I Am a Libertarian

[IrishCanadian25]

So in this thread, I welcome questions, challenges, etc pertaining to my Libertarian views.

The Libertarian Mantra

"Libertarians believe the answer to America's political problems is the same commitment to freedom that earned America its greatness: a free-market economy and the abundance and prosperity it brings; a dedication to civil liberties and personal freedom that marks this country above all others; and a foreign policy of non-intervention, peace, and free trade as prescribed by America's founders."

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My view on the economy is simple, and it oft falls CLOSE to the republican view point. Business, not government, should run the economy. That's why it's called a free market system. A dollar is a vote, and you use those votes to decide which products, services, and businesses are successful.

I am against politicians throwing around billions of dollars like candy under the guise of "bail out money," because bailouts are simply a popularity ploy designed to delay the inevitable - unless businesses are structured and managed properly, they are destined to fail. General Motors didn't need bailout money - they needed competent management. GM was rewarded for mismanagement. Imagine a baseball player being given a $12 million bonus for batting .150 for an entire year with 1 HR and 17 RBI's in 161 games.

Daniel Mitchell astutely compared billions in auto bailouts to giving an alcoholic the key to the liquor cabinet.

A bailout will hurt the overall economy by misallocating resources. When politicians grant special favors to a certain industry or a particular union, such decisions necessarily mean that market forces are being replaced by special-interest deal-making. A bailout will encourage other industries to seek taxpayer handouts. The Wall Street bailout was a disaster in many ways, most notably as measured by the weak stock market and economic volatility. First Wall Street's high fliers get a bailout. Now the inefficient management and union at the Big Three want a handout. Who will be next in line to pillage taxpayers? Giving handouts in exchange for political support is akin to getting high. Once politicians decide they like the buzz of campaign contributions, they'll turn into junkies with ordinary Americans footing the bill. A bailout is a perverse transfer from poor taxpayers to rich taxpayers. America's Founding Fathers surely never envisaged that the federal government would take money from one group of Americans and give it to another group. Yet much of the federal budget is devoted to redistribution programs.

Let these mismanaged companies declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy. If there is a need for their industry in the free market economy, then one of two things will happen - 1) they will reorganize and liquidate, and come back into the market, or 2) they will cease to exist, and a new business with match the need, hopefully with a vastly more intelligent management structure.

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

So I can post questions in here? All right. I consider myself a libertarian as well, except in one aspect: an open borders policy. How do you feel about immigration? Should countries be much more lax on this issue than they are now? And, if I consider myself a libertarian but vehemently oppose an open borders policy (mind you, I don't oppose free trade or international capital flows), does this mean that I can't call myself a libertarian?

 

[Razor]

How "unregulated" do you believe the markets should be? Should there be basic ethics laws in place? For instance, should there be a law against child labor? How about laws regulating the horrendous prices hikes seen under insurance premiums? What about quality control laws? Is the FDA unconstitutional, in your eyes?

Also, why do you believe that the government shouldn't have at least a say in the workings of its own nation's economy? I'm not arguing Socialism or Communism, but rather why was it wrong for the government to keep a select few businesses (which were integral to the economy of the United States, maybe even the world) afloat, so as to circumvent a national or global economic crisis?

Would you then, believe FDR was wrong to keep the nation's economy afloat until World War 2 broke out? FDR didn't solve the Great Depression by any means, but he kept people fed until a gigantic flow of cash came in...it just so happened that that flow of cash was on the bodies of millions of dead Europeans.

How do you feel about the income tax, the main way in which the government keeps itself afloat? If the government can not gain money, it can not fulfill its role as a national government. Do you believe, as some (if not most...I can't quite remember my Libertarian facts at the moment) do, that the government shouldn't take in an income tax? If so, how do you feel about the components of government now, and how constitutional/correct they are?

 

[Dexter]

Yay! More Libertarians! Maybe you guys can talk some sense into the bleeding heart Liberals in the Class System thread trying to act like I'm a horrible person for not wanting to give half my paycheck away to a failing bureaucracy. How these people can justify giving so much of what they have away to a body that's proven itself completely, utterly inept and inefficient over the last 230 years is just dumbfounding to me. It kinda feels silly arguing the point... I feel like I'm trying to argue with them that they need to breathe air. Just can't imagine anything more glaringly obvious.

Libertarianism just strikes me as the philosophy that most accurately reflects what the founding fathers had in mind when they established this country in the first place. It's a shame we've allowed ourselves to stray so far from that in the meantime. It's not been an overnight change... we've gotten from there to here in baby steps, each time representing something someone was afraid of... a war here, a recession there... giving away a little more freedom and granting the government a little more control each time until now what we have is more reminiscent of a Western European-style Socialist system than the "Great Experiment" we started with.

Whenever something like this comes up, I like to refer back to a quote from Benjamin Franklin from 1775. "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." It seems people are willing to do that nearly every day now... handing over a little more of their paycheck for entitlement programs... handing over a little more of their privacy to fight "terrorism"... seemingly not realizing that these concessions are not temporary. Once the government has taken that little piece of your freedom, it's gone forever. They're not giving it back. Makes you wonder how far it needs to go before people realize what's been happening this whole time.

Anyway, point being, WOOT LIBERTARIANISM!

