Libertarianism

Well, I just got done reading an article in the school newspaper (who, by the way, hasn't updated their website since 29 MAR 2004) and I almost rocketed through the ceiling. The article is entitled "Right, Left, How about in the middle". Then, there are three headers; "Democrat", "Liberatarian", and "Republican" which contained little overviews of what each party stands for. I was willing to overlook the misspelling of Libertarian, but when our little writer doesn't even know what his party stands for, that aggravated me a little too much. I'll type out the entire article for you all to read. Also, you can see what the real Libertarian Party believes.

Sean Rife, the contributing writer, says this:

Hello [redacted]. My name is Sean Rife, and I am a libertarian. I have been asked to write a short piece introducing myself and my views as a prelude to what will hopefully be numerous articles, focusing primarily on contemporary political issues. I'm not a run-of-the-mill conservative Republican or liberal Democrat - I am, as the saying goes, "a little bit of both, a lot of neither."
When I tell most people that I'm a libertarian, the most common responses I get are "what the hell is that?" or, "so you're a liberal, right?" What's most amusing is the assumption by many that my favored candidate for President is Ralph Nader. That always makes me laugh: Nader is about two steps away from being a full-on socialist, the antithesis of a libertarian. It has therefore become quite apparent to me that most people don't know what a libertarian is or what libertarian stands for. It is my hope that by introducing myself and explaining what I believe, I can, at least in a somewhat broad sense, alleviate this situation.
The Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University, home of renowned libertarian economist Dr. Walter E. Williams, describes us this way:
The libertarian, or classical liberal, tradition is the perspective that individual well-being, prosperity, and social harmony are fostered by "as much liberty as possible" and "as little government as necessary."
There you go. Our basic philosophy is that individual liberty is a good thing, and most libertarians are fairly adamant about their individuality. This explains why getting a group of libertarians together in an effort to accomplish something is like herding cats, as demonstrated by the rather depressing state of today's Libertarians Party.
But I digress.
Libertarians trace their beliefs to those of American's "Founding Fathers:" Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Patrick Henry (the "give me liberty or give me death" guy), George Washington, etc. Philosophically, we find great truths in the writings of John Locke and Ayn Rand.
As a libertarian, I believe that individual liberty is the most important aspect of any society, political system, or social movement. This means that I believe in legalizing all, that's right, all, drugs, gambling, and prostitution. I think the legal drinking age in every state should be 18 - the universal age of suffrage in the United States. I believe in an all volunteer military. I want the government to stop regulating the most private industries and to stop taking my money and giving it to people it thinks are needier (through Social Security, Welfare, etc.)
I believe in free speech. I don't want my politics mixed with my religion, and therefore don't want American children praying in public schools (color added for emphasis). I think the government should consider marriage to be a simple contract between two individuals, and therefore honor such agreements between homosexual couples. I can't stand the Christian Coalition, and if Pat Robertson runs for President again I will vote for his Democratic opposition, even if that means casting a ballot for Ted "splash" Kennedy or Hillary Rodham Clinton (color added for emphasis).
Basically, the guiding principle is this: Whatever enhances my ability to live my own life, in my own way, without harming my fellow man is good, while whatever infringes upon that right in dangerous. Whatever promotes reason and logic is righteous, and whatever obstructs it is evil (hence the name of a prominent libertarian magazine, Reason, available at (redacted) library).
In an address to the Cato Institute, a prominent libertarian think tank, P.J. O'Rourke stated that "there are just two rules of governance in a free society: Mind your own business, and keep your hands to yourself." That about sums it up.
I will use words in the (redacted) to promote my understanding of libertarian ideology. I believe it is an important, yet underrepresented view that desperately needs to be heard, lest American deteriorate into socialism.... or worse yet, Europe.

A long winded little fellow, isn't he? Though for the most part, I agree with Mr. Rife, I do have two particular problems with what he believes are the foundations of the Libertarian ideology.

First off, Libertarians (at least those of us who are hard-core) do not agree with the concept of public education. This is because public schools are controlled by the government which goes against rule #1 he cited - "as little government as necessary". To me, this guy is sounding like a democrat - illogical and never consistent. Also related here is that he claims to be against prayer in school. Now, it may be that he didn't express himself correctly, or it could be that he is off-base with his beliefs. For the sake of this post, we will assume the latter. Libertarians do not believe in the removal of prayer from schools. We believe the government should not require a prayer of any certain religious persuasion to be said. We also believe it is no the government's place to suspend religious practice(s) in schools. I once heard a Libertarians candidate say the proper size of (federal) government is barely escaping non-existence. We believe that federal power should be derived from the states, not state power derived from the central government.

My second problem with Sean's write up is that he says he would vote for Kennedy or Hillary just because he doesn't like Pat Robertson. *nods head* Mature decision, Mensa-man. As my dad has said on several occasions (referring more to friends and dating than politics), "Zero will always be greater than a negative one." Why would you dare vote for the more evil of the politicians? I do agree that I probably wouldn't vote for Pat Robertson, either. However, I wouldn't abandon my beliefs in spite of another's decision to run for presidential office. Also note: the all-to-common bipartisan tunnel-vision I have previous written about.

For the most parts, his comments are accurate. I am very picky however, when someone decides to label themselves a libertarian when the fact of the matter is, they don't fully comprehend what it is that we stand for.

Long Live the States of America!
Crispy