defending libertarianism: individual liberty and limited government
by Matthew Smock
Published: March 8, 2008
“That government is best which governs least” - Thomas Paine
Now that’s a sound, Libertarian principle. It’s too bad similar principles no longer play a role in the current primaries. With the GOP nominee all but decided, and the Democratic nominee down to two choices, we will have to wait and see which candidate can put together the largest coalition of special interests to be the leader of his (or her) party and the nation. Meanwhile, we Libertarians are sidelined as this whole competition of special interests plays out between Democrats and Republicans.
Wait a minute, Republicans don’t combine special interests; they have principles: limited government and a strong national defense. I guess you could say the Republicans stand for limited government, if a growing police state is limited government. Since 9/11, security measures have been a top priority of the Bush administration. Though I am not sure that the country is safer, I am certain that individual rights have been curtailed as much as an apathetic public will allow. Bush has given various executive orders that increase the power of various policing agencies, including the Patriot Act, a clear violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. It gives the NSA authorization to eavesdrop on the electronic communications of a US citizen without a warrant! In addition to these new policing powers of the federal government, the police state has grown under Republican leadership. The Department of Homeland Security was created in 2001, taking over FEMA and the Coast Guard and creating the TSA within it.
In all fairness, the Republican Party cut marginal income taxes across the board. Now that’s a step toward fiscal conservatism. Unfortunately, fiscal conservatism also requires low spending. Republicans take their “core belief” of strong national defense so far that they can’t create a limited government. According to the US Defense Department, its budget was set to $439 billion in 2007, using nearly twenty percent of our federal tax revenues of $2.4 trillion (Congressional Budget Office). These figures do not even come close to the total cost of the War on Terror. In sum, the GOP lacks principles; they threw them out the window in the name of national security.
Now, the Democrats. I don’t think the Democrats even stand behind some set of “core beliefs.” This might even be better; at least no one is deceived. I did once hear from a Democratic Party representative that Democrats stood for a strong economy. Oh, as opposed to the Republicans and other parties who stand for a weak economy?
Are the Democrats the more liberal party?
Liberalism - n. a political theory emphasizing individual liberty.
Is individual liberty emphasized in these Democratic developments over the years?:
- Restrictions on free speech
- Gun control
- High taxes, especially on capital investment
- Affirmative action
Like the Republican Party, the Democrats are a combination of special interests whose collective goal has been to expand, expand, expand the government.
The Republican and Democratic Parties both lack principles to guide them. As a solution, I recommend libertarianism. I’m not talking about the Libertarian Party which, like the other two parties, ranges in interests, from social anarchists to people who just hate taxes. I’m talking about the philosophy, the set of principles. Libertarianism is founded on the solid American principles that our country was founded on. Our founders, like James Madison, were coming out of an era of taxing without representation and sought a society with economic freedoms, a belief at odds with our growing welfare state (and police state). They sought a government able to limit itself through checks and balances, an institution in grave danger of an executive with expanding powers. Finally, they sought individual liberty, especially Thomas Jefferson, who urged a Bill of Rights. National security is beginning to trump individual liberty. Principles, not interests, will bring us these liberties back.
Wake up! Parties are partisan; Americans should be principled. Americans lost in party politics and feel their country lacks political direction should look into libertarianism. Often dismissed as a radical ideology, America was founded on these radical, libertarian principles, bringing us independence and the Constitution. If you take pride in your American freedom more than you do your Democratic or Republican allegiance, look into libertarianism.
Where’s Thomas Paine when you need him?
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