 

[Big J]

I consider myself more libertarian than republican right now. I think most conseratives agree with most libertarians except on a few points, like illegal drugs, foreign policy and some others. I agree with most of the policies and don't really know enough about the rest to make a decision.

So, I'll ask, what is the libertarion policy on......

Drugs?

Illegal and legal Immigration/Borders?

Defend allies and preventing terrorist attacks?

Taxes? National sales tax?

Those will do for now.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

So I can post questions in here? All right. I consider myself a libertarian as well, except in one aspect: an open borders policy. How do you feel about immigration? Should countries be much more lax on this issue than they are now? And, if I consider myself a libertarian but vehemently oppose an open borders policy (mind you, I don't oppose free trade or international capital flows), does this mean that I can't call myself a libertarian?

America's financial strength (yes, even now) places it in a unique position wen it comes to immigration, as does our proximity to a developing 3rd world nation such as Mexico. Immigrants are close to the US and movement across the border is largely unimpeded by natural factors. No ocean or mountain in the way.

There are an estimated 12 million people living in the US without authorization. Many came across illegally, others are overstaying visas. They are generally decent people whose only goal is to fill a low-wage, low-skill job to provide a poverty level lifestyle to their family.

Current illegal immigrants should be found and given the option of staying legally (and paying a fine or back taxes) and have an educational, legal pathway to permanent residency.

Federal benefits for illegal immigrants is a waste of taxpayer money. It bothers me deeply. We spend too much of the overtaxed citizen's money as it is to waste it on people who work in America and don't pay taxes. Amnesty is not the answer. Closely monitor the borders, and give current illegals the choice of deportation of a modern version of indentured servitude where a portion of their wages are garnished to compensate the state government for some level of back taxes.

It's important to treat these immigrants with respect and dignity - they aren't inherently bad people, they merely are seeking the chance to do an unskilled job that few Americans want to do, and they want to feed their family. They just need to do it legally.

To answer your last question, tdigs, you can be a libertarian who doesn't fall in line with every libertarian view. I know a lot of registered republicans who are pro-choice, and conversely I know many registered democrats who are anti gay-marriage.

 

[Dexter]

I consider myself more libertarian than republican right now. I think most conseratives agree with most libertarians except on a few points, like illegal drugs, foreign policy and some others. I agree with most of the policies and don't really know enough about the rest to make a decision.

I'll field these if no one objects. I've studied the subject pretty extensively. Any one of these questions deserves its own separate 15 page discussion so I do them a disservice with my brief answers, but hopefully I'll at least get the point across in the most basic, stripped-down way possible.

Drugs?

As the right to do with ones own body as one chooses is our most basic and inalienable right, all drugs should be legal. The fact that someone might find something to be a bad idea doesn't give them a right to legislate that opinion. Furthermore, the goverment is not our parents. It's not their job to take the "Father Knows Best" stance on matters of morality and personal liberty.

Illegal and legal Immigration/Borders?

The law is the law. If it's illegal, don't do it. That having been said, the problem of illegal immigration owes primarily to the fact that it's so damned difficult to get into this country to begin with. We need these immigrants as much as they need us. Immigration laws should be significantly relaxed to allow them to come here LEGALLY and the problem will, for the most part, fix itself.

Defend allies and preventing terrorist attacks?

The military defense of our nation is one of the few roles of the government that are specifically enumerated in the Constitution and thus one of the few things they're doing legally. There are limits, of course - that defense goes only as far as it does NOT infringe upon the rights of American citizens. In other words, Due Process and the respect of privacy always apply.

As for the defense of allies, that's a stickier situation. We're certainly involved internationally far more than we should be. We are NOT the world's police force, nor should we aspire to be. We have no responsibility to be anyone's knight in shining armor. However, there are (rarely) times when it IS in the best interest of this nation to come to the defense of another. For example, we had every reason to involve ourselves in World War II, even if you exclude the Pearl Harbor attack. The threat posted by the Axis powers was a clear threat to not just England, France and Poland, but the entire world, ourselves included.

Taxes? National sales tax?

The government does have a job to do, and to do that job it needs money. Thus, taxes, like it or not. However, the job it should be doing is faaaaar smaller than the job it's doing now. Thus, a federal income tax is absolutely unnecessary. If our government limited itself to the role for which it was established in the Constitution, a simple sales and/or import tax would be more than sufficient. Bear in mind that this applies only on the Federal level. The states are sovereign and free to come up with their own systems to meet their own needs.

Those will do for now.

Any others?

 

[Big J]

Ok, so all drugs should be legal. I really don't care what anyone does to themselves as long as it doesn't affect me and my family. The only thing I see wrong with legalizing drugs is that you will get more impared drivers causing accidents and killing innocent people.

If the punishment is strong enough, it isn't for drunk driving, then ok legalize all drugs.

The libertarian party needs to run some strong candidates at the local and state levels and build up a main stream spokesman and get some current well known politicians to switch to their party.

 

[Big J]

It's been awhile since and you haven't answered any questions, I hope everything is ok and you're just to busy.

With the recent shootings in the news, what are the libertarian parties views on gun control?

Who should and shouldn't be allowed to own guns? Concealed carry? etc.

Thanks,