Difference between revisions 922647 and 1187020 on enwiki

The term '''libertarian''' commonly refers
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  to the ideas and adherents of '''[[libertarianism]]'''
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  (aka [[classical liberalism]]).

== Etymology of the word "libertarian" ==

The term "libertarian" originally means proponent of liberty,
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  and can still be used in this meaning, in the proper context.
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  It can be been opposed to [[authoritarian]] (in politics),
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  or to proponents of [[determinism]] (in philosophy), etc.

== "Libertarian" as "anarchist" ==

The term "libertarian" was also used by [[anarchist]]s
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  as synonymous for naming their movement,
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  so that they would clearly avoid the confusion with the derogatory uses
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  of [[anarchy]] as synonymous for [[anomie]].

Just like the word "[[Anarchism/etymology|anarchist]]",
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  the word "libertarian", at least in [[Europe]],
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  has long been synonymous with the socialist kind of anarchists,
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  which may be specified as [[libertarian socialism|libertarian socialists]].
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  On the other hand, in the [[United States]], it was rather understood as synonymous with [[individualist anarchist]].

== "Libertarian" as "classical liberal" ==

However, in the [[US]] since the 1950s,
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  the word [[''libertarian]]
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'' has been massively used by [[classical liberal]]s,
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  only a few of them being [[anarcho-capitalism|anarchists]].
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  These classical liberals sought to avoid confusion
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  with uses of the word [[liberal]] then widely associated
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  to various [[social-democratic]] and even [[socialist]]
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  parties and even ideologies.
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  Indeed, the [[libertarian socialism|left-anarchist]] tradition
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  was as not strong in the US,
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  so the word was not deeply tied to left-anarchism,
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  whereas there was a tradition of [[individualist anarchist]]s
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  and other non-socialists and non-anarchists
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  calling themselves "libertarians" in the US.
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  The word has spread to the US and then other countries,
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  through the founding of think tanks, parties, etc.

== A typographical convention ==
Some writers also follow the convention
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  to use "libertarian" (spelled in lowercase)
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  to mean a general advocate of [[libertarianism]],
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  while "Libertarian" (capitalized) refers specifically
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  to a member of a libertarian political party such as any of the following:

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*[[United States Libertarian Party]]
*[[Partido Movimiento Libertario|Movimiento Libertario]] of [[Costa Rica]]

''See also'':
* [[libertarianism]] | [[classical liberalism]]
* [[liberalism]] | [[liberal]] | [[new liberalism]] | [[political liberalism]]
* [[anarchism]] | [[individualist anarchism]] | [[libertarian socialism]] | [[anarcho-capitalism]]