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Could you really reconcile the dimensions of two wholly different philosophical traditions namely the economics behind socialism and the politics behind classical liberalism into one single ideology called "Left-Libertarianism" (or for that matter libertarian socialism)?

This ideology would have the liberal concept of the primacy of the individual over the state, but also the socialist belief of having the means of production under the control of the state.

Wouldn't it look farcical or inconsistent?

Global warming's not a lie. I hate to break it to you, but it really isn't. what leftists think CAUSES global warming reeks of Green Agenda.

Right-leaning libertarians. Absolutely. Lemme name a couple: Ron Paul, Alan Greenspan. Yes, Alan Greenspan.

--also, typos corrected, and... are you using a dvorak keyboard layout?

Left Libertarianism brings to mind something I've been thinking about - the stereotype of intelligence.

It was while watching Harold and Kumar that I began to re-evaluate some stereotypes and then thought a bit about the South vs. the North, about the use of linguistics, and what's appropriate diction, etc. Then while walking home with broken leg (for a couple of miles using a cane) I saw a license plate for one of the southern states and an image of the wright brothers plane and something to the effect of "first to fly".

Then I thought about how many astronauts were actually southern or western, and then about the recent developments of LSU and come to think of it, the International Program of U. Virginia.

It's just a hypothesis right now (not a fully fledged theory) but it seems to me there may be something credible to the investigation of the myth of northern intelligence, and I noticed how very liberal/left it seemed.

Ultimately, I'm not sure how to break it down and categorize who came from where vs. who's really smart and what type of intelligence vs. brainwashing takes place, but I lived in NYC and now live in Long Island/Suffolk and I'm really beginning to think the intelligence of the northeast is really just a bunch of bullshit.

I dunno, first of all I am not American so I really don't know why you guys equate climate change with being liberal.

When I mean "liberal", I mean it in it's classical sense. You know, the kind of liberalism found in Europe and not the one in the US. So I suppose that when you mean "liberal" in America you mean it as progressive, am I right?

But anyhoo, I was thinking, is it possible for a person to possess a belief in forthright individualism, absolute liberty, and the minimal role of the state (liberal) but also believes in collectivism, the redistribution of wealth, and for the enlargement of the gov't to become a nanny for everyone (socialist).

I find it very contradicting.

these days its way more complicated than "conservative" or "liberal" though. I mean, look at the neocons. its not really possible to class someone in a party based on their ideals. Ron Paul's a good example of this. despite that neocons have pretty much taken over the republican party, he keeps membership to that party ... and the people call him a maverick. I personally contend that the people running the republican party are the mavericks. George Washington was right. the party system has REALLY screwed us over because the parties keep changing direction.

*Clears throat* From Wikipedia:
"Libertarian socialism (sometimes called socialist anarchism, and sometimes left libertarianism) is a group of political philosophies that aspire to create a society without political, economic, or social hierarchies, i.e. a society in which all violent or coercive institutions would be dissolved, and in their place every person would have free, equal access to the tools of information and production.

This equality and freedom would be achieved through the abolition of authoritarian institutions that own and control productive means as private property, so that direct control of these means of production and resources will be shared by society as a whole. Libertarian socialism also constitutes a tendency of thought that informs the identification, criticism and practical dismantling of illegitimate authority in all aspects of social life. Accordingly libertarian socialists believe that 'the exercise of power in any institutionalized form – whether economic, political, religious, or sexual – brutalizes both the wielder of power and the one over whom it is exercised.'

Libertarian socialists place their hopes in trade unions, workers' councils, municipalities, citizens' assemblies, and other non-bureaucratic, decentralized means of direct democracy. Many libertarian socialists advocate doing away with the state altogether, seeing it as a bulwark of capitalist class rule, while others propose that a minimal, non-hierarchical version is unobjectionable.

Political philosophies commonly described as libertarian socialist include most varieties of anarchism (especially anarchist communism, anarchist collectivism, anarcho-syndicalism, mutualism, social ecology, autonomism and council communism). Some writers use libertarian socialism synonymously with anarchism and in particular socialist anarchism."

LONG STORY SHORT: It isn't about creating a "Nanny State." It's about creating a mutualistic society run by direct democracy, one with complete equality. A society where each individual has free, equal access to information and the means of production. (Not necessarily a personal-property-less society.)

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