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by m-i-l·7y ago·view on hn ↗
> "What about libertarianism were you guys talking about? Because the motivation around this coin is simply NOT libertarian.."

According to the wikipedia article on Libertarianism[0] there are actually two almost completely opposing definitions of "libertarianism", one they call "right libertarianism" (which sounds like it aligns with what the original article calls "anti-socialist"), and the other "left libertarianism". From what I've seen, when European literature uses the word "libertarian" it usually means "left libertarian" and when US literature uses the word it is more likely to mean "right libertarian". Given the same word has almost opposing definitions, it is usually safest to either define it very carefully when using it or avoid using the word at all.

BTW, in the context of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, from what I can tell, it was originally more on the "left libertarian" side with talk of benefits like "democratising money", but now is more on the "right libertarian" side. From the original article: "Taler’s design explicitly tries to block opportunities for tax evasion ... We need a state to do many vital jobs, including fund research, fund education, provide people with medical care ... provide justice, including to those who are not rich and powerful, and so the state’s got to bring in a lot of money."

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarianism

1 comments
Roughly speaking I would say there are actually three groups using the term.

1. Marxist socialists using the term as it means anarchism

2. (right-wing) minarchists/classical liberals

3. Market anarchists (both left and right)

Examples of 3 include Roderick T Long, William Gillis, Hans Hermann Hoppe, Rothbard etc. There are of course differences within each group but I would say within market anarchism, the difference between left and right is less than people generally think.