Posted on Sunday, 25th April 2010 by Bill Bean
Attended my first LPIN state convention this weekend. It was interesting, informative, entertaining, and important. Interesting because it’s new to me, and because the people are interesting. Informative because, again, I’m still learning and the various speakers had a lot to say. Entertaining because, well, refer to the first point. Important because we need actual change.
Change is a common mantra during every campaign season. No one’s message is ever, “We don’t need change!” As we’re seeing, the current administration’s promise of change is turning out to be a bit underwhelming, at least it isn’t actually much different than the previous. Some changes in details but nothing of substance.
Libertarians represent a diverse, broad spectrum of beliefs and philosophies. There are liberals, moderates, and conservatives. Some of the big shared themes are these:
- Limited government
- Less spending/Less taxes
- Free markets
- Personal freedom
- Personal responsibility
Libertarians tend to believe that most issues should be decided at State level. They believe the federal government should provide for the national defense but not nation building. They tend to be fiscally conservative and socially moderate. As with any party, there are many different kinds of people but these different types all agree that the government’s role in society should be minimal at most.
As I have learned for myself, most people simply do not understand what Libertarians are about. That’s due to the ineptness of communication and poor marketing on the part of Libertarians as well as intellectual laziness on the part of voters. Many wrongly suppose that Libertarians are only about legalizing drugs. True, there are people who make this their main issue but not all. Most importantly, it the basic philosophy of Libertarianism that allows for it. That basic tenet is that government was not intended to police every personal matter. (I feel confident that, given time, individuals could be persuaded as to the peril of granting government, especially the Federal gov’t, this sort of power and permission.)
The main change we need is less government. With less government there would be no need for the overwhelming burden of taxes we all bear. True, simply decreasing the scope and scale of government would not solve all our problems, but getting government out of the way would allow us to pursue good and lasting solutions. Solutions that would last longer than any one particular administration.
Government is not the hope of our society. It is a false savior and a terrible master. Let’s support a new cause (actually, an old one) and a new agenda, one committed to fundamental change.
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