Subject: Sorry to hit libertarianiams again, but...
There has been a lot of discussion in the crunchy blog about coercion and accusations of telling people what to do and so on. I believe it is the libertarian in us that distastes the idea of others telling us what to do irregardless of whether it is government or just your neighbor making a lifestyle suggestion. Libertarians like to say that their philosophy only applies to the relationship between the people and government but that isn't true. You can easily test this by asking them what they think of HOAs. The HOA should be the ideal libertarian model of local government but the reality is they hate HOAs. I have never met a self-declared libertarian who likes the concept of an HOA. Go figure.
Why is it that some people get personally offended and feel personally attacked when they find out my wife and I homeschool our kids and work extra to feed them healthy food? It is not like we are playing John the Baptist of organic food and homeschooling. Even if we go out of our way to make it clear that we do not judge others who make different lifestyle choices they still often feel uncomfortable. Do they feel guilty? If so why?
Rich Shipe
Director of Distance Learning
Patrick Henry College
