Until 2 years ago I had never met a libertarian.

That’s about the same timeframe for me. The Internet is certainly an enabler.

I am a 24 year old American Libertarian from Southern California. I run the Libertarian Group on myspace and as part of the efforts to internationalize the group I have been seeking out libertarian organizations around the world. There have been many common views in my forum over the years that Liberty is strictly an American game and I have made an effort to end this mindset. Upon asking my international members to start subgroups I got a few responses but no Australian group (I now link to the LDP group). Having friends in Australia I began to seek out Australian Libertarian Groups. A few years ago I found the Australian Libertarian Party but was unable to find contacts or any sort of discussion going on. A while ago I found this group and started reading from time to time and have learned quite a bit about Australia and America as well. Watching a near absence of the cult of the soldier, daily pledge of allegiances to the government for school children, a loser pays legal system, an anemic religious right and cops who don’t act like organized criminals I started to see just how large scale these problems are here in America. A common question that has come up in my group is America the ideal country for a future of liberty and if not where in the world should we look. And that is a very tough question to answer but seeking other groups and learning more about other countries has helped considerably.

I used to call myself a ‘liberal capitalist’ because I believe in liberty for people and government non-intervention in the economy. I never really identified as a libertarian until recently. The Rudd internet censorship tipped the boat.

I always point out how dysfunctional, wasteful and abusive government is, and you know what, I almost always get general agreement – because let’s face it, it’s obvious.

A lot of the support for government, or any value, depends not on reason and evidence, but on human orthodoxy. People look which way the wind is blowing before they decide to expose themselves to the possible disapproval of their fellow human beings. Over the last century the accepted thing has been to idolise the state, so that’s what people do, almost without thinking. The main way the principles of liberty will spread will be the core like us, who name and shame the bullying and waste of government for what it is. People will follow you just to fit in, Winston.

I’m a 47 year-old libertarian. Until 7 years ago I had never even heard the word. I used to call myself a ‘Lockean’ LOL. Until 2 years ago I had never met a libertarian. But now the internet is bringing us all together, and I find that anti-establishmentarian skepticism of government is very widespread – far more than support for any major party, if only we know how to cultivate it.

We don’t need to persuade everyone. Just 10 or 20 percent of people to vote for the LDP would be all we need to get through great reforms in favour of liberty.

My dream is for the day the LDP secures the passage of the ‘Cleaning Out the Broomcupboard of State’ Act. This goes through the statute and case law books and abolishes any and every law that bears against the liberty of anyone and everyone to do what they want, on condition only that they are not aggressing against anyone.

90 percent of our laws are abolished, and good riddance; a new understanding of non-violence, liberty and property as the basis of co-operations spreads among the peoples; and we all live happily ever after tra-laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

I become more convinced by the free market argument after doing introductory economics at uni. But I really became interested in the idea of non-intervention after doing a course on legal theory and studying Mill.

I’m not a flag waving freedom fighting libertarian though. I voted for the LDP, I read Cato and Reason but that’s where it pretty much ends. Even when politics gets brought up in casual conversation and someone whinges about the government not stepping in, I’ll usually just agree with them for convenience.