Would libertarians allow people to own slaves, if people are allowed?
It depends on who you ask. On the average, Id say this question illustrates one of the largest differences in how USA and Scandinavia think about liberty. In USA (relative to Scandinavia anyway) you will find more people that argue that freedom and liberty is best protected by having the government stay largely out of private contracts except by enforcing them. That means there should be wide freedoms for people to freely enter into a wide variety of contracts, including contracts that are severely limiting for their freedoms. The rationale is that if you did not see the contract as beneficial for you in sum total, youd presumably refuse to sign it. Here in Scandinavia, in contrast, we tend to think that imbalances of power in contract-negotiations often mean that we can increase freedom by stepping in and using the power of law to insist on certain minimum protections for the party we perceive (correctly or not!) as the weaker party in a contract-negotiation while thus also limiting what kinds of contracts are enforceable. Even in USA few would find it acceptable for people to be able to sign a contract that legally compels them to be someones slave indefinitely, but if you scale the loss of freedom down a bit, then youll find a large set of contracts that are common, accepted and enforceable in USA, yet are not in Scandinavia. In USA its legal, and common, to have an employment-contract that specifies no paid vacation-day, no paid holidays, no paid parental and/or no paid sick leave. In contrast, Norwegian employment-law guarantees all employees these privileges. Many American libertarians would say that the American approach gives more freedom. Many Scandinavians would counter that the American approach means your freedom is proportional to your bargaining-power and/or financial muscle. In USA its legal, and common for Homeowner associations to have a long list of compulsory rules above and beyond the limits set by law for what youre allowed to do around your home. The rules can cover pretty much any part of life from which direction your car needs to be facing when its parked to how often you need to cut your lawn and whether or not you can dry your laundry outdoors. In contrast, Norwegian law protects the rights of both renters and owners to use their home in any manner not prevented by law. Many American libertarians would say the American approach represents freedom people who dont like the rules of a given HOA are free to refuse and go live elsewhere. Many Scandinavians would counter that this too has the practical effect of systematically granting you more freedom the more privileged you already are.