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This page contains links to
Web sites of interest to Libertarians and to those interested
in political issues as well as my own Libertarian-related items.
Table of Contents:
The Libertarian Party |
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Introduction
to the Libertarian Philosophy:
The Libertarian Party is the
main organization espousing the Libertarian Philosophy. Of course,
like any diverse group of people, even when united behind a vaguely
coherent ideology, there are different strains and levels of libertarian
followers. The philosophies and viewpoints that I set forth hereinbelow
do not represent the entire spectrum of libertarian thought, but
merely my take on the same. I would probably be termed by many
Libertarians as a Right-leaning moderate Libertarian.
The basic philosophy of libertarianism
can best be summed up by Thomas Jefferson's famous statement "That
which governs least governs best." This is, of course, a
simplification, because libertarians are not anarchists (despite
a waggish notion that libertarians are anarchists who wear suits).
We believe in government and believe that government has legitimate
purposes and functions. It is merely a matter of degree, but a
significant degree to say the least.
To expand on Jefferson's single
sentence statement, libertarians believe that government's function
should be limited to the protection of one person's basic rights
from encroachment by force or coersion by another, and the protection
of the nation from foreign invasion and threat. This means libertarians
believe it is NOT the government's duty to protect a person from
himself, to regulate non-violent non-harmful behavior, to legislate
morality, to prosecute victimless crimes, to promote social values,
et al.
Another simplified way to view
a libertarian philosophy is that it combines a social freedoms
espoused by Liberals with the economic freedoms espoused by the
Conservatives. We libertarians like to think that we take the
best of each of the Democratic and Republican ideologies and throw
out all of the garbage.
In a libertarian society, people
do not think of the government as their surrogate parent. Unfortunately,
today, whenever any thing goes slightly awry, people raise the
cry and hue "There oughta be a law!", rather than try
to fix things on their own. More laws means bigger government.
Bigger government means more taxes and more authority dictated
by the government, reducing our personal freedom to act as we
see fit.
Below is a list of issues libertarians support:
Over the course of time, I will go over each of the specific items above in greater detail.
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