I consider myself a pragmatic libertarian, which off the top of my head basically means that:
1. I believe very strongly in the sovereignty of the individual.
2. I prefer more open and incentive-driven markets.
3. I’m skeptical of governments, particularly large and powerful ones, because they’re inefficient, rely on coercion, and are too tempting as prizes to be captured for power, prestige, and wealth.
However, these are all on a spectrum and I’m open to trying other points along that spectrum if they work better than our current system. I also recognize that the optimal system may be too distant from where we are today to even move towards it directly.
So for healthcare for example, our system is dreadful, but I’m not sure that pure free markets would be better. But I’d strongly prefer a public option (and maybe even single payer), or a well-designed hybrid system like Singapore or Switzerland has to fully nationalized healthcare like UK.
Similarly, I’m open to trying basic income, a land value or VAT instead of income tax, and other alternative systems. I’m particularly in favor of systems that are more stable and resistant to changing from the whims of the current government.
I personally don’t understand how anyone who thinks the government is awesome can continue to believe that when they watch episode after episode of unchecked police brutality, or constant encroachments on civil liberties, or the entire Trump administration.