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Libertarianism is a political philosophy emphasizing social and religious freedoms, equality before the law, free markets, limited government, and individual rights.

Etymology
The word libertarian was first recorded by William Belsham in 1789 to describe philosophical proponents of liberty and free will, though its meaning has evolved over time and currently varies by geographical location. In the United States, the term libertarianism is often used interchangeably with Classical Liberalism, though scholars Noam Chomsky, Colin Ward and others note the term "libertarianism" is globally considered a synonym for anarchism and that the United States is unique in widely associating it with free market ideology.

In 2010, the Libertarian Party offered the following contemporary definition, as used in the United States:

"Libertarians support maximum liberty in both personal and economic matters. They advocate a much smaller government; one that is limited to protecting individuals from coercion and violence. Libertarians tend to embrace individual responsibility, oppose government bureaucracy and taxes, promote private charity, tolerate diverse lifestyles, support the free market, and defend civil liberties."

This article covers the US definition, for others see Libertarianism or Libertarianism (disambiguation).

History
(Note: This an exact copy of the nice work done in the orphaned Lib in US page: Libertarianism in the United States)

In the 1950s many with classical liberal beliefs in the United States began to describe themselves as "libertarian." Arizona United States Senator Barry Goldwater's libertarian-oriented challenge to authority had a major impact on the libertarian movement, through his book The Conscience of a Conservative and his run for president in 1964. Goldwater's speech writer, Karl Hess, became a leading libertarian writer and activist.

The Vietnam War split the uneasy alliance between growing numbers of self-identified libertarians, anarchist libertarians, and more traditional conservatives who believed in limiting liberty to uphold moral virtues. Libertarians opposed to the war joined the draft resistance and peace movements and organizations such as Students for a Democratic Society. They began founding their own publications, like Murray Rothbard's The Libertarian Forum and organizations like the Radical Libertarian Alliance.

The split was aggravated at the 1969 Young Americans for Freedom convention, when more than 300 libertarians organized to take control of the organization from conservatives. The burning of a draft card in protest to a conservative proposal against draft resistance sparked physical confrontations among convention attendees, a walkout by a large number of libertarians, the creation of libertarian organizations like the Society for Individual Liberty, and efforts to recruit potential libertarians from conservative organizations. The split was finalized in 1971 when conservative leader William F. Buckley, Jr., in a 1971 New York Times article, attempted to divorce libertarianism from the freedom movement. He wrote: "The ideological licentiousness that rages through America today makes anarchy attractive to the simple-minded. Even to the ingeniously simple-minded."

In 1971, David Nolan and a few friends formed the Libertarian Party. Attracting former Democrats, Republicans and independents, it has run a presidential candidate every election year since 1972. By 2006, polls showed that 15 percent of American voters identified themselves as libertarian. Over the years, dozens of libertarian political parties have been formed worldwide. Educational organizations like the Center for Libertarian Studies and the Cato Institute were formed in the 1970s, and others have been created since then.

Philosophical libertarianism gained a significant measure of recognition in academia with the publication of Harvard University professor Robert Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia in 1974. The book won a National Book Award in 1975. According to libertarian essayist Roy Childs, "Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia single-handedly established the legitimacy of libertarianism as a political theory in the world of academia."

Texas congressman Ron Paul's 2008 and 2012 campaigns for the Republican Party presidential nomination were largely libertarian. Paul is affiliated with the libertarian-leaning Republican Liberty Caucus and founded the Campaign for Liberty, a libertarian-leaning membership and lobbying organization.

Main Tenets
According to Boaz (1998), Libertarians generally agree on the following main tenets :


 * Individualism / Individual Rights: Individuals make choices and are responsible for them, and as moral agents have a right life, liberty, and property. These rights are inalienable to all human beings across gender, religion, and social / racial background.
 * Spontaneous Order: Order in society arises naturally for the benefit of its members. Language, law, money, and civil society are formed for a purpose by individuals, and are not the gift of a central or coercive government.
 * Rule of Law: Libertarianism is not libertinism, anarchism, or hedonism. Individuals are free to pursue their own happiness and interests so long as they respect the equal rights of others.
 * Limited Government: Government is formed by individuals to protect their rights. Concentrated power has great potential for political, economical, and social abuse, and the evidence of history is that abuse invariably occurs.
 * Free Markets: The right to property entails the right to freely exchange property, and people will be freer and more prosperous the less government impedes and alters peoples' economic choices.
 * Virtue of Production: Libertarians protect the rights of productive people to keep what they earn. Care must be taken to avoid giving a select group a monopoly on violence and right to take from others.
 * Peace / Natural Harmony: Within nations, conflict is created when government takes from some to hand out political rewards to others. Between countries, war brings death and destruction to family and economic life and places power in the hands of the ruling class.