Honestly, if you hadn't called yourself a libertarian in the start of your post, I never would have guessed it. Ideology-wise, I'm an anarcho-communist. Did a lot of research regarding it in my youth and still believe in it today. We share a lot of the same beliefs.
I think the goal is unattainable at humanity's current level of spiritual development (which is, to be blunt, maybe a few millimeters further along than our ape cousins). That doesn't mean that the concepts can't be applied in every day life, however.
Living in the US, it's hard not to be completely disgusted by what passes as a "libertarian." I've grown to hate the word, and avoid most people who parrot it. The "less regulation!" "small government!" "free market!" drum gets beat all too often without addressing the elephant in the room: Corporate America is a wild beast running amok over the entire globe. The last thing it needs is less regulation! All the innovation and progress in the world won't be worth a damn if we're all breathing in toxic air and birthing flipper babies.
A lot of this is driven by the American culture's need for the new (as you pointed out). The sickness of our culture is the fuel of our economy, which is now built upon the backs of third world nations (which, by the way, are starting to equalize...soon there will be no more backs to climb on, what then?). We don't produce anything anymore, we just consume.
Even in SV, where people are constantly crowing about how innovative everything is, there's very little real, actual change happening. An app that deletes photos you send to someone after 15s. Amazingly innovative. Another chat app. Useful? Sure. Innovative? No. In fact, tying this back into the parent comments, I'd argue that almost all of the innovation I've seen comes from open source. 99% of private companies in the valley are doing some that has been done 1000x before, but just slightly better. It makes money, sure, but it doesn't help the world or advance society. Capitalism at its best.
I think there's a strong balance that needs to be struck between what actually advances society as a whole and what allows the individual to prosper. In the US, at least currently, the two seem pretty mutually exclusive.
I think the goal is unattainable at humanity's current level of spiritual development (which is, to be blunt, maybe a few millimeters further along than our ape cousins). That doesn't mean that the concepts can't be applied in every day life, however.
Living in the US, it's hard not to be completely disgusted by what passes as a "libertarian." I've grown to hate the word, and avoid most people who parrot it. The "less regulation!" "small government!" "free market!" drum gets beat all too often without addressing the elephant in the room: Corporate America is a wild beast running amok over the entire globe. The last thing it needs is less regulation! All the innovation and progress in the world won't be worth a damn if we're all breathing in toxic air and birthing flipper babies.
A lot of this is driven by the American culture's need for the new (as you pointed out). The sickness of our culture is the fuel of our economy, which is now built upon the backs of third world nations (which, by the way, are starting to equalize...soon there will be no more backs to climb on, what then?). We don't produce anything anymore, we just consume.
Even in SV, where people are constantly crowing about how innovative everything is, there's very little real, actual change happening. An app that deletes photos you send to someone after 15s. Amazingly innovative. Another chat app. Useful? Sure. Innovative? No. In fact, tying this back into the parent comments, I'd argue that almost all of the innovation I've seen comes from open source. 99% of private companies in the valley are doing some that has been done 1000x before, but just slightly better. It makes money, sure, but it doesn't help the world or advance society. Capitalism at its best.
I think there's a strong balance that needs to be struck between what actually advances society as a whole and what allows the individual to prosper. In the US, at least currently, the two seem pretty mutually exclusive.
/rant