Spring Break
Libertarians Focus On Drugs
Rob Casapulla
Issue date: 2/16/06 Section: Commentary
I hunted around the National Libertarian Party's web site and found some interesting facts that support my growing notion that Libertarianism is basically a copout for people who don't want to identify with a real political ideology. The Libertarian platform is self-defeating and its one claim to fame is its attempts to legalize drugs. If you talk to a Libertarian, especially a college Libertarian, chances are that they are not actually a Libertarian but rather just a conservative or liberal trying to avoid answering a question, or they are someone who just thinks smoking pot should be legalized. If you have the chance to meet a Libertarian who actually knows what Libertarians stand for, they profess a desire to roll back government to the point where people can do whatever they want to make them happy as long as they do not interfere with any one else's happiness.
Now at first this seems to be a pretty good idea, I mean who wouldn't want to just go around doing whatever they want. Unfortunately, that situation where people walked around without government is the state of nature Thomas Hobbes described when he wrote that life was "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short," and that it would lead to a "war of everyman against everyman." All of a sudden a "no rules" society doesn't seem that good.
Even if you put aside Hobbes' state of nature the Libertarian logic has severe holes in it. For example who is supposed to prevent people from stepping on other people's happiness. With no government, who should enforce the one law that would govern this anarchial system? A similar situation arises when you look at the Libertarians' dedication to their property. A house and the land it's located on is yours if you hold a deed to it. But what is a deed? In a country with a government and laws a deed is a legal document that the government uses to recognize a piece of property as legally yours. If there is no government, as Libertarians would have, then a deed is just a silly piece of paper with writing on it. There is nothing to keep that property yours if you cannot defend it and there is no legal recourse for you to get it back if it is taken from you.
Now at first this seems to be a pretty good idea, I mean who wouldn't want to just go around doing whatever they want. Unfortunately, that situation where people walked around without government is the state of nature Thomas Hobbes described when he wrote that life was "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short," and that it would lead to a "war of everyman against everyman." All of a sudden a "no rules" society doesn't seem that good.
Even if you put aside Hobbes' state of nature the Libertarian logic has severe holes in it. For example who is supposed to prevent people from stepping on other people's happiness. With no government, who should enforce the one law that would govern this anarchial system? A similar situation arises when you look at the Libertarians' dedication to their property. A house and the land it's located on is yours if you hold a deed to it. But what is a deed? In a country with a government and laws a deed is a legal document that the government uses to recognize a piece of property as legally yours. If there is no government, as Libertarians would have, then a deed is just a silly piece of paper with writing on it. There is nothing to keep that property yours if you cannot defend it and there is no legal recourse for you to get it back if it is taken from you.