Even with specific issues such as education on the front burner, the discussion still boils down to essential philosophical differences. "To say that you don't want to be part of the decision-making process," notes Jon Lebkowsky, "embodied in the consensus, and that you don't want to be bound by the decisions that emerge from that process... is to say that you don't want to sign the social contract. It's a mountain-man sort of thing..." Tooch objects: "I don't see how allowing me, my neighbors, schools, teachers, etc., to interact freely, to choose how to deal with one another is analogous to a mountain man on his solitary peak. Rather, it's simply a recognition that personal choice and voluntary arrangements are almost always preferable to group decisions imposed upon all."

For two weeks, the pros and cons of Libertarianism have been laid out at four major Web sites, including Electric Minds. Having heard and weighed the arguments on all sides, isn't it time you spoke up for what you believe in?

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