The Case for Libertarianism

            When many people hear the word, “libertarian,” they think of some kook conspiracy theorist that will eventually star on ‘Doomsday Preppers.’ I propose, however, that this ideology has much more to offer us than the mainstream media would let on. Then again the media hasn’t historically been able to offer us the whole truth (I’m looking at you Fox and MSNBC).

            Ron Paul was and still is an interesting figure to me, especially during the most recent Republican primary. I will preface this segment on the premise that I don’t agree with everything that Paul has to say, but the roots of his ideology I do wholeheartedly. Ron Paul is what we used to call a strict constructionist. This means that he reads the Constitution at face value. This view says the Federal Government can only do what is explicitly stated it can in the Constitution.

            We don’t see this type of thinking or anything close to it in Washington. Democrats take the necessary and proper clause and just go to town on it; creating a nanny state in the process. Recently President Obama approved the use of military drones in the United States. Republicans or “conservatives,” are also guilty of blatantly going against the Constitution. The Patriot Act deliberately counters the Bill of Rights. To me that sounds like the opposite of patriotism, at least how the Founding Father’s interpreted it.

            Notice also how this way of thinking, the creation of the nanny state, overextends and weakens our government. The path that our Government is on, along with most of the developed world, is unsustainable.  The government is making too many promises and is borrowing heavily to keep them.

Look at the bloated military complex in the United States. We are afraid to make necessary cuts to the military because so much of our economy depends on it. Though we don’t identify ourselves as imperialists, we have a military presence in over 150 countries. The days that we can continue being the “world police” are numbered. Nearly 70 years after WWII, we still provide for the defense of Western Europe and Eastern Asia without anything in return. This unnecessary and costly status of being in a constant state of war has taken away from our ability to solve real problems at home.

In the realm of social security, we have created a populous dependent on the government. Don’t get me wrong, I think a social safety net is a societal and moral duty, but we condone behavior that just deepens poverty and creates a cycle of dependence. We encourage welfare recipients to have babies through our system, how does this make sense? Or a more recent program dubbed the ‘Obamaphone’ is equally absurd. Cell phones are a luxury, not a necessity. Why are we subsidizing an unneeded luxury when we are struggling to keep the federal budget under control?

In my opinion, libertarianism combines the best aspects of both parties. Fiscal Responsibility without the feeling that we need to feed the military machine called the Pentagon. Liberties supported by the Democrats are also a component to libertarian thought. The expensive budgetary excesses of both parties are purged in this thinking.

Libertarianism is not perfect, but it deserves legitimate recognition by the media and the voters. It presents solutions to the most dangerous threat to our country; the maxing out of our national ‘credit card.’ Next election, I encourage you to at least look at libertarian candidates and see what they say.

My final analysis and I guess the essential cause of my affection towards libertarianism, is that it promotes the idea that human beings are capable and essentially good creatures. As Ron Paul said in a debate once, “Up until this past century, you know for 100 years, they (heroine) were legal. What you’re inferring is ‘you know what? If we legalize heroin tomorrow, everybody is going to use heroin.’ How many people here would use heroin if it was legal?” This made a lot of sense to me. It shows that he has faith in the average American citizen. Can you say the same about the average Washington Politicians that increasingly push the ‘nanny state’ idea?

Copyright 2013

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