremists in the United States, and now in Australia, is a worrying trend.

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Anti-LGBTQ+ hate from religious conservatives and far-right extremists in the United States, and now in Australia, is a worrying trend.
Out gay politician Alex Greenwich has brought a defamation suit against Latham over an offensive homophobic tweet.
Yet the issues remain a concern in any jurisdiction where US news media has audiences and digital platforms operate.

Commercialising hate and emboldening extremists

Notions of “sexual purity”, linked to nationhood by religious groups and far-right extremists, are circulated via the “manosphere”: an overlapping group of websites, online forums and blogs that promote masculinity and misogyny.
The Center for Countering Digital Hate estimates that anti-LGBTQ+ extremists are picking up followers at quadruple the rate since Elon Musk acquired Twitter.
The monetising of hate through YouTube includes the sale of mundane items such as sweatshirts and mugs adorned with homophobic slurs.
TikTok is the only platform to have improved on the timely removal of hate speech.

Political permissiveness and the ‘Trump effect’

It can also undermine confidence in democratic elections and propagate climate denialism, feeding the misinformation and disinformation ecosystem.
This has occurred within a broader context of misinformation driven by domestic politicians and permissiveness by digital platforms towards hateful conduct.
Read more:
Clickbait extremism, mass shootings, and the assault on democracy – time for a rethink of social media?

Visibility as a double-edged sword

In Australia, an estimated 11% of the population have a diverse sexual orientation or gender identity.
In the US, 7.1% of the adult population identify as one of these non-heterosexual identities, double the percentage from 2012.
This visibility has become a double-edged sword.
Communities have gained recognition through identity politics, but their visibility makes them a potential target for violence.

Addressing the hate feedback loop

What needs to be done to address the hate feedback loop?
Digital platforms also need to address online hate in a timely manner and their responses need to be coordinated across platforms.
The origins of the anti-LGBTQ+ hate feedback loop are complex.
Not addressing them will leave a growing number of people susceptible to violence, which diminishes us all.

To understand American politics, you need to move beyond left and right

Retrieved on:

Mercoledì, Aprile 19, 2023

But this animosity seems to have more to do with tribal loyalty than liberal-versus-conservative disagreements about policy.

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But this animosity seems to have more to do with tribal loyalty than liberal-versus-conservative disagreements about policy.
Liberal Democrats are on the left, conservative Republicans on the right, and a small sliver of moderate independents are in the middle.
But political scientists like us have long argued that a line is a bad metaphor for how Americans think about politics.
Recently, some political scientists have argued that views on racial issues represent a third “dimension” in American politics.

A new picture of American politics

In our new article in Sociological Inquiry, we analyzed public opinion data from 2004 to 2020 to develop a more nuanced picture of American political attitudes.
Our aim was to do a better job of figuring out what Americans actually think about politics, including policies related to race and racism.
Many have very strong views on certain issues, but can’t be pigeonholed as being on the left or right in general.
Picture, for instance, those voters in 2016 who were attracted to both Bernie Sanders’ economic populism and Donald Trump’s attacks on immigrants.

Five groups – but only two parties

These three groups of Americans have a difficult time fitting in with either of the two major parties in the U.S.
Seeing Americans as divided into these five groups – as opposed to polarized between the left and right – shows that both political parties are competing for coalitions of voters with different combinations of views.
But perhaps most importantly, these five groups show how diverse Americans’ political attitudes really are.

Alabama US Senate Race Scrambled at CPAC: TrumpDemocrats.com Founder Victor Williams Enters Senate Race Blasting McConnell Interference and Unqualified Shelby Intern Katie Britt

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Martedì, Marzo 1, 2022

Democrat, Democrat Party, Senate, CPAC, Internship, US, Old Crow, PAC, Appropriations Committee, Jurist, United States Senate, America First Policies, Trump, The Business Council, MAGA, Pharmaceutical industry, Property insurance, Libertarianism

TrumpDemocrats.com was launched by Law Professor Victor Williams, a long-time advocate for Donald Trump.

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TrumpDemocrats.com was launched by Law Professor Victor Williams, a long-time advocate for Donald Trump.
In December 2015, Williams was the nation's first and only academic to predict candidate Trump's primary and then general election victories.
Now, Williams is personally scrambling the closely-watched race for the US Senate in Alabama.
Alabamians resent Mitch McConnell coming into Alabama to anoint unqualified former Shelby Intern Katie Britt.

The 1619 Project Criticized as Insufficiently Celebratory of American Capitalism in Heritage Foundation Report

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Martedì, Marzo 23, 2021

Articles, Economy, Economic ideologies, Slavery in the United States, Historical revisionism, African slave trade, Social philosophy, The 1619 Project, Capitalism, Libertarianism, Slavery

Recently, the Heritage Foundation published a report, Capitalism in the 1619 Project, seeking to disqualify the 1619 Project curricular materials as insufficiently celebratory of American capitalism.

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Recently, the Heritage Foundation published a report, Capitalism in the 1619 Project, seeking to disqualify the 1619 Project curricular materials as insufficiently celebratory of American capitalism.
The report primarily asserts that the 1619 Project overstates slavery's importance to U.S. economic history.
As Rockman explains, the report is less concerned with potential students' content knowledge about slavery than with students' receptivity to the libertarian policy preferences of the Heritage Foundation.
The report is disconnected from the educational research literature and current scholarly literature on both American slavery and history pedagogy.

CBMJ Signs LOI to Acquire DeDonato Enterprises, L.L.C.; Acquisition to Add 2 Million in Revenue and Positive Cash Flow

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Martedì, Settembre 1, 2020

Articles, Libertarianism, Marketing

pursuant to which CBMJ will acquire 100 percent of the membership interest of DeDonato.

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pursuant to which CBMJ will acquire 100 percent of the membership interest of DeDonato.
is a Digital Marketing Agency based in Metro-Atlanta that specializes in reaching a conservative / libertarian / religious audience.
DeDonato is on track to exceed two million in sales in 2020 despite a temporary slowdown due to Covid 19.
DeDonato will remain a wholly owned subsidiary of CBMJ and will continue to operate in its currentlocation.

‘Zen and the Art of Funk Capitalism’ Presents Libertarian Free Market Approach to Solving Global Poverty

Retrieved on:

Mercoledì, Giugno 24, 2020

Economic ideologies, Anti-fascism, Ideologies, Thought, Articles, Political ideologies, Anti-capitalism, Social philosophy, Capitalism, Libertarianism, Libertarian Party, Socialism

Through analyzing the strengths and shortcomings of global economies past and present, he determines that a libertarian free market approach offers the most beneficial pathway to eliminating poverty.

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Through analyzing the strengths and shortcomings of global economies past and present, he determines that a libertarian free market approach offers the most beneficial pathway to eliminating poverty.
In Zen and the Art of Funk Capitalism, Philip identifies coercion, including nondisclosure and fraud, as one of modern capitalisms most detrimental flaws.
Ultimately, this is a manual for restructuring education and banking in order to eliminate global poverty, said Philip.
Unlike some traditional socialist philosophies, Zen and the Art of Funk Capitalism outlines a free market libertarian approach to achieve some of the goals of such philosophies without the need for government action or the changing of power structures.