Libertarians do want to leave you alone

… but we also want you to leave us alone

Edward Snowden, the whistleblower who exposed how the NSA is illegally spying on basically everybody, sent a tweet talking about libertarians today.

Edward Snowden @Snowden

I've never understood the political fear of Libertarians. "Sure, they're not in power now, but someday they might take over and... uh, leave you alone, I guess, since that's kind of their whole deal." It's like being afraid of cats.

It’s a nice bumper sticker line, “Libertarians want to take over the government and leave you alone,” but they’re right to be afraid.

Yes, libertarians want to leave you alone, but we also want to be left alone by you. This means that before we leave you alone we have to dismantle every government policy and agency by which you exercise power over those of us who do not consent to your rule.

And that’s what they’re afraid of, the same thing every would-be tyrant has ever been afraid of: They’re afraid of losing their power and having to get real jobs that actually benefit civil society rather than being able to enforce their rules on us while simultaneously living at our expense like the parasites that they are.