NationStates Jolt Archive

Hi there :-)
I am going to start another nation soon probably, so I have a few questions.

1) Just wondering, what is the difference between Liberal and Libertarian? Surely they are the same thing :S

2) Also on the subject of the 'Government style', does it make any difference which one you choose, if so then what? (and how does this manifest itself?) My nations seem to work according to how I decide to answer the issues, and that alone.

3) Also, what's the (perhaps) more obvious difference between evil and psychotic?

4) Does a nations title mean anything other than being asthetically pleasing?

5) Why is the Swastica banned for flag use? It wasn't a Nazi symbol to start with :-S Plus as a second part to this question, what other symbols are banned, and if so, why are they?

Thanks for taking the time to read and answer my questions.
Dragon-Light :-)

2) Also on the subject of the 'Government style', does it make any difference which one you choose, if so then what? (and how does this manifest itself?) My nations seem to work according to how I decide to answer the issues, and that alone.That's because your issue answers decide what kind of government your nation has.
4) Does a nations title mean anything other than being asthetically pleasing?No.
5) Why is the Swastica banned for flag use? It wasn't a Nazi symbol to start with :-S Plus as a second part to this question, what other symbols are banned, and if so, why are they?Basically they're banned because Max Barry said they are, and since this is his site, we have to play by his rules.

1) Just wondering, what is the difference between Liberal and Libertarian? Surely they are the same thing :S
In crude terms, libertarians are "economically conservative" and "socially liberal". Personally I hate those crude terms.
I think it's better described in saying that liberals believe government can be a force for good as long as the people have control.
Libertarians think government is inherently evil and tend to blame it for all social problems, wanting to keep it as small as possible.
In America, this translates to them siding with conservatives on fiscal issues and liberals on social issues. Most libertarians seem to identify themselves as conservatives.
Even liberals that are more free market-based tend to believe in some amount of government control to keep things fair and to help give equal opportunity to the poor, but just try to keep it to a minimum. Libertarians tend to believe that this usually causes more inequality and less fairness.
But really both philosophies have a lot of variety and sometimes it's hard to tell certain subgroups of each from each other.

Hi there :-)
Hi!

I am going to start another nation soon probably, so I have a few questions.Okay.

1) Just wondering, what is the difference between Liberal and Libertarian? Surely they are the same thing :S 'Liberal' usually denotes support for personal rights in "moral" matters, but is vaguer about economic policy and can believe in quite a large/strong government to protect the rights that it considers appropriate. 'Libertarian' generally denotes a belief in keeping government small & relatively weak, and for freedom of action in economic matters as well as "moral" ones.

2) Also on the subject of the 'Government style', does it make any difference which one you choose, if so then what? (and how does this manifest itself?) My nations seem to work according to how I decide to answer the issues, and that alone.It helps to determine the nation's original stats & classification, but of course answering issues can change those values afterwards...

3) Also, what's the (perhaps) more obvious difference between evil and psychotic?"psychotic" is even more extreme than "evil"?

4) Does a nation's title mean anything other than being asthetically pleasing?No.

5) Why is the Swastica banned for flag use? It wasn't a Nazi symbol to start with :-S Plus as a second part to this question, what other symbols are banned, and if so, why are they?It's banned because, despite its origins, most people in the west associate it with the Nazis nowadays... and Max has ruled it out for that reason. I think that the only other banned symbols are the other "obviously" Nazi types, such as pictures of Hitler or the 'SS' runes & emblems, and obscene ones... Oh, and links to 'forbidden' sites, of course.

Thanks for taking the time to read and answer my questions.
Dragon-Light :-)You're welcome.

3) Also, what's the (perhaps) more obvious difference between evil and psychotic?

A psychotic choice leans towards the 'psychotic dictatorship', in which the government controls everything: Economy, Civil, and Political Freedoms are basically nil. You'll be, basically, a tinpot dictatorship.

An evil government is better than the psychotics, as they want to oppress people, but with a more saner slant. While they would restrict civil and political freedoms, they will have high economic freedoms, meaning they will have a high Economy. Think of them as Capitalistic Right-Wing Dictatorships.

5) Why is the Swastica banned for flag use?

I think Germany banned the use of the Swastica, so most webgames don't want to go and show it, for fear of violating German law.

Wow thanks! Some pretty extensive answers, I might have to read over the differences between Liberal and Libertarians again though perhaps and hope it will sink in a bit.

From what I initially understand (in the simplest terms possible) it's that Liberal want people to be naked hippies with a small government with little to no power, but that is ruled by the public or rather 'the people.

Libertarians are pretty much the same, except they want a government to sort stuff out, but in a sort of left-y leaning way, environment, let people do what they want to an extent, and stuff like that.

So the basic difference is, Libertarians want more of a sort of goverment, right? Either i've got that right, got it wrong, or I got it right BUT got the liberal/libertarians labelling round the wrong way.

Opinions? :)
Dragon-Light.

Other way around. Liberals want a big government, Libertarians want a very small one.

'Course, it must be stressed that Libertarians are considered right-wingers, as they would love granting economic freedoms to everyone, and liberals want to restrict economic freedoms.

Just as a quick note: The meaning varies depending on whether you live on US or not.

http://www.politicalcompass.org/faq#faq16

As a non-American, I understand liberal as someone who supports individual and also economic freedoms in the capitalistic sense of the word, as Adam Smith created liberalism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism), while libertarian is a broader expression for those who support political freedoms and civil rights. Therefore in my conception there are both right-winged(liberals) and left-winged libertarians. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarian_Socialism)

In NationStates the American definition is actually the one used though. But I always interpret "Liberal Democratic Socialists" as "Libertarian Democratic Socialists". "Left-wing Utopia" as "Anarcho-communism" and "Anarchy" as "Anarcho-capitalism".

Just as a quick note: The meaning varies depending on whether you live on US or not.

http://www.politicalcompass.org/faq#faq16

As a non-American, I understand liberal as someone who supports individual and also economic freedoms in the capitalistic sense of the word, as Adam Smith created liberalism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism),

However the 'Liberal Democrat' political party here in the UK has a relatively large "leftish" element amongst its activists, and is therefore not so strongly in favour of economic freedoms...