Some dude's wife got sucked into some whacked-out, quasi-Randian, poorly reasoned version of "libertarianism" through internet fora.
Reax:
With a lot of political positions, I can understand how psychologizing about them is inherently condescending, but libertarianism is a special case, in that it seems to be fundamentally rooted in emotional disaster. I'm not saying it should be in the DSM-V, but it's close. I wouldn't want to pathologize a person who suddenly starts attending church, either, but someone who suddenly starts attending a race-baiting homophobic church with erotic rituals in which they cast out demons, yeah, I'm going to guess some pretty serious emotional needs aren't being met there.
I would honestly be thinking divorce at this point if I couldn't talk her out of it ... Libertarianism of the sort I'm imagining Brock's wife has adopted (and correct me if I'm wrong, Brock) is as deep a moral failing as homophobia or racism. How would you feel if your spouse came home spouting the Fred Phelps party line?
Remember that if you divorce, Brock, and she gets the kids at least half of the time, that's half of your kids' time that she can indoctrinate them nastily on a constant basis and then they'll show up at your place scorning you and your ways. I'm not saying it's not worth divorcing over for your own sanity, but unless you can convince a judge that her (pretty common) political position is a threat to your children's health, divorce won't save them from having a rabid libertarian mom.
I guess I would have a very hard time staying in a relationship with someone whom I loved for our shared ethos and worldview and then that worldview changed to the point that I no longer believed that that person cared about humanity. How someone votes is not the issue; it's whether you believe your partner is a decent and ethical person.
There's also some discussion of whether there are any good self-identified libertarians or whether they should just be called liberals, so as not to be tainted with the former name.
