Smart people tend to be libertarian-leaning. It is a most natural predisposition. Most people living in the west are economically privileged.
Ajross, you don't seem to really believe what you are saying. Sci-fi arguments? Really? Since when is the risk from nuclear war, pandemics or artificial intelligence constrained to sci-fi? The Spanish flu, Black Death and the Plague. The Cold War. These events should all inform our way of thinking about risk.
The smartest people I know are communists, but I imagine the end state of both is pretty similar - everybody enjoying a surplus economy where work is optional and done for the betterment of ourselves and others.
Ajross, you don't seem to really believe what you are saying. Sci-fi arguments? Really? Since when is the risk from nuclear war, pandemics or artificial intelligence constrained to sci-fi? The Spanish flu, Black Death and the Plague. The Cold War. These events should all inform our way of thinking about risk.