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Just what is a Libertarian?
Internet - Lost URL | FR Post 01-11-02 | Written by Deanna Corbeil

Posted on 01/11/2002 8:57:38 AM PST by vannrox

Just what is a Libertarian?
(The party & philosophy)




Out of the many political philosophies that exist, one of the most misunderstood is libertarianism. It is frequently labeled part of the “extreme right”, or it is merely associated with drug legalization. Truthfully, there may be several definitions of the term, but in general, libertarianism encompasses all or most of the following: strong support of individual civil liberties, social tolerance, and private property; belief in the positive powers of the free market; and an espousal of constitutionally limited and greatly reduced government. To put it succinctly, the libertarian believes in the freedom of individuals to pursue their lives as they see fit, as long as they cause no harm to others, with minimal governmental interference.


Libertarian thought is rooted historically in the ideas of many of the Enlightenment thinkers, including John Locke, Voltaire, and Adam Smith, as well as many of the founding fathers of America, including Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and Thomas Paine. Many libertarians prefer to call themselves “classical liberals”. Their philosophy has also been influenced by writer Ayn Rand’s “Objectivism”, and various free-market economists, including Milton Friedman, F.A. Hayek, and Ludwig von Mises.


To more clearly illustrate libertarian thoughts and beliefs, it is helpful to see how these ideas would affect certain issues being debated at this time. Specifically,
    Freedom of Speech,
    The international scene (including military defense),
    Taxation,
    and, of course, Drug Prohibition.
(Keep in mind that libertarians, like most people, don’t agree on everything. In fact, their emphasis on individualism gives rise to a great deal of disagreement.)


Libertarians are strongly supportive of the civil liberties detailed in the Bill of Rights of our Constitution. They maintain that the Constitution does not grant us these rights, but instead recognizes those rights we naturally possess by virtue of our humanity. Included in these rights is the freedom of speech. Unlike many other supporters of free speech, the libertarian sees it as having a connection with property rights. For example, many would claim that to deny the publication of a certain person’s ideas or works would be censorship. The libertarian would say that you can publish anything you would like on a printing press you personally own, but to force someone else to print it would be coercion.


Another area in which libertarians have a unique philosophy is that concerning international affairs, military defense, and police functions. Many in the libertarian movement believe that the only legitimate functions of government are to provide military protection and law enforcement. They would oppose those “entangling alliances” that Jefferson mentioned which lead to treaties like NATO and organizations like the United Nations. They believe these can lead to unnecessary entanglements with other nations, and may ultimately usurp the sovereignty of the individual.


When it comes to the issue of taxes, it is helpful to reflect on the libertarian’s view of property rights. The libertarian view is generally that an individual should have the right to do with his property what he will, as long as it is not causing harm to someone else. In this case, the property being considered is the money an individual has earned. If the result of your labor is money, then it belongs to you, not the government. If another individual came along and took your money from you without your consent, it would be considered theft by our legal system. The libertarian views it as no less a crime when the government takes your money without your consent via taxation. (In those cases where taxation is “necessary”, libertarians prefer the taxes to be low and only minimally intrusive.)


The aspect most often associated with its philosophy by people only marginally familiar with libertarianism concerns the subject of drug legalization. What should be remembered is that the libertarian advocates personal freedom, which they believe includes the right to make decisions concerning your own body. They would argue that today’s drug prohibition is very similar to the alcohol prohibition of the 1920’s, which helped spawn a great deal of criminal activity, profiteering for criminal gangs, and turned otherwise peaceful, law-abiding citizens into criminals. (Of course, if the use of drugs by an individual causes them to harm another, that person must take responsibility for their actions, and must make restitution or receive appropriate punishment.) They also believe that the “drug war” has largely been a failure in its goals, and has diverted law enforcement away from other, more serious crimes.


Libertarian philosophy can be applied to most any issue being debated in our time. By looking at the four areas of freedom of speech, international affairs, taxation, and drug policy, it is easy to see that libertarian thought at its most basic level agrees with Jefferson’s statement, “That government is best which governs least.”


