Spotting the libertarian

There's a lot of talk about what is a "real" libertarian or not.  Gary Johnson is alternately called a liberal or a conservative but even among so called libertarians, he gets told that he's not libertarian or not enough.

So how does one spot a real libertarian?  Is it all predicted on political policy?  I would venture to say no.  Here's why...

I've often maintained here that being libertarian is not necessarily the same thing as being a Libertarian.  The capital "L" Libertarian is a political animal, focused primarily on politics and policy.  A lowercase "l" libertarian is more often than not concerned with applying libertarian principles to their own life first then advocating for those principles both as a role model and by education.

A libertarian, or libertarian minded person, believes in individual liberty obviously.  That includes being a responsible person and being a person with integrity.  Being libertarian means that you look to yourself to do what's right, you don't"need" a third party authority to make you do the right things or follow agreed upon rules or abide by contracts and agreements you enter.

A libertarian is always making the effort to be self-sufficient, self-disciplined, and self-motivated.  A libertarian has ideals, goals and objectives they try to live up to.  A libertarian believes in the ability of people to be able to be all of those things.

Because libertarians believe that all people have the capacity to be all of those things, we tend to look at people as capable individuals first, essentially giving the benefit of the doubt until we have evidence otherwise.  A libertarian is not racist or sexist or most other "ists" because we don't judge people as part of a group but as individuals.

A libertarian does believe in order and rules and laws as long as those rules, etc... are agreed upon and/or are sensible and work to achieve the most individual liberty while minimizing negative impact up others liberty, well-being, etc...

A libertarian believes in science, the scientific process and using fact based evidence.  Being rational, logical and practical are usually very important to libertarians.  Because of this, most libertarians tend to try to interact with others rationally, calmly, even respectfully because to do otherwise is to not be in control of yourself very well.

You don't see most libertarians being unnecessarily rude or making personal insults or being an overall"jerk" for the most part.  This hails back to being rational, respectful and believing in being ethical and living up to certain values rather than engaging in undisciplined and generally not being in control of yourself.

When looking for a "real" libertarian, look for the person who is doing the things we expect of libertarians.  They are being self controlled, not forcing their ideas and beliefs on everyone else while not letting others walk all over their own at the same time.

They aren't engaging in name calling in a discussion or argument because they know that if you get to that point, you've already lost.  In fact, most "real" libertarians I have seen would rather "kill you with kindness" because again, it shows self-discipline and keeping one's mind focused rather than becoming overwhelmed by emotion.

As a matter of fact, most libertarians I know are usually pretty quiet people until you put them on the spot.  They are usually too busy and focused on getting on with their business and their lives to go meddling in other people's affairs.

They are usually the ones who help stranded motorists and help others pick up dropped bags, etc...   Why?  Because they have a degree of self respect and believe in being a good person in general.  They don't believe in going out of their way to get attention for helping when they do because again, attention and publicity isn't the goal.  Their own values and beliefs are what motivates them.

A "real" libertarian walks the walk more than they talk.  They are focused on doing, accomplishing, achieving.

Brow-beating, lecturing and being an emotional bully is usually not a libertarians style.

When I grow up, that's what I want to be.  A libertarian.  Someday I'll get there, until then, I'll keep practicing and working toward being that kind of person.