Spring Break
Elect Gary Nolan, Libertarian for President
Sean Vivier
Issue date: 1/22/04 Section: Commentary
"[L]as elecciones no son carreras de caballos. No se trata de apostarle al ganador, sino de apoyar a la persona con quien el votante está más de acuerdo." -Jorge Ibargüengoitia, Mexican essayist
Tired of Bush? Sick of the nine- make that eight- Democratic hopefuls? Suspicious of both the Democrats and Republicans? Well, despair not. The choice between the two mainstream parties is a false dilemma. There may just be a party for you: The Libertarians.
The Libertarian Party describes itself as the fastest-growing third party in the country, with over 300 Libertarians in various offices. It may be a slow start, but remember, there was once a time when neither Democrats nor Republicans existed.
The guiding philosophy of Libertarianism is freedom, that humanity is happiest and most successful when left to its own devices. The government only has the right to protect against foreign invasion and real crimes that cause people harm, such as murder, assault, abuse, rape, theft, vandalism, arson, kidnapping, fraud and the like. The litmus test for government intervention would be "Does it cause harm to others?" In the process, it would reduce government spending considerably, and thus bring taxation to a drastic minimum.
Libertarians say your property, the fruit of your labor, is yours to keep. No one has the right to take it from you. Nobody has the right to steal your effort, just as you do not have the right to steal the effort of others. A Libertarian government would abolish federal health care and welfare, while turning Social Security into one choice of many, getting out what you put in.
Yes, health care may be a natural right. So is eating, yet food distribution remains privatized. It doesn't matter that the government cares for your health, only that it is cared for. Without government interference, doctors are free to work toward excellence and prices will go down. Think St. Jude's. It is the foremost cancer research hospital in the world, run on a combination of patients' bills and charity, yet it does it all without any help from the government.
Tired of Bush? Sick of the nine- make that eight- Democratic hopefuls? Suspicious of both the Democrats and Republicans? Well, despair not. The choice between the two mainstream parties is a false dilemma. There may just be a party for you: The Libertarians.
The Libertarian Party describes itself as the fastest-growing third party in the country, with over 300 Libertarians in various offices. It may be a slow start, but remember, there was once a time when neither Democrats nor Republicans existed.
The guiding philosophy of Libertarianism is freedom, that humanity is happiest and most successful when left to its own devices. The government only has the right to protect against foreign invasion and real crimes that cause people harm, such as murder, assault, abuse, rape, theft, vandalism, arson, kidnapping, fraud and the like. The litmus test for government intervention would be "Does it cause harm to others?" In the process, it would reduce government spending considerably, and thus bring taxation to a drastic minimum.
Libertarians say your property, the fruit of your labor, is yours to keep. No one has the right to take it from you. Nobody has the right to steal your effort, just as you do not have the right to steal the effort of others. A Libertarian government would abolish federal health care and welfare, while turning Social Security into one choice of many, getting out what you put in.
Yes, health care may be a natural right. So is eating, yet food distribution remains privatized. It doesn't matter that the government cares for your health, only that it is cared for. Without government interference, doctors are free to work toward excellence and prices will go down. Think St. Jude's. It is the foremost cancer research hospital in the world, run on a combination of patients' bills and charity, yet it does it all without any help from the government.