Comments on: You’re Probably Not a Real Libertarian

By: Vedran S

Vedran S — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:24:22 +0000

I really like your article. I my self have become vegetarian recently and currently doing more studying about vegunism. I came to that through a mindful rational approach. As I am not willing to steal directly from someone because it is morally wrong and therefore I don’t believe in a third party (government) to steal on my behalf. I took the same approach when I realized that I was willing to eat meat as long as someone else did the slaughtering, but if I had to do it my self day in and day I wouldn’t be able to it. (if it was a life and death situation I would). So your article makes a great comparison.

By: pan card

pan card — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 11:46:21 +0000

Great blog! I really love how it’s easy on my eyes as well as the information are well written. I am wondering how I could be notified whenever a new post has been made. I have subscribed to your rss feed which ought to do the trick! Have a nice day!

By: veteran attorney

veteran attorney — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:11:27 +0000

You should take part in a contest for one of the best blogs on the web. I will recommend this site!

By: Albertha Wormuth

Albertha Wormuth — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 05:35:26 +0000

Hello, I am really impressed with your writing skills and also with the layout on your weblog. Is this a custom theme or did you customize it yourself ? Either way keep up the nice quality writing, it is rare to see a nice blog like this one these days.. Thanks!.

By: aluminum bronze

aluminum bronze — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 17:32:31 +0000

Thanks for spending the time to discuss this, I really feel strongly about it and love studying more on this topic. If doable, as you turn into an expert, would you mind updating your blog with more details?

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 15:17:03 +0000

Animals do have rights. The right not to be abused etc. and I agree with these rights. I prefer free range chicken eggs to the alternative. However, I cannot accept the argument that Libgirl puts forth, mainly that animals being allowed to run around free is the answer. Veganism does not help the overpopulation of wolves or the underpopulation of Rhinos. In fact, it can hurt the delicate balance of life. With too many deer comes sickness, and disease which can then wipe out a population animals. Instead honest, clear management of animals and plants, and fish etc and the humane keeping and killing of them is the best we can do. I hope that this is where we go in the 21st century but with all the starving people in the world I seriously doubt it.

By: Ted R

Ted R — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 18:30:47 +0000

I hesitate to say that animals do not have SOME sort of rights based upon the fact that they’re alive and aware, to some extent, depending upon how complex their nervous system is. I find it ironic that people love their dogs and cats, and would never consider eating them, but don’t think twice about a cow (which is bigger than both of them, and arguably has a more complex nervous system). I would not say that animals are on the same level as humans, in sentience, intelligence, or the quantity of postulated rights, but that doesn’t preclude animals from any consideration at all. In the very least, animals ought to have the right to live. This is a fundamental right to any living sentient thing, indicated by the animals propensity to survive and to stay alive amidst various hazards. Obviously, animals don’t have the right to vote or things like that, because such things are beyond an animal’s comprehension, but at the same time, to suggest that humans are removed from the classification of ‘animal’ is ridiculous and idiotic. If you call yourself a ‘libertarian’ you MUST believe that beings have the right to their own life, and to be free of force against their bodies and their lives. How is it not force to kill an animal (deny it its life and liberty, let alone any sense it may have of happiness) and eat it? That is simply tyranny. A plant has no scientifically demonstrable sentience, nor do they have any nerves by which they could feel pain. To equate killing a plant with killing a sentient animal is to compare apples and oranges. It is true that for something to live, something must die. But that is not license, however, to just kill what you please; if you think otherwise, stop calling yourself a libertarian, and go start bombing the Middle East for oil.

By: libertariangirl

libertariangirl — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 19:55:01 +0000

Anyone who knows me knows I love heaps of text more than anything!

I obviously don’t think non-human animals have the right to human rights (and being a libertarian, I disagree with probably a majority of people on what humans have a right to as far as ‘human rights’). Mainly, I think the best results happen when people are allowed to live their own lives for themselves. It’s pretty easy to extend this to animals. Anyone who looks at a hog lagoon bigger than the Exxon Valdez oil spill, polluting the groundwater of half a state, can see that there is something inherently wrong with it for people and animals. Yet, anyone who buys meat at a grocery store is contributing to it with their purchase. That’s the main thing I’m against.

I certainly don’t think animals should have any sort of human rights, but I think they should simply be treated like animals and allowed to participate in their natural, most cherished behaviors… pretty simple things like standing up and turning around, seeing the sky, feeling the grass under their feet. It sounds ridiculous, but yet there are billions of animals destined to be eaten right now who have never done any of these things because of the filthy, disgusting conditions we keep them in. There’s a reason that slaughterhouses don’t give tours even upon request.

I think the question of whether flatworms, jellyfish, and sponges have natural rights can be left until factory farming has been abolished in favor of free markets, transparency, and accountability in that area. There are about 50 billion land animals who are killed this way each year, and these are all animals with self-awareness and sentience. We can start with the vertebrates, or even the mammals, and whether invertebrates have any sort of rights we can figure out later, when we’re not violating the obvious natural rights of all these other sentient beings for a taste that’s not even coming from the meat.

By: Scott R

Scott R — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 22:46:00 +0000

Another vegan libertarian here in support!

By: Patrick

Patrick — Sun, 02 May 2010 23:57:10 +0000

A little late in the game, I know- but I see your point. My only question is this- is it legitimate for us to humanely kill animals to eat them? I know you’ve (technically correctly) made the point that we can live without meat; well, so can many other omnivores. Are they all inherently immoral?
I’m not trying to antagonize you or troll. I am a libertarian who believes strongly in the theory of natural rights, and when my girlfriend asked me why animals don’t have natural rights, it disturbed me that I had no answer. I suppose they do, then. But then several questions emerge:

Philosophically, why? It’s easy to see why in primates, or maybe all mammals, even perhaps including some birds, reptiles, and cephalopods. But do flatworms? Jellyfish? Sponges? Also, it is clearly the natural order that omnivores eat both animals and non-animal living organisms. Again, I can certainly see how factory farming is immoral by these standards, but I’m not sure it logically follows that eating animals is immoral….

Thanks for sorting through that heap of text, and I hope I can hear back