> Libertarians in America adopt huge swathe of positions which are more typically associated with the "left wing" label
Libertarians in America are more likely to agree with the left on issues where the left believes the government should be inactive, sure, but they tend to agree with the right on what the important functions of government are.
> Typical American "left wing" position: decriminalize weed
That's just the typical American opinion, now. But, sure, most on the left would go at least that far.
> Typical American libertarian position: eliminate all drug laws
Not really; the scattered polling I've seen over the years have shown self-described libertarians as only slight more supportive of legalization of any drugs (even just marijuana) as the US public as a whole, much less the left.
Similarly on your other points.
> You really can't model things in a sufficiently rich way to describe Libertarianism on a one-dimensional spectrum like the left/right scale.
Libertarianism is at least another axis, sure, and even that is more about broad categorization. And it may not even be the second most significant axis in US politics; there's a race policy axis that has historically been stronger.
> Not really; the scattered polling I've seen over the years have shown self-described libertarians as only slight more supportive of legalization of any drugs (even just marijuana) as the US public as a whole, much less the left.
Reason is not your average rank-and-file libertarian; it's an ideological paper. Think average Republican voter vs. National Review columnists. Do a quick search for "marijuana" and you'll get stories that speak positively of legalization; search for "MDMA" and you'll get stories celebrating its approval for treatment of PTSD. Again - this article takes a position traditionally associated with the left-wing, because this particular publication takes a classical ideological libertarian position.
They call themselves libertarian, and they don't want to end drug prohibition? They're fooling themselves more than they're fooling us. That's table stakes.
I'd have to see this scattered polling, but this really seems like a claim somewhere between "Catholics who say they don't believe in transubstantiation," and "self-identified Scots not from Scotland," considering.
Not exactly. There's no real pre-defined Litmus test for what it means to be a True Scotsman... the whole point is that the definition is made up post-hoc. But there is a meaningful, albeit not absolute, litmus test for what it means to be a Libertarian, and that is adherence to the Non-Aggression Principle. Unfortunately the whole discussion is a bit muddled by the typical "big L" Libertarian vs "little l" libertarian dichotomy, and there is nuance to what it means to adhere to the NAP. But saying there is some nuance to the distinction is not the same thing as a No True Scotsman argument.
Everyone I know who will admit to being libertarian, got into it through his rejection of The Drug War. Could you point us to a self-described libertarian who likes drug prohibition?
This kind of bullshit, is the reason I'm an anarchist.
No, it's really not.
> Libertarians in America adopt huge swathe of positions which are more typically associated with the "left wing" label
Libertarians in America are more likely to agree with the left on issues where the left believes the government should be inactive, sure, but they tend to agree with the right on what the important functions of government are.
> Typical American "left wing" position: decriminalize weed
That's just the typical American opinion, now. But, sure, most on the left would go at least that far.
> Typical American libertarian position: eliminate all drug laws
Not really; the scattered polling I've seen over the years have shown self-described libertarians as only slight more supportive of legalization of any drugs (even just marijuana) as the US public as a whole, much less the left.
Similarly on your other points.
> You really can't model things in a sufficiently rich way to describe Libertarianism on a one-dimensional spectrum like the left/right scale.
Libertarianism is at least another axis, sure, and even that is more about broad categorization. And it may not even be the second most significant axis in US politics; there's a race policy axis that has historically been stronger.