It's been my experience, since I started understanding the Libertarian point of view, that very few people understand what a true Libertarian stands for.
In short, they stand for that exact phrase I started with. How much do you want done at the point of a gun?
Once you understand that everything that government does is funded by forcible confiscation of your property in varying degrees, depending on your "ability to pay", you begin to loath more and more government intervention.
Mr. Campbell makes the point:
"For all the rest, the true believers if you will, the question remains: would a coalition with conservatives where there aren’t any abortions in the country and marriages were respected as the legal contracts they are, but there are concrete property laws, unmitigated free speech, and yes, the occasional marijuana coffee shop be such a bad place to live in? Surely if libertarians are willing to entertain the party of Mr. Dithers, there’s room for compromise with social conservatives…"
as if Libertarians are incompatible with all aspects of social conservatism, but realistically, the opposite is true. I am not a social conservative, but I am not afraid to say that I would argue convincingly Mr. Nicholls' right to refuse to perform certain marriage ceremonies, as long as he reasonably tried to accommodate those he refused. Social conservatives may not like abortions, but as long as they are not forced to pay for the abortions, they may not vehemently argue for abortion laws, again, a compatibility with Libertarians. With drugs, the same is true - social conservatives would not be so vehemently against drugs if there weren't social problems associated with them, and realistically, the most vehement Libertarian would agree that basic laws of civility should be adhered to regardless of your state of intoxication.
In all other things, Libertarians care more about low taxes and non-governmental solutions to problems than they care about the intrusions in those relatively limited areas. The problem is that few people understand this. I've seen many people claim to be Libertarians - Socialist Libertarians, Big Government Libertarians, people who are, quite frankly, socialists who don't want to embrace that term.
It was back in February of this year, that Rush Limbaugh made a speech to CPAC (a conservative movement in the United States). At that time, Rush made a comment that really hit home because it describes everything that a Libertarian believes:
Let me tell you who we conservatives are: We love people. [Applause] When we look out over the United States of America, when we are anywhere, when we see a group of people, such as this or anywhere, we see Americans. We see human beings. We don't see groups. We don't see victims. We don't see people we want to exploit. What we see -- what we see is potential. We do not look out across the country and see the average American, the person that makes this country work. We do not see that person with contempt. We don't think that person doesn't have what it takes. We believe that person can be the best he or she wants to be if certain things are just removed from their path like onerous taxes, regulations and too much government. [Applause]
We want every American to be the best he or she chooses to be. We recognize that we are all individuals. We love and revere our founding documents, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. [Applause] We believe that the preamble to the Constitution contains an inarguable truth that we are all endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, among them life. [Applause] Liberty, Freedom. [Applause] And the pursuit of happiness. [Applause] Those of you watching at home may wonder why this is being applauded. We conservatives think all three are under assault.
When I heard that portion of the speech, I felt sure that any party that could staunchly espouse those very same views would be the party to dominate politics over a great many years.
Let's hope that that party shows up soon.
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