8.4.05

True Libertarians

As more individuals become disaffected from the major political parties, many have assumed the name libertarian without knowing what it means. Here is a minimum necessary to be considered a libertarian in my mind:
  1. You oppose all forced service (slavery), including the draft. Forced service violates one's ownership of one's labor.
  2. You oppose any regulations on how private-property, including flags, should be displayed or treated, except to limit the effects on other's property. This is a violation of free expression.
  3. You oppose all wars that were engaged or initiated for any reason other than for self defense and to satisfy lawful defensive treaties, such as The War to Install a Puppet Regime in Iraq and Make It Friendly to Corporate Donors.
  4. You oppose all restrictions on access to pharmaceuticals (drugs), as this never directly affects other individuals.
  5. You realize that war is the health of the state and oppose all undeclared wars (police actions): Viet Nam, Cambodia, Korea, Panama, ...
  6. You oppose any compromise of civil liberties, such as the Patriot Act.
  7. As required for honoring our treaties, United Nations approval is a necessary condition for declaring war. The Iraq War II was not honorable because it violated UN resolutions that it claimed to be upholding.
  8. You oppose restrictions of trade (unless it is proven that a particular country is employing slave labor).
  9. You oppose restrictions on free entry and exit, without probable cause of criminal intent.
  10. You oppose militarily-imposed puppet democracy building and allow national self determination.
  11. You oppose forcibly disarming other free nations.
  12. You support only proportionate retaliatory military responses, or de-escalations, not overwhelming punitive responses.
  13. You oppose the centralization of the control of lethal force. There should exist a balance of power between competing authorities (branches of the military, coalitions of states, counties, etc) .
  14. You oppose government sanctioned monopolies, such as:
    currency production
    banking
    medicare/medicaid
    social security
    unemployment insurance
    schooling
    airport security
    airline traffic control
    mail transportation
    sports stadiums
    airport construction
  15. You oppose government regulation of the free market sector, except as to ensure that the rights of others are not violated.
  16. You oppose both high government taxation and spending. (GW lowered taxes, but increased spending.)
  17. You oppose government deficit spending, because it usurps congressional authority.
  18. You oppose all government licensing. All licensing should be by private certification boards.
  19. You oppose forcing individuals to make any statements, including the pledge of allegiance.
  20. You oppose regulations on the use of private property.
  21. You oppose centralized government licensing.
  22. You oppose any restrictions on immigration that would not apply to citizens.
  23. You support the equal right of individuals (not convicted of a felony) to acquire (limited) lethal force without licensing.

1 comment:

liberranter said...

Beautiful list! Completely captures the essence of what it means to be a libertarian (emphasis on "small 'l').