<p>For many of the reasons listed above, I feel like a lot of engineers tend to be libertarian (whether they realize it or not). They are fiscally conservative, and honestly don’t care about a lot of the issues that irk the two major parties. Most engineers I know feel more like “as long as it isn’t hurting anyone else, just let people go on about their business. The government shouldn’t be interjecting itself into everything.” Of course, I know some extremely liberal engineers and I know some extremely conservative ones as well. I did my undergrad at a very liberal school and I am doing my grad work at a very conservative school and to be honest, the general outlook of engineers is only slightly different.</p>
<p>Personally, I am fiscally conservative and tend to favor a more hands-off approach to most economic issues. On the social side, I honestly don’t have a problem with gays marrying or with stem cell research or any of that. I don’t see it being anything the government ought to bother itself with and I think it is absolutely ridiculous that the two major political parties whip themselves into a frenzy over such topics (and others like them of course). I feel like I am pretty typical of most engineers I know as well.</p>
<p>You might also take note of the sheer number of people in this thread (who are all presumably engineers) that have identified themselves or other engineers in their experience as moderates.</p>
<p>Libertarians tend to be incredibly fierce debaters. I am one of them, we debate each other for fun. Just take a look at the large number of libertarian online communities or other communities like reddit, where Libertarian minds debate until they win. Also Libertarianism is not moderate. It is an extreme, just like Like Socially Liberal, Conservative or Authoritarian or the other many views. </p>
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<p>Being an Engineer implies you are hired as an engineer and have that title specifically. Having a Degree in engineering, doesn’t make you an engineer. Similar to graduating medical school doesn’t imply you are a doctor or graduating nursing school doesn’t imply you are a nurse. So many students here, simply aren’t engineers. They are engineering students, or are conducting engineering research.</p>
I don’t know about this logic. If you have an engineering degree, it doesn’t make you much different than a person who has an engineering degree and an engineering job, except for the fact that they’re employed. Also conducting research still means you’re an engineer, just not in industry.</p>
<p>Not quite sure how any of that is supposed to affect whether your political stance should be taken into consideration or not based on some category…</p>
<p>I’m sorry Booted but you’re not making a whole lot of sense here.</p>
<p>Well for one, I never said libertarians didn’t have strong opinions or that they weren’t obstinate in their views. Most human beings are. However, when it comes to the political continuum that is American politics (liberal on the left, conservative on the right), Libertarianism falls right in the middle. More correctly, I suppose it could form a third branch, but at it pertains to liberal vs. conservative, it is usually somewhere in between. Of course it also depends heavily on what flavor of libertarianism you subscribe to, as some of them relate very closely to straight socialism, some relate closely to straight conservatism. It all just depends. On average, though, libertarian falls somewhere in between on the 2-D spectrum.</p>
<p>As for what qualifies you as an engineer, I beg to differ with your description. So does Merriam-Webster:</p>
<p>Engineer is a title given to certain jobs at companies, yes, but you don’t have to be employed as an engineer to truly be one. I am sure you will argue this point, but I have to say it anyway. Having the title of engineer doesn’t necessarily mean you are an engineer in the sense that we talk about it here on this forum, and not having that title does not necessarily mean that you aren’t an engineer. You don’t even technically have to have a degree to be what I would consider to be an engineer. I would certainly argue that Leonardo DiVinci was an engineer, as was Archimedes, but neither of them had degrees in engineering or had a title calling them an engineer. Benjamin Franklin was certainly an engineer, yet his schooling ended when he was 10 years old and he never held a job titled “engineer” that I am aware of. Thomas Edison never held the title of engineer. Being an engineer is much more than the title of the job you hold.</p>
<p>I’m a jaguar and have long since evolved beyond the need to nourish myself with petty “fruit” or live in a pack. If the libertarians are right, your selfishness and my selfishness should feed off each other and make the world a better place. How about you and your whole inferior race shrivel up and die already if you’re unwilling to put in some damn work? </p>
<p>I am, and what do you know, the libertarians are off on their own branch (which I acknowledged) but if projected onto the liberal-conservative spectrum, they fall right in the middle. I don’t see what is so hard to understand there. Besides, there are various flavors of libertarianism and there aren’t exactly a whole lot of people who are full-on libertarian. Most people who identify themselves as libertarian only identify with certain parts of the ideology or certain flavors of it, few of which would be all the way at the extreme edge of the chart.</p>
<p>I prefer the 2 dimensional chart for political views. One axis is order vs. freedom, and another axis is equality vs. freedom. Libertarians fall on the extreme for that chart, favoring freedom in both cases.</p>
<p>I’m not sure that I agree with that nolan chart. Going by that chart, it says that liberals are for personal freedom? Most liberals like gun control laws and government regulations, which goes against that chart.</p>