- 11 Aug 2015 15:39
#14590889
The greatest problem with Libertarianism is the way it is dissected into subgroups that attempt to blend in principles that are simply not libertarian. If there is any hyphen attached to the word then it is not libertarian. Furthermore, there is no need to go beyond a dictionary for the definition of what a libertarian is.
Can there ever be a society in which each and every person experience total freedom and liberty? Of course not. Conflict will always exist. This is why there must always be the existence of government. How much government? Smaller government? A libertarian would say the size of government should be appropriate to the task of resolving the conflict that will certainly occur. Since this is the one and only reason for the existence of government, there would never be any reason for it to be larger.
The concern among libertarians is not only the size and appropriateness of government but it's proximity to those effected by their decision. For this reason, it is the aim of libertarians to limit the size of federal and state government while giving more power directly to individual communities. Only those conflicts that cannot be resolved locally need to be the responsibility of a higher level. For example, diplomacy, a more universal medium of exchange, and trade arbitration among larger bodies would go to a higher level government.
As far as law is concerned, very little law would be applied by a government whose authority went beyond a specific community. Each community has the authority to produce their own laws other than those laws that are basic to the commitment of allowing freedom without imposing our will on others, allowing them to live their lives as they see fit. Certainly, universal concepts such as respect for other's lives, their families and their property would be required from all.
Speaking of families, children are at the core of libertarian principles. When we speak of freedom and liberty, we are not just referring to an individual. What is an individual isolated from his primary source of happiness, his family? Who, besides the parents of a child, is better suited to determine his role in society? Who better to determine their readiness to assume the responsibilities of adulthood? In libertarianism, the most active amount of government is in the home.
Are there bad parents? Yes, of course, but I would submit the greatest source of creating poor parenthood is a government that has taken the responsibilities, along with the accountability, away from parents. They have created environments that have severely reduced the role of parents in teaching their children about responsibility, accountability, and commitment. The more government attempts to intervene, the more fractured social structure becomes.
There is no such thing as a libertarian politician, it is a contradiction. The most harmful action of an electorate, resulting in the most damage to your freedom and liberty, is to re-elect someone in office. Government participation on any level is not a job. It is certainly not a career. It is a service that one is willing to perform, at the request of your community members or higher level, in a temporary capacity. When performing this service, a person is accountable to those they serve, those who assigned them this task, their electorate and no one else.
Political parties today have only one goal and that is to accumulate the individual political power of each person, consolidate it, and use it to increase the power of party leaders. That is their only goal. In the U.S., the Libertarian Party would best serve libertarians if they were only active during political campaigns in an effort to advance the cause of libertarianism after which they would disband until the next election.
Again, there is no such thing as perfect freedom and libertarians are not naïve. There must be an ability to defend the lands, there must be police to deal with crime, there must be some structure. However, this structure does not have to be as universal as we now experience, it does not have to be as large and overlapping. The closer these structures are to those they effect, the more efficient, relevant and transparent they will be.
Today's capitalism is a corrupt, disfigured imposter. It is not capitalism at all. It is the by-product of large government in collusion with financial entities that could never exist otherwise. If the large imposing government is disposed of then the monopolistic entitles follow. Capitalism become far more local, competition more vibrant and real.
Libertarianism opposes a welfare state but not welfare. It is freedom and liberty that advances the welfare of people more than anything else. Helping those in need can only increase the general happiness, security, and productivity of all involved. However, the worst administrator of distributing assistance is a large government entity with layers of bureaucracy that dilute the effect of such assistance. Such programs become the tools of this government, those in power use them for political gain, distributing resources where it would best suit their personal agenda. Welfare should always be local, where it will be better applied, more effective to those in need, and more transparent to those who contributed.
Unfortunately , I haven't enough time today to address the other "problems". However, I would say again that the greatest problem facing libertarianism is it's misinterpretation, often deliberate.
Can there ever be a society in which each and every person experience total freedom and liberty? Of course not. Conflict will always exist. This is why there must always be the existence of government. How much government? Smaller government? A libertarian would say the size of government should be appropriate to the task of resolving the conflict that will certainly occur. Since this is the one and only reason for the existence of government, there would never be any reason for it to be larger.
The concern among libertarians is not only the size and appropriateness of government but it's proximity to those effected by their decision. For this reason, it is the aim of libertarians to limit the size of federal and state government while giving more power directly to individual communities. Only those conflicts that cannot be resolved locally need to be the responsibility of a higher level. For example, diplomacy, a more universal medium of exchange, and trade arbitration among larger bodies would go to a higher level government.
As far as law is concerned, very little law would be applied by a government whose authority went beyond a specific community. Each community has the authority to produce their own laws other than those laws that are basic to the commitment of allowing freedom without imposing our will on others, allowing them to live their lives as they see fit. Certainly, universal concepts such as respect for other's lives, their families and their property would be required from all.
Speaking of families, children are at the core of libertarian principles. When we speak of freedom and liberty, we are not just referring to an individual. What is an individual isolated from his primary source of happiness, his family? Who, besides the parents of a child, is better suited to determine his role in society? Who better to determine their readiness to assume the responsibilities of adulthood? In libertarianism, the most active amount of government is in the home.
Are there bad parents? Yes, of course, but I would submit the greatest source of creating poor parenthood is a government that has taken the responsibilities, along with the accountability, away from parents. They have created environments that have severely reduced the role of parents in teaching their children about responsibility, accountability, and commitment. The more government attempts to intervene, the more fractured social structure becomes.
There is no such thing as a libertarian politician, it is a contradiction. The most harmful action of an electorate, resulting in the most damage to your freedom and liberty, is to re-elect someone in office. Government participation on any level is not a job. It is certainly not a career. It is a service that one is willing to perform, at the request of your community members or higher level, in a temporary capacity. When performing this service, a person is accountable to those they serve, those who assigned them this task, their electorate and no one else.
Political parties today have only one goal and that is to accumulate the individual political power of each person, consolidate it, and use it to increase the power of party leaders. That is their only goal. In the U.S., the Libertarian Party would best serve libertarians if they were only active during political campaigns in an effort to advance the cause of libertarianism after which they would disband until the next election.
Again, there is no such thing as perfect freedom and libertarians are not naïve. There must be an ability to defend the lands, there must be police to deal with crime, there must be some structure. However, this structure does not have to be as universal as we now experience, it does not have to be as large and overlapping. The closer these structures are to those they effect, the more efficient, relevant and transparent they will be.
Today's capitalism is a corrupt, disfigured imposter. It is not capitalism at all. It is the by-product of large government in collusion with financial entities that could never exist otherwise. If the large imposing government is disposed of then the monopolistic entitles follow. Capitalism become far more local, competition more vibrant and real.
Libertarianism opposes a welfare state but not welfare. It is freedom and liberty that advances the welfare of people more than anything else. Helping those in need can only increase the general happiness, security, and productivity of all involved. However, the worst administrator of distributing assistance is a large government entity with layers of bureaucracy that dilute the effect of such assistance. Such programs become the tools of this government, those in power use them for political gain, distributing resources where it would best suit their personal agenda. Welfare should always be local, where it will be better applied, more effective to those in need, and more transparent to those who contributed.
Unfortunately , I haven't enough time today to address the other "problems". However, I would say again that the greatest problem facing libertarianism is it's misinterpretation, often deliberate.
MORPHEUS: It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
NEO: What truth?
MORPHEUS: That you are a slave, Neo. That you, like everyone else, was born into bondage...
NEO: What truth?
MORPHEUS: That you are a slave, Neo. That you, like everyone else, was born into bondage...