Understanding Libertarians
dreamcafe.com
dreamcafe.com
Why do so many people think Libertarians are right-leaning? Most Libertarians I know are very much more center. Some left-leaning people even call Libertarian's a branch of the Republican party which I think is completely absurd.
I'm a Libertarian and I believe in environmentalism, prison reform, pro woman's health and a great many "left" issues. In fact, I think any true Libertarian must be an environmentalist since it is impossible to pollute the environment without infringing on others.
For most folks, libertarians are just... confusing.
To many, rightly or wrongly, "conservative" equates to things like free market dogmatism, some subset of individual freedoms (gun rights, property rights, etc), states rights/federalism, etc.
Libertarians often share many of these views.
To many, rightly or wrongly, "liberal" equates to a different set of individual freedoms (abortion, gay marriage, liberalized drug laws, etc), anti-corporatism, environmentalism, etc.
Libertarians often share many of these views as well.
So what makes libertarians unique is their extreme position on individual rights and free market economics. This leads them to hold views that cross the traditional left-right spectrum in unexpected ways.
Now, that said, I think it's fair to say that if you drew a Venn diagram of views covering the left-right spectrum, and then drew a circle around "typical" libertarianism, that circle would skew to the right, naturally placing them moreso in the Republican sphere (though there are many many reasons why they're an ill fit for that party). Doubly so if you take social conservatives out of the equation (which is where, I would claim, most of the libertarian/Republican disagreements typically lie).
To me, this just highlights the failings of a binary left/right view of politics, hence the advent of the Political Compass:
I agree about your venn diagram. There is a reason we call Ron Paul Libertarian-ISH though, but some news sources drop the "ish". (just to cherry pick an example)
I'm of the personal opinion that there are many people on both sides who are Libertarians but won't call themselves Libertarians for one of two reasons:
1. Fear of being called crazy or associated with a subset of Libertarians who are very extreme
2. It's throwing away a vote (or if you're a politician, it's disenfranchising the base) *
* Disclaimer, I voted for Obama in 2008 but I did vote for Gary Johnson (the LP candidate) in 2012 and I think if enough people do that we can break the two part system for good.