Do libertarians have a sense of humor?
That’s a relevant question because many people think of us as unhappy curmudgeons, or perhaps as dorky Randians.
While I think those stereotypes are unfair, I also confess that I can only think of a few examples of explicitly pro-libertarian humor.
Libertarian Jesus scolding modern statists.
This poster about confused statists.
The libertarian version of a sex fantasy.
Since I could only find three examples, does this mean libertarians are hopelessly dour and lacking in humor?
I think the answer is “no” and I think there are two reasons to justify that response. First, libertarians are always making fun of oafish and moronic government. 
I like to think, for instance, that my UK-vs-US government stupidity contest contains some amusing satire.
Skeptics may respond that you can mock big government without being a libertarian, and that’s a fair point.
But this gives me an opportunity to list the second reason why it’s wrong to accuse libertarians of lacking a sense of humor. Simply stated, we have the ability to appreciate anti-libertarian humor. This not only shows that we have funny bones, but it also demonstrates that we have considerable confidence about the strength of our ideas.
So with that build-up, here’s an example of anti-libertarian humor I received from a fellow traveler in Illinois.
I think you’ll agree that this can be added to our collection of anti-libertarian humor.
- A video portraying Somalia as a libertarian paradise.
- Cartoons on libertarian ice fishing and libertarian lifeguards.
- A mosaic showing 24 types of libertarians.
- A poster showing how the world sees libertarians.
- A 23-photo montage of libertarian problems.
- The answer to the riddle of why the libertarian chicken crossed the road.
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P.S. Since I am a dorky libertarian, I can’t resist responding to the above cartoon by noting that we actually don’t need government fire departments. The folks at the Reason Foundation have been working on this issue for decades and have a study explaining the benefits of private fire departments.
But there’s a lot more evidence. Here’s what one expert wrote in 2012 for Cato Unbound.
…my town contracts out its entire fire department to the company Rural/Metro, a pioneer in privatized fire services. Their trucks are shiny, red, and full of water, just like a “traditional” fire department’s. Their firemen train just like their municipal counterparts do in neighboring jurisdictions. They respond to fire and EMS calls just like the government-run systems do. The main differences I’ve discerned are that: (1) their logo—which otherwise looks much like other fire department logos—notes the name of the company underneath the name of the town, and (2) workers are covered under a private sector 401(k) plan, so our town is not on the hook for a massive future pension payout. Neither of these differences is relevant from a service delivery standpoint.
And an article in Capitalism Magazine the same year pointed out that privatized fire protection exists in hundreds of communities.
…nearly half of Denmark’s municipalities contract with Group 4 Falck to provide firefighting and ambulance services. In America, more than 450 communities contract with Rural/Metro Corporation for fire protection service, EMS, or both. Unlike government fire services, which focus on fire response, Rural/Metro focuses on fire prevention. A former mayor of Scottsdale, Arizona, which has used Rural/Metro for more than two decades said, “Scottsdale citizens are offered a much better balance between response and prevention than is available in most communities.”
Why are so many communities looking at private options?
Most likely, it’s because unions have conspired with government officials to push labor costs to absurd levels, as humorously depicted is this somewhat off-color video.
P.P.S. Returning to the topic of humor, I have a serious request. Can anybody provide examples of self-deprecating humor by leftists?
I don’t think statists have much self-confidence in their ideas, so they probably don’t have much ability to poke at themselves, but I imagine there must be some examples.
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