Libertarianism in a Nutshell

I was recently talking to a friend of mine about some political issues. She jokingly told me she was "liberal", but when we discussed some key questions political topics, this friend sounded more libertarian-leaning. I asked this friend to seriously study libertarian philosophy, which was agreed to. I sent several links to some good videos and a good book, but I couldn't find a "libertarianism in a nutshell" type article that satisfied me.

So I'm going to make one. I may add to it later, since I really only have a few major points to drive home later, but that's all that's really necessary for right now.

So what do libertarians believe? What is at the core of their philosophy?

1. INITIATION OF FORCE IS MORALLY WRONG

In layman's terms, you mustn't initiate physical force against someone. Defense is absolutely permitted and justified, but initiating it is in 99.99% of cases wrong and will exacerbate any problems the initiation of force claims to be trying to solve.
There's a reason this is number one. It's the most important. Everything else is an appendage to this.

2. THE GOVERNMENT'S DUTY IS TO PROTECT LIFE, LIBERTY, AND PRIVATE PROPERTY

For many reasons I won't get into now (this is a nutshell, after all), it is never a good idea to allow government to branch itself into other realms of life. Libertarians believe the government should stick to protecting  the life, liberty, and property of its citizens.

3. INDIVIDUALS MUST BE ALLOWED TO DO WHATEVER THEY LIKE AS LONG AS IT DOES NOT DIRECTLY AFFECT THE LIFE, LIBERTY, AND PRIVATE PROPERTY OF ANOTHER INDIVIDUAL

This is where a lot of feelings get hurt, but it's true, and is an absolutely important ingredient, not just in the libertarian cake, but in any society at all. When you disallow individuals from performing actions that don't directly harm others, you make of citizens criminals, unjustly taking away their liberty. Societies are richest (in more ways than one) when citizens are allowed to tend to their own business.


Welp, that's it in a nutshell. If I could re-do it, I would probably swap two with three, but I'm too lazy and I kinda like it as it is. I had to stop myself from adding additional stuff, but if you can think of anything you'd like to add, comment below and I'll give it consideration for a future redraft.