Written by Deanna Corbeil


TOPICS: Editorial; Government
KEYWORDS: libertarians
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To: Redleg Duke
A Liberal with his brains knocked out?

No, just an anti-authoritarian.

41 posted on 01/11/2002 9:50:59 AM PST by Hard Case
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To: A CA Guy
Why do you guys feel this need to bash Libertarians so much? Is that we are such a threat to your Statist ideology? Or is that the being a libertarian requires you to think for yourself?

Do you LIKE the idea that personal responsibility is being destroyed by government legislated morality?

42 posted on 01/11/2002 9:51:44 AM PST by Aron4Rep
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To: Hard Case
"Look Maw! We caught another of 'em!" :-)
43 posted on 01/11/2002 9:52:01 AM PST by Redleg Duke
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To: freedomcrusader
Granted their are people with the mind of a child who cuss on many threads from all types here on FR.
But on the drug topic threads it is truely Libertarians who do up to 90% of the cussing. I did an actual tally on another thread.
44 posted on 01/11/2002 9:52:23 AM PST by A CA Guy
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To: riley1992
"You have yet to refute one portion of this piece or address anything I have posted to you. All you have managed to do is try to directly tie me to Harry Browne and offer me a arm chair course in philosophical soul searching."

I guess the author of the piece forgot to address the "Party" part in her title, which you obviously overlooked yourself.

Perhaps the author was too embarrassed to address the "Party" part. Try reading it again.

45 posted on 01/11/2002 9:53:06 AM PST by lormand
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To: TheDon
Wasn't talking about "every" Moral issue Don. Illegal drug usage where addicts are responsible for 70% of all violent crime!
46 posted on 01/11/2002 9:54:05 AM PST by A CA Guy
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To: A CA Guy
Is it any wonder when arguing with you Drug Warriors is a direct analog to arguing with a three year old?

It wasn't a Libertarian who first tried to shift this thread to a "drug war" thread.

47 posted on 01/11/2002 9:54:13 AM PST by Aron4Rep
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To: A CA Guy
Well, if you did an actually tally, I'll have to defer. Still, your sample size is only 1. I've seen the flames fly from all sides, but next thread of this type, I'll count.
48 posted on 01/11/2002 9:54:52 AM PST by freedomcrusader
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To: vannrox
What is a Libertarian

A member of an unimportant third party who thinks his parties ideas have a huge influence on the other two.

49 posted on 01/11/2002 9:59:17 AM PST by biblewonk
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To: fod
"BTW, your childish misspellings do justice to your infantile attitude."

"keep it up--it really shows off your lack of principle"

Running out of arguments eh?

50 posted on 01/11/2002 9:59:19 AM PST by lormand
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To: Redleg Duke
It's amazing, the authoritarians just come out of the woodwork. It astounds me as to how many little dictator wannabes there are here.
51 posted on 01/11/2002 9:59:24 AM PST by Hard Case
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To: Dakmar
70% of all violent crime involves illegal drug addicts! You can't avoid the central issue of the problem with drug addiction of all kinds. It is illegal to be drunk and be with your kids alone or behind the wheel of a car.

I also agree that smoking kills the user and perhaps those they blow smoke on. Here in CA we love the no smoking laws. It smells real nice when you go out to eat now.
Smokers don't lose their mind or cause death by their driving and so forth. I do think a future issue for smokers will be that insurance companys won't cover their health for cancer in the future. Nobody can afford the cancer it causes.

Not smoking is a healthy and good thing Dakmar.

52 posted on 01/11/2002 10:01:15 AM PST by A CA Guy
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To: A CA Guy
and legalize self medication is evil

Could you expand on this? I disagree vehemently, I *hate* being treated like a criminal when I get my blood-pressure medicine prescription refilled. Why do I need written permission? Why did Congress promise that the Pure Food Drug and Cosmetic Act would never be used to prevent self-medication? Where did they find the power to do so?

53 posted on 01/11/2002 10:02:59 AM PST by Virginia-American
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To: Aron4Rep
I'm not bashing anyone Aron. The topic here seems to be "What is a Libertarian" and I am truthfully