I gave up Ayn Rand for Bernie Sanders: How I grew up and traded libertarianism for a progressive “so

I gave up Ayn Rand for Bernie Sanders: How I grew up and traded libertarianism for a progressive “socialist”
Most self-identifying "libertarians" actually subscribe to a bankrupt ideology. What if they all opened their eyes?
Edwin Lyngar

The rise of Bernie Sanders feels familiar to me. When I was a libertarian-leaning Republican, I was a delegate for Ron Paul in the 2008 Nevada State Convention. Paul’s supporters were passionate if a bit nutty, but change seemed, if only for a moment, possible. The problem was that the ideology behind the candidate was bankrupt. The experience was the beginning of the end of my affiliation with simplistic libertarian blather and GOP politics altogether, but Paul’s rise was driven by the same frustration and anger that is now propelling Sanders.

For too long, the anger and passion has been driven by Tea Party types and libertarians. Their solution seems to be throwing more gasoline on a trailer-park fire. Inequality? Cut taxes for the wealthy and implement a “flat tax.” Poverty? Eliminate the social safety net and cut food stamps. Those not actively making problems worse are obsessed with non-stories and fictitious “scandals,” featuring Benghazi, Jade Helm, e-mail servers or any of the other innumerable, invented outrages.

Even issues I care deeply about, like prison reform, can distract. Our country grows more lopsided by the day, and despite big wins on gay marriage and health care, too many trends are moving in the wrong direction. Are we a society that works for people or are we in something like feudalism, where corporations and private organization all but own their employees?

The current problem with politics, the economy and culture comes from treating human beings like just another business asset to be exploited or replaced. We say a person’s value is what the “market will bear,” and if the market has no use for a particular human, he or she has no inherent worth. That’s pretty sick. Should we just let them starve to death? For the radical right, the answer is an enthusiastic “absolutely.” If all else fails, deport them.

I listen to Donald Trump talk. He says what I just wrote without sarcasm or a trace of humanity. He and other politicians agree with Sanders’ assessment of reality, but their solutions could not be more different. Trump’s only idea is to blame Mexicans. He embraces the idea of “individual success,” as if it all takes place in a complete vacuum, without outside help or public investment. It’s an argument that sways only the most ignorant and upwardly mobile of young men. It’s also an absurd statement coming from a guy who inherited millions of dollars. But even conservatives who recognize these ideas as folly still have a work around. Rather than tackle the problems, they buy their own kids a ticket an Ivy League school, so at least their progeny have a chance of joining the exploiter class. This isn’t so much a society as a pyramid scheme.

Corporations benefit from weak labor and a beaten down population. Many are almost too powerful to tame. Walmart generates more money in sales in a year than the GDP of Norway. (Don’t worry I’m sure it doesn’t do anything evil with all that money.) Walmart and like-sized corporations are no longer businesses. They are instead autonomous, totalitarian states existing right in our own nation. They care only for their own interests, unconcerned with national borders or anything like the public good.

Yet, people on the right still vilify the government. It’s baffling, but I totally get it. I was there and I said those words. I was parroting “conventional wisdom,” the political equivalent of talking about the weather. It’s so trite and predicable that it’s become a national punch line. Flat tire? Thanks Obama! Getting fat? Blame Obamacare! Wife left? Damn government! Our national, running gag is not only tiresome, it lacks anything resembling truth. It’s understandable to hate the government, because it’s easy and satisfying, but the government didn’t foreclose on your house, cut your paycheck or send your job to China. Ranting and raving about the government never helped anyone do anything.

http://www.salon.com/2015/07/20/why_libertarians_should_love_bernie_sanders/

That's quite a jump, I can understand it but still that is quite a jump.