Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Are you a Libertarian?

A large proportion of the population of the United States support the Libertarian Party but have no idea that it even exists or what form of government the Party endorses. Our country was founded and grown on some basic governing ideas which have been lost in the last 70 (more or less) years. The "Great Depression" allowed greatly increased personal limitations to be enforced by government and a greatly enhanced governmental power. That governing power over the people has grown until now we have more laws enacted than any other country in the world, more convicted criminals, more incarcerated criminals, and have entered into a Police State rather than a Free State system.

Without a revolution no government will reduce their powers over their people. A peaceful revolution is currently required and a great majority of the citizens are aware of that at some level. The expected election later today of Obama as President supports that statement of fact. Change, change, change is the byword and theme of nearly all our elections. But, do we get change? Well, yes, but just in the direction of more and more government and more laws taking from the people for support of more government, more laws, more taxes, less freedom, and more debt. At present, we are making magic money to support institutions now run by the government, fed by the taxpayers, and into the hands of the few. We must have change. Real change. The Libertarian Party supports real change. Investigate the party here: http://www.lp.org to see if you can find change that feels right for our country. Below is a short passage from the above site.

"Statement of Principles

We, the members of the Libertarian Party, challenge the cult of the omnipotent state and defend the rights of the individual.

We hold that all individuals have the right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives, and have the right to live in whatever manner they choose, so long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal right of others to live in whatever manner they choose.

Governments throughout history have regularly operated on the opposite principle, that the State has the right to dispose of the lives of individuals and the fruits of their labor. Even within the United States, all political parties other than our own grant to government the right to regulate the lives of individuals and seize the fruits of their labor without their consent.

We, on the contrary, deny the right of any government to do these things, and hold that where governments exist, they must not violate the rights of any individual: namely, (1) the right to life -- accordingly we support the prohibition of the initiation of physical force against others; (2) the right to liberty of speech and action -- accordingly we oppose all attempts by government to abridge the freedom of speech and press, as well as government censorship in any form; and (3) the right to property -- accordingly we oppose all government interference with private property, such as confiscation, nationalization, and eminent domain, and support the prohibition of robbery, trespass, fraud, and misrepresentation.

Since governments, when instituted, must not violate individual rights, we oppose all interference by government in the areas of voluntary and contractual relations among individuals. People should not be forced to sacrifice their lives and property for the benefit of others. They should be left free by government to deal with one another as free traders; and the resultant economic system, the only one compatible with the protection of individual rights, is the free market."

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