Why I’m A Libertarian

The ever-continuing, foolish escapades of both the current administration and the “loyal opposition” would be demoralizing if it weren’t for the fact that there is an alternative philosophy of governance: that of the Libertarian Party.


I don’t cotton to all of the party’s positions (http://www.libertarianparty.org), but on the major issues, we are pretty much in agreement.
Let’s run through a short list:
“Libertarians believe that elected officials should not hide behind special privileges that exempt them from the rules they impose on the people who elect them.” That would include government financing of political campaigns and exemption from programs like Social Security that are mandated for most of us.
End the so-called “War on Drugs”. “Half the cost of law enforcement and prisons is squandered on drug related crime,” the result of which is a failure to protect the public from real criminals by using plea bargains and sentence reductions to reduce the stress on a hopelessly overloaded criminal justice system.
Through tax credits and school choice, “support a true market in education — one in which parents and students would not be stuck with a bad local school, because they could choose another.”
Give Americans the ability to opt out of Social Security. Sell federal government assets to put the system on a secure financial footing for those currently receiving benefits and for those near eligibility age.
Eliminate the “$200 billion in taxes from American consumers and businesses to subsidize foreign governments, foreign companies, and foreign citizens.”
Give seniors the ability to opt out of Medicare in favor of private health insurance.
Stop bailing out private industries with tax dollars. “No one has the right to cover his losses at taxpayer expense — and yet wealthy corporations demand exactly that. The federal government has bailed out railroads, banks, and other corporations with your tax dollars. This must stop!”
Change the laws to permit more open immigration, but “(cut) the services that immigrants consume. The right to immigrate does not imply a right to welfare — or any other government service.”
Reduce or eliminate both state and federal agencies involved in the regulation of business. I disagree with the Party’s contention that business will regulate itself in a “free market”, because I don’t believe we could ever have a true “free market”. Still, as a small business owner, I resent the number of tax-supported bureaucrats with jobs that are either useless to me or redundant yet who nonetheless claim to be of service to entrepreneurs.
Repeal the Patriot Act. Period.
Adopt a non-interventionist foreign policy. Return the money used to support troops overseas and foreign governments to the taxpayers. If people want to support Physicians Without Borders or the Bosnians or the Sudanese or anyone else, let them do so through private contributions.
As I said, I don’t agree with the Party’s positions on everything – their submission to the Porn industry being one – but it would make me physically ill to waste my vote on either “major” party candidate this November. That would, in my view, be a slap in the face to those who have sacrificed so much to grant the franchise to people like me.