Libertarianism

From Conservapedia

Libertarianism is a political philosophy that believes in minimizing or entirely eliminating government interventionism in many aspects of life including economic, personal, and in foreign policy matters. Libertarians tend to oppose legal restrictions on social behavior that doesn't affect anybody else. The French term of Laissez-Faire, or let us do, is a term that describes some aspects of the libertarian belief.[1] Libertarianism tends to emphasize a form of individual liberty, and tends to support rights of private property.

The first systematic libertarian was Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), an English political philosopher whose books such as The Man Versus the State (1884) had a major impact in Europe and America in the late 19th century.[2] The chief American representative was Yale professor William Graham Sumner.

Ronald Reagan stated in 1975, "I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism....The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is....Now, I can’t say that I will agree with all the things that the present group who call themselves Libertarians in the sense of a party say, because I think that like in any political movement there are shades, and there are libertarians who are almost over at the point of wanting no government at all or anarchy. I believe there are legitimate government functions. There is a legitimate need in an orderly society for some government to maintain freedom or we will have tyranny by individuals."[3]

In the United States, libertarians are typically fiscally conservative and socially liberal using the common US meanings of liberal and conservative. A faction of libertarians exist in the GOP, and are typically more ardent than other members of the GOP in keeping the principle of fiscal sanity and are less willing to "sell out" those principles for political expediency. They support an isolationist foreign policy and are to the left of most Democrats on social and foreign policy issues. The foremost libertarian figure in the GOP is former long-time Congressman Ron Paul.

Libertarian Philosophy[edit]

Libertarianism is best summed up in the Non-Aggression Principle, which states that government (or "private police agencies" in the anarcho-capitalist variant) should only exist to protect life, liberty, and property from force and fraud.

Libertarianism is closely related to liberalism, if this word is interpreted according to its original meaning of classical liberalism. Libertarians in America tend to be liberal on social issues but conservative on economic issues. Libertarians generally oppose government regulation of drugs, prostitution, and marriage (including bans of same-sex marriage). The Libertarian Party officially supports legalized abortion, however, libertarians themselves are divided on the issue, since government protection from force depends on the personhood of the unborn baby (or fetus). However, libertarians are uniformly opposed to government funding for abortions (such as through Planned Parenthood). Furthermore, they oppose restrictions on pornography. However, they also oppose universal health care, taxes and the welfare state. They are strong supporters of school choice, and oppose continuing the public school system. Some libertarians support school vouchers, while others are skeptical due to the issue of government influence over private education.

Libertarians support an expansive view of liberty as the proper basis for organizing civil society. They tend to define liberty as the freedom to do whatever one wishes up to the point that one's behavior begins to interfere with another's person or property through coercive means. At the point of interference, each party would become subject to certain principled rules for adjudicating disputes, generally accepting that one who has demonstrated a proven lack of respect for the rights of others should be subject to sanctions, including possible constraints on their freedom. They believe that liberty is the right of every individual.

Libertarians generally defend the ideal of freedom from the perspective of how little one is constrained by authority, i.e., how much one is allowed to do (also referred to as negative liberty). This ideal is distinguished from a view of freedom focused on how much one is able to do (also called positive liberty).

Libertarianism and irreligion/religion[edit]

See also: Atheism and politics

According to Murray N. Rothbard, who writes for the Ludwig von Mises Institute, most libertarians at the present time are atheists.[4] Ayn Rand was a libertarian and atheist.

Rothbard also declares:

“ There are many libertarians who are theists, Jewish or Christian. Among the classical-liberal forebears of modern libertarianism in a more religious age there were a myriad of Christians: from John Lilburne, Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson, and John Locke in the 17th century, down to Cobden and Bright, Frédéric Bastiat and the French laissez-faire liberals, and the great Lord Acton.[5] ”

Both Ron Paul and Rand Paul are religious libertarians. Christian libertarians are represented by the Libertarian Christian Institute.

Libertarian Factions[edit]

Libertarians tend to use the word "libertarian" (small "l") to refer to the philosophy, and "Libertarian" (capital "L") to refer to the party. Thus, more libertarians exist than members of the Libertarian Party. Two general factions exist in the libertarian movement. The first are those libertarians who apply the principles of right to person and property to an absolute. They believe that no person, group, or government is above the right to violate these two things. They thus believe that government itself is illegitimate because it violates person and property. These libertarians subscribe to anarcho-capitalism, as first named by Murray N. Rothbard. They believe that law and security can be handled by private means in the free market. The other faction believes in a very limited government. They are often referred to as minarchists. Libertarian minarchists want the state to only enforce law and order but generally nothing else. Ayn Rand was a minarchist.

