[l]ibertarianism is a philosophy of government and interpersonal relations, not a religion, not a comprehensive moral code, not an attempt to identify every aspect of Reality, not a Utopian search for earthly social/political perfection.
IMO, libertarian philosophy is founded upon three ideas which depart to a degree from both (in the current American sense) liberal and conservative thought:
1. Man will usually act in what he perceives to be his own interest, albeit far too often in his short-term interest.
2. No other person or group should be given the authority to determine what is in an individual's interest, nor to use force, fraud or coersion to get him to behave accordingly.
3. No person or group of persons may justly initiate force, fraud or coercion against another for any reason.
Proponents of these ideas do not suggest that individual, societal and governmental adherence to them would bring about earthly perfection, as people will often make poor and self-damaging choices; some of those choices will harm not only themselves, but often indirectly or secondarily harm others as well and have a detrimental impact on society at large.
Here, however, is the important point:
Less harm will be caused by the self-destructive decisions of individuals than by the use of force by third parties in the attempt to prevent, punish or over-ride them. Where libertaians most often find disagreement from both liberals and conservatives is in the matter of defining what goes beyond the merely self-destructive and causes harm to others. This is admittedly subjective, but libertarians, as I'm sure you've seen said many times before, draw the line at whether an individual has used force, fraud, or coercion in the allegedly harmful act.
Absent governmental authority to act against behavior which has directly harmed no one but the actor, there will be less security and more freedom (except perhaps to those individuals whose security is most threatened by government itself, sometimes because of societally unacceptable lifestyle, sometimes as a result of the unintended consequences of "benevolent" government action).
[l]ibertarians are willing to make the trade.
in reference to the tenents of Libertarians:
**1. Man will usually act in what he perceives to be his own interest, albeit far too often in his short-term interest.
2. No other person or group should be given the authority to determine what is in an individual's interest, nor to use force, fraud or coersion to get him to behave accordingly.
3. No person or group of persons may justly initiate force, fraud or coercion against another for any reason.**
Why do I have the impression a Christian Mother can never be a Libertarian?