Anecdotally I've seen a notable upswing in the self-identification of republicans as "libertarian" in the last 6 months (when that's clearly not the reality).
Republicans view Libertarians as closer to Democrats. That's a fairly unbiased sign that they don't correlate very well with either the so-called "left" or "right" designations.
It's not clear what your second "they" referred to.
The left-right divide is best described as a tendency to support established power versus a tendency to support those who seek to overturn established power. Hence "conservative" (meaning "preserve the existing social order, or return to the social order of the recent past"). Republicans on the whole are, without a doubt, right-wing, since the best way to predict what cause they will support is to look at the causes of the already wealthy and privileged.
The left roots for the underdogs, the right roots for the top dog. This explains why, today, the left more sides with Palestine and the right with Israel. Why rightwing-types are more likely to defend the rich (low taxes helps most those who pay the most) and leftwing-types to defend the poor. Why in Soviet Russia, the "right" were those who supported the ruling party, and the "left" were those who supported the opposition.
Yes, the more-left(/less right) party currently controls the White House and 1/2 of Congress. This doesn't mean that they have become the established order that the left should now oppose, since the established order is much bigger than mere politics.
Interestingly, the right hand is the strong one for ~90% of people.
The terms "right wing" and "left wing" date back to the French Revolution and the preferred seating positions of the nobility and the reformists in the Estates General. I'm really stretching my powers of speculation, but given that the nobility would have received training in arms, is it coincidence that they would have preferred a seating position that allowed the easier use of their sword-arm when directed toward the center of mass of the opposition party?
To be clear, my second "they" referred to Libertarians. They're not on the "left-to-right" axis but on the "you're-both-missing-the-point" axis. (That is of course, my own opinion - I'm just saying that "hipster Republicans" is far from accurate).
I disagree with this. Closer to Democrats than what? Republicans view their party as an amalgamation of a number of distinct ideologies. To say that any given one is "closer to Democrats" means nothing except in respect to your own vantage point within the coalition. When your average Republican hears "libertarian" he's much more likely to think "Ron Paul," with all the connotations that includes, than "Democrat."
(Source: Until recently I served on the State Central Committee of a major swing state's GOP.)
Fair point. My statement was based on the typical experience I have where my republican friends see me (a libertarian) as the pro-marijuana, anti-war, pro-gay-marriage guy, and my democrat friends see me as the anti-tax, anti-welfare guy. They tend to (quite naturally) see the philosophical differences between themselves and equate me with their primary opposition.
Closer to Democrats than your average "modern" Republican who believes in morals-based law, huge military, aggressive military actions, continuation of victimless crime, etc. It's the mouth breathing idiot Republicans that only listen to Rush Limbaugh and such. They view anyone who is their enemy as affiliated with "liberals," whatever that means, not the ones that actually have a clue about government.
That might not be the majority but it's certainly the loudest group.
I think what happens is that the deeper you go into the left, if you are of a generally radical anti-mainstream bent like I was entering school, you're attracted to leftist ideology because of the fairness aspect of the politics. It's a great time to read Howard Zinn and get pissed off about government, but I think as people who still hold that anti-government bent get older, they do tend to lean Libertarian. I know lots of ex-punks that are hard paleoconservatives now.
I went to all the left-wing anticapitalist protests and was routinely mistreated and violated by police and government. While my politics have moved center, I still maintain that distrust of the system because I know when you are outside of it, you're going to get mowed down. As I've gotten older, I care less about unfairness and more about interference. I've found unfairness can be overcome while interference cannot.
In short, I've found that while I've pretty much abandoned any desire to become a communist hobo, I still have a starting point of extreme suspicion and distaste for central authority.
many of us were Libertarians before it was cool, so, yeah, I guess you make a strong point. does this mean I have to give up my hacker card and start wearing skinny jeans and ironic facial hair?