Who's Schmoozing Me Now? Part 1

The Libertarian Party

Party Platform Preamble:

As Libertarians, we seek a world of liberty; a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives, and no one is forced to sacrifice his or her values for the benefit of others.

We believe that respect for individual rights is the essential precondition for a free and prosperous world, that force and fraud must be banished from human relationships, and that only through freedom can peace and prosperity be realized.

Consequently, we defend each person's right to engage in any activity that is peaceful and honest, and welcome the diversity that freedom brings. The world we seek to build is one where individuals are free to follow their own dreams in their own ways, without interference from government or any authoritarian power.

In the following pages we have set forth our basic principles and enumerated various policy stands derived from those principles.

These specific policies are not our goal, however. Our goal is nothing more nor less than a world set free in our lifetime, and it is to this end that we take these stands.

My Summary: Responsible adults should be free to make their own decisions, so long as those decisions do not harm any other responsible adult.


Pros:

• Individual rights are emphasized
• Government is limited to matters of importance that the people can not possibly provide for themselves (National Defense, Police, etc.)
• Responsible adults are allowed to choose how their earned money is spent rather than having it taken away by sheer force and doled out as an allowance for services that aren't necessarily wanted
  
• "Victimless crimes" should be abolished so that resources can be spent on getting the most serious offenders off our streets
  

Cons:

• Open border immigration policy
• Strict isolationist foreign policy
  
• While I trust in the theory of a market-based society and everything I've read makes sense (e.g. private owners have more of an incentive to take care of Yellowstone National Park than the government), I have a vague uneasiness in trusting everything to corporations.

I believe that the majority of people are good. We have the ability to decide how to best take care of ourselves, our family, and our community... what makes some politician more capable than you? The following isn't rhetorical, I always like to discuss this:

Can you name a tax-funded government agency that has worked? Has it worked better than what the market could have provided?

For more information:
Libertarian National Committee
Libertarian Party of Ohio
The Cato Institute