One thing Radley Balko likes to say is that libertarianism “happens” to people (i.e. when a person’s liberties are personally threatened or infringed, s/he starts having a more libertarian viewpoint). Sadly, I think that most people think of his or her liberty threats/infringements in isolation rather than stepping back and seeing the big picture. Too many people don’t care if it’s someone else’s liberties under attack (ex: “I don’t mind smoking bans in private establishments because I don’t smoke and don’t like people smoking around me” or “That’s a gay/minority/foreigner/religious rights issue, that’s not my problem”). It’s not usually that explicit but it seems that too many people don’t care about the concept of liberty as a general principle.

What I would like more people to realize is that when someone else’s liberties are under attack, your liberties are also under attack.