I think maybe we should go back and define what we are talking about. This is a tract from a libertarian organization that I am using to define core libertarian beliefs. As I have pointed out before, however, a lot of people who think libertarianism is cool or interesting don't understand how radical a belief system it is. So I will post my source material. Re your comment that everyone must be selfish, I didn't really understand that. Rich liberals who want to pay more taxes and make sure that all Americans have health insurance and food, for example, are not as selfish as libertarians who do not want to feed the poor or educate them or make sure they have medical treatment. I am not really very functional at the moment, so perhaps I have missed your meaning.
libertarianunderground.com
Libertarianism refers to far more than mere membership in a political party. Libertarianism is a political worldview based on a single moral principle. What is that principle? Put simply, it is the belief that individuals should be free to do as they wish, provided they do not interfere with the equal freedom of others. Phrased differently, this says that nobody has the right to forcibly interfere with my actions, so long as I am not violating the person or property of somebody else.
It sounds simple, but the implications are far reaching, especially when the principle is applied not only to individuals, but also to governments. Think about it. The overwhelming majority of government activities blatantly violate the liberty of individuals who are harming no one. The primary role of government in our age is to take money from some members of society and give it to others. If you happen be in the group that is selected to “give”, this action is not optional. If you resist, there is no question that the money will be forcibly extracted from you and you will probably be hauled off to jail. What crime would you have committed other than simply minding your own business and asking to be left alone?
Beyond taxing and spending, governments spend huge amounts of resources in order to enforce victimless crime legislation. Consider the vast majority of existing laws: drug laws, gun laws, laws against prostitution, minimum wage laws, affirmative action, business regulation, etc. All these laws aim at controlling the behavior of individuals, and possibly fining or imprisoning them, when they have harmed nobody. If I own a business and want to hire someone to empty the trash cans for $1.50 per hour and he agrees, who is the victim? On what basis should I be punished for such activity?
To the libertarian, the only legitimate function of government is to protect individuals from “force and fraud”. In other words, the government should protect people from physical violence, protect their property (either from physical theft or fraud), and enforce legal contracts. To perform these functions requires a police force, a military and a judicial system, nothing more.
Unfortunately, politics in the United States has long since stopped having anything to do with principled, reasoned debate. Republicans and Democrats cater to different segments of the population by promising them that the power of government will be used to enrich them at the expense of others. Democrats are, arguably, worse in this regard with an overt “tax the rich”, anti-business philosophy, but Republicans are actually little better with their backing of farm subsidies, tariffs and other similar measures. Libertarians reject any use of government as an agent to steal from one group in order to pay another.
Many people become libertarians because they have become frustrated with the Republican Party. Republicans talk a good game about freedom and markets, but when it comes time to vote, they cave to pressure groups, eager for “free” handouts. Republicans are also relentless in the “war on drugs”. The majority of libertarians do not advocate the use of drugs, but they acknowledge that it is not their right to control the non-violent behaviors of other people.
A large number of people also come to libertarianism after many years as Democrats. People who make this change were probably originally attracted to the Democratic Party because it appears less bent on controlling people from a social perspective. A Democrat who comes to acknowledge that individuals need both social and economic freedom is a prime candidate to join the ranks of the libertarians.
In short, libertarianism boils down to a strong belief in individual rights and freedom. Politically, libertarians do not support certain groups in favor of others. They stand on principle. To really bring things into focus, let’s look at some specific issues:
Taxes: Given that the government's power to tax rests solely on the implied threat of physical violence (arrest and imprisonment), it is clear that taxation is nothing other than institutionalized theft. As described above, taxes are generally used as an illegitimate method of transferring wealth to favored groups at the expense of others. Most, if not all, forms of taxation penalize successful individuals and provide incentive to be non-productive. Libertarians oppose the use of taxation as a tool of social engineering (alcohol and cigarette tax, luxury taxes, etc.). The near term goal of libertarian politicians is to drastically reduce taxes.
Welfare: Welfare is theft, plain and simple. The fact that the government is doing the stealing on behalf of "the poor" is irrelevant. Libertarians would eliminate welfare entirely. Please note that libertarians are not insensitive to the plight of individuals who have fallen on hard times. Theft is always wrong, regardless of how the loot is disposed of. The desire to eliminate government welfare does not imply a desire to eliminate aid to the needy through voluntary charity donations.
