Primer for Discussing Libertarianism

Preface:
I've been putting off writing these posts for months because it became too important and simultaneously a medical problem led to issues with mental fatigue. I constructed a set of expectations: The writing had to cite sources, it had to cover every from of the ideology from every angle, it had to be irrefutable. Why bother if it won't be perfect?

This version isn't that. It will be part of a series of brief essays on the subject with varying levels of complexity in addressing root political and philosophical realities. I'm mostly self-educated in philosophy and politics, and there certainly exist better responses to these issues. I have no idea if there are readable responses unburdened by jargon. I haven't run across much in that vein myself.
For now, I'm going to try to put it out there in logical and easily communicated parcels.  We'll start with definitions, get into flaws with libertarianism in general, and then I'll likely speak on issues with Randian Objectivism.

And just to be up-front, I've got a strong opinion: Libertarianism is an ill-considered set of beliefs based on an unfounded principle that humans are able to be sensible and the market is more accountable to the populace than governmental institutions.

Root Terms:

Libertarianism is an American political ideology rooted in social liberalism and fiscal conservatism. By contrast, the Republican Party serves social and fiscal conservatism while the Democratic Party is typically on the liberal end of both social and fiscal issues.

Social liberalism is of course where you get greater range of individual choice. Examples here include protection in practicing minority religions/avoidance of protecting a singular faith above others throughout American history, racial equality and abortion rights in the 50s to 70s, or marriage rights over the last decade. Radically socially liberal groups may also promote reductions in governmental secrecy, reduced control over intellectual property (this comes up mostly with anarchist groups), restrictions on police authority, or other forms of increased civilian autonomy/authority.
Social conservatism focuses on maintaining traditional patterns/avoiding social disruption to ensure stability. Examples of social conservatism include focus of maintaining prayer in public agencies sure to traditional pence in those settings or a believe in Christianity as the central American faith, working to manage recidivism through longer/more aggressive criminal sentencing, and historically a push to maintain white, male, heterosexual, protestant, cis-gendered privilege. As national values change, conservative values slowly drift to maintain the status quo or get back to how things were before recent changes.

In the US, fiscal conservatism is typically expressed as a belief that capitalist market forces function best and create the most successful economies when freed as much as possible from government and other non-market forces. Cited as part of the party platform for both republicans and libertarians is the goal of limited government, but far-right or super-fiscally-conservative members may be opposed to virtually all forms of taxation. Many representatives of both parties support financing a public protective force (police, military, fire, emergency medical, etc) though republicans and libertarians may strongly vary on how large a force. Additionally, libertarians and some republicans tend to favor privatizing many public services. Examples include postal service, education, eliminating social security in favor of everyone having individual responsibility and freedom to invest or not invest in their own retirement. Often there is a sense individuals are the most capable of deciding what is best for their lives and that government has a tendency to spend distractedly and destructively.

Fiscal liberalism is about specific government intervention to provide for the impoverished and to reduce disparities between high income and low income individuals, or at least to provide services to reduce inter-generational barriers in growth and avoid developing a de facto aristocracy. Programs like Temporary Aid for Needy Families (detailed in the first post in this blog), SNAP (the food stamp program), state assistance for mental and physical health to people without insurance, public law enforcement, most fire departments (even many volunteer fire departments may qualify for assistance from government grants or support if a fire department is damaged in a natural disaster), or storm recovery. Several regulatory programs fall under fiscal liberalism as well.  The CDC is a function of public spending for protection of the general public.  USDA guidelines banning the use of pus (as in: from wounds) as coloration in milk, a once-common practice at the turn of the 1900s, exemplify expansion of government powers to regulate business in the public interest.

As an aside: There are a few complex issues like military spending that may have a basis in liberal fiscal policies but be supported by fiscally conservative groups and individuals. With military spending we see the expenses balloon and the tables turn as fiscal liberals push to reign in spending on the military to ensure appropriations can still cover other programs without requiring increased taxes.