Militias and Libertarians

Jim Wright, over at Stonekettle Station, has no use for the so-called 'militias' occupying wildlife refuges. Another blog I stumbled across says "They [groups of self-described libertarians] don’t favor liberty because it promotes the widest possible flourishing and self-actualization of human beings. They favor it because it gives local patriarchs and lords of manors a free hand to dominate those under their thumbs, without a nasty state stepping in to interfere. For them, “libertarianism” — a term they pollute every time they utter it with their tongues — is simply a way of constructing the world of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale by contractual means.

I have to say that I find strong links between the "contractual libertarians" and the "militias" of Stonekettle Station. They both spout the language of liberty, but when you get under the hood, you don't see freedom. You see a desire to prevent government from interfering with their activities.

It's at best (with some of the rancher types) the kind of "freedom" that a 15-year-old wants when they demand Daddy's credit card so they can fly to Vegas for the weekend. That's the freedom to do what you want while getting subsidized. At worst, when the militia types rant against Muslims, it's the freedom to engage in racial and religious persecution, while being protected by the state.

These groups keep using the word "freedom." I do not think it means what they think it means.