What's a l(L)ibertarian?

[Snowlark]

@MikeTheBard

the phrase originated as a criticism of those who believe they achieved success without help, but in it’s current colloquial usage, it’s lost that connotation, and is instead generally taken to mean the opposite: To actually achieve based on one’s merits without assistance.

I sometimes wonder if people who use this phrase to convey the latter know that Horatio Alger was a fiction writer, not a journalist.

[anon50609448]

@MikeTheBard

I believe that the phrase originated as a criticism of those who believe they achieved success without help, but in it’s current colloquial usage, it’s lost that connotation, and is instead generally taken to mean the opposite: To actually achieve based on one’s merits without assistance.

This probably reflects a cultural divide between people who recognize that none of us succeeds (or even exists) on our own merits alone and the seemingly ever larger pool of delusional people who think that Bill Gates raised himself on a desert island from infancy before becoming a billionaire.