The Liberals’ Guide To libertarianism
Have I been ignoring my liberal friends lately?
Maybe…. I think I’ve been trying to show many liberals that there is a different kind of conservative out there. A Goldwater conservative who’ll discuss the issues, not just spout buzzwords and make personal accusations and ignore your points
For the most part, I believe most of my conservative friends comments have shown this, and it makes me proud. I wasn’t sure there were actually still people like me around who don’t like whats going on with neo-conservative politics.
But I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for liberals. To me, they are the conscience of our nation, and I think we should give them more credit for that. I don’t always agree with my liberal friends, but I think most of them want the same thing I do.
Don’t we all want a world that is peaceful, healthy, and prosperous? I’d say most of us do, we just may have different ideas about how to make it work.
With That in mind, I’d like to take the time to hopefully better explain why my liberal patriotic friends should take another look at my libertarian ideas. I’ve broken many the core beliefs into 10 mini-blogs. I’d like to call it: “The Liberals’ Guide To libertarianism”:
Part 2: Immigration
Part 3: The Environment
Part 4: Foreign Policy
Part 5: Social Security
Part 6: Health Care
Part 7: Gun Laws
Part 8: Freedom of Speech
Part 9: Government and Religion
Part 10: Drug Policy
Conclusion
Very well written. I am T. Lee Horne, III. Libertarian candidate for Governor of Louisiana. Web site, http://www.governor.ws
hey G,
that was great! you express yourself so simply and intelligently it’s always a pleasure. i found it very informative. many of the points that you made make good sense. and seem like a good compromise between many of the debates that are happening now. the idea of smaller federal gov’t and more power to the states is intriguing, but it raises some questions in my mind…how would we make the transition…would certain states desolve into poverty (or at least increase the % of people living in poverty)…would other states be deluged with people who weren’t able to make it by in their own state…would there be some regulation on a national level…how much, etc. the libertarion party seems like it might be a “happy medium” between the 2 prominent parties, especially if they were open to compromise. I look forward to hearing more about the party and the core beliefs. ~ CurlyGirl
Thanks Curly,
I think there might be a transition period, but a movement takes time.
To me, politics is the art of compromise. Good politicians know when and how to compromise.
Good points!!
I think that part of the reason that many people feel that the current democratic and republican parties are irrelevant is that they present their solutions to problems simplistically. They do so partially because they have a short amount of time to get their message across. Another problem is that they have no new ideas.
The “more government vs. less government” argument as been going on since the beginning of the nation and really avoids the complexities of the problems we face. The fact of the matter is, that some problems are better handled at the federal level and some problems are better handled at the state level.
All of the easy problems have been dealt with in our country and simply transferring responsibility from the federal government to the state government will not automatically fix them. For every problem you may solve, you will probably introduce new problems.
One issue I’m curious about is libertarians view on the influence of big business in foreign affairs. Should our foreign affairs serve as an instrument of big business? Is “spreading democracy” really spreading capatilism in disguise?
Bob, I’ll speak to my libertarian views, if not the parties position.
As libertarians we believe in a foreign policy that does not try to influence the day-to-day operations of the running of a sovereign nation.
It should be up to that government to decide how much big business influences them.
I’d like to see the influence gone in our country, and I think it would send a signal to other countries if we did so.
Great comment!!