Social Security: Social Security has no place in a free society. It is up to individuals to plan for their own retirement through private investments and insurance. At the same time, Libertarians understand that a large number of people have paid a lot of money into the Social Security system and/or are dependant on it. The only fair approach is to gradually phase out the social security system over a number of years so that those who are currently dependant on it are not left stranded. One approach would be to gradually decrease benefits (a function of the age of the person at the beginning of the "phase out") until the system can finally be abandoned entirely.
Gun Control: Libertarians are adamantly opposed to gun control. The right to self defense is fundamental and should never be infringed. Furthermore, elimination of guns from private hands only concentrates power in the hands of the government. Oppressive regimes throughout history have used gun control as an easy means to gain absolute control of their citizens. As a practical matter, stricter gun control laws have been shown (in the U.S. and abroad) to lead to an increase, not a decrease in violent crime.
Health Care: Libertarians believe that health care should be on the free market like any other service. Health matters are between individuals and their doctors and have nothing to do with the government. Excessive government involvement leads to waste and inefficiency. Libertarians would abolish the FDA. As to Medicare and Medicaid, these programs are simply welfare by another title. The functions of these organizations are properly handled by private charity.
Military: The proper role of the military is to protect Americans from foreign attack or invasion. A military limited to this role would have a far smaller budget than that of the current American military. The exact level of foreign involvement appropriate to the military is a matter of debate among libertarians. While some advocate a purely defensive and reactive role for the military, the majority would endorse a reasonable level of proactive military involvement outside of the U.S. borders. The important point is that the task of the military is to protect American lives, not to impose American policies on other nations.
Drug Laws: Drug policy is a complicated matter, and it would be foolish to propose overly simplistic solutions. As with any other policy, libertarians oppose legislation that punishes people when there is no identifiable victim. At first blush, then, one might conclude that a libertarian drug policy would simply be full legalization. Further consideration, however, might also lead to the conclusion that drug pushers are, in fact, victimizing those people whom they cause to become addicted. In many cases, these victims may be justified in seeking restitution. So, while drugs would not be explicitly illegal under libertarian policies, dealing drugs may be a very expensive (and unprofitable) business in which to engage.
The Economy: Libertarians do not believe that the government should be involved in the economy at all. Laissez Faire capitalism is the economic system appropriate to a free society. The role of government in the economy would reduce to the enforcement of legal contracts, nothing more.
Immigration: Immigration policy is a matter of debate among libertarians. A large fraction of libertarians advocate an open immigration policy. Obviously, this is not possible or advisable so long as there are a huge variety of public services available to the new immigrants at taxpayer expense. A growing number of libertarians are acknowledging this and advocating a more restricted policy of immigration. Both groups acknowledge the desirability of having labor flow freely across borders. Advocates of restricted immigration propose allowing sponsored immigrants to come into the country in order to work. These immigrants would be required to leave once their term of employment was over (unless they established another sponsor).
Education: Public education is nothing more than socialized education. It is a means by which the government transfers money from those without children to those with children. For productive members of society who have school-age children, socialized education simply reduces their options and serves as a disincentive to send their children to the school of their choice. Aside from all that, public schools are inferior to private schools at the job of education and are the source of endless battles regarding policy. Such matters as religion in school can never be fairly resolved when people representing a wide variety of cultural backgrounds are forced attend the same school. The libertarian ideal is to eliminate public education, reduce taxes accordingly, and allow people to educate their children as they see fit. The near term goal of libertarian politicians is to change to a voucher system so that schools will be forced to compete for business and so parents can send their children to a school that teaches in a manner consistent with their own person beliefs (religious or otherwise). It is critical that the vouchers be provided without strings attached. If the government is allowed to dictate how schools must be managed in order to accept vouchers, the opposite of the desired effect may take place - the private schools themselves may become indistinguishable from public schools.
Trade: Libertarians advocate unrestricted free trade. A tariff on imports is essentially a tax on American consumers that is in turn handed over to the members of the protected industry. If tariffs are placed on steel, for example, it means that Americans are subjected to an unnecessarily high price for steel for the benefit of the American steel industry. All American consumers of steel are subjected to this burden. There is no justification for such policy.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of all libertarians!
To discuss libertarianism further, or to provide feedback regarding this article, feel free to browse or ask questions in the Libertarian Underground Forum.
Other Sites of Interest
Libertarian.org
The Libertarian Party
Ludwig von Mises Institute (Libertarian Economics)
The Free State Project |