Libertarians tend to view liberalism as a philosophy advocating less government interference in private morality and more government control of business, and view conservatism as a philosophy advocating more government interference in private morality and less government control of business, while they view libertarianism as advocating less government control in all areas. However, there have been fusionist attempts to mix libertarianism and with social conservatism. This is noted in particular by paleolibertarians. They believe that social conservatism is a natural entity in a free society, but do not believe that it can be enforced by state interventionism. For instance, they may personally oppose homosexuality, but advocate for marriage privatization rather than believing that government should sanction "marriage" exclusively between a man and a woman.

Outside the United States, the term "libertarian" refers to left-wing anarchism.

Libertarian Thought in America[edit]

While there are libertarian factions within the Democratic and Republican parties, neither party is particularly well aligned with libertarian thought. While the Republican Party sometimes adopts libertarian-sounding rhetoric of small government in economic affairs, many libertarians see it as being a force that has increased government interventionism in these affairs. Libertarians generally, for example, are opposed to the USA PATRIOT Act, which they believe increases government power and removes protections on the liberty and privacy of the public. Most conservatives, on the other hand, view it as a necessary government program and believe security to be more important than personal liberty and privacy. Libertarians point out that such a view contradicts those of the founding fathers, such as Benjamin Franklin, who summarized it most eloquently, "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Libertarians are also generally opposed to the Iraq War, unlike the majority of conservatives.

While all libertarians agree in general on the principles of the desirability of maximizing individual liberty and avoiding excessive government interference with the operation of the free market, individual libertarians have opinions that differ wildly within these general principles.

The libertarian movement generally praises the United States Constitution, regarding it as the proper scope of the national government. They believe that the Democratic and Republican parties have overstepped constitutional limits. Anarcho-capitalist libertarians, on the other hand, view the implementation of the constitution as the very reason the national government is the size it is today.

Notable Libertarians[edit]

Libertarian-oriented writers include Frédéric Bastiat, William Leggett, John Stuart Mill, Henry David Thoreau, Lysander Spooner, Herbert Spencer, William Graham Sumner, Carl Menger, Ludwig von Mises, Rose Wilder Lane, Albert Jay Nock, Henry Hazlett, and Isabel Paterson. Science fiction writers; L. Neil Smith, J. Neil Schulman, and Brad Linaweaver. Several popular financial writers including Harry Browne and Howard J. Ruff. Browne would later run for president, twice, on the Libertarian Party ticket. Ruff declared his political philosophy as libertarian but as a socially conservative Mormon made an exception on issues like abortion and prostitution, where he disagreed with the libertarian view. Nobel Laureate economists Milton Friedman, F.A. Hayek, Ronald Coase, Gary Becker, James Buchanan, George Stigler, and Vernon Smith. Humorist Dave Barry, actor/comedian Drew Carey, actor Denis Leary, former MTV VJ Lisa "Kennedy" Montgomery, actor Kurt Russell, investigative reporter John Stossel, and the late rocker Frank Zappa have all referred to themselves as being aligned with or openly supporting the Libertarian Party. Many Republican congressmen and senators hold libertarian positions, such as Walter B. Jones, Rand Paul, and Justin Amash.

The most influential libertarian of the 20th century was Milton Friedman (1912-2006), a leader of the Chicago School of Economics.

See also[edit]

Further reading[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ "Libertarians are neither. Unlike Liberals or Conservatives, Libertarians advocate a high degree of both personal and economic liberty. For example, Libertarians advocate freedom in economic matters, so we're in favor of lowering taxes, slashing bureaucratic regulation of business, and charitable -- rather than government -- welfare. But Libertarians are also socially tolerant. We won't demand laws or restrictions on other people who we may not agree because of personal actions or lifestyles. Think of us as a group of people with a "live and let live" mentality and a balanced checkbook." [1]
  2. ↑ Chris Matthew Sciabarra, "The First Libertarian," Liberty (Aug 1999) online
  3. ↑ see "Inside Ronald Reagan: A Reason Interview" (July 1975)
  4. ↑ Myth and Truth About Libertarianism, Mises Daily
  5. ↑ Myth and Truth About Libertarianism, Mises Daily
  6. ↑ [2] Parker and Stone, Reason Magazine
  7. ↑ [3]
  8. ↑ https://reason.com/2008/10/29/whos-getting-your-vote-2

External links[edit]

Categories: [Capitalism] [Libertarianism] [Tax Revolts] [Pro Second Amendment] [Anti-Communism] [Non-Interventionism] [Pro First Amendment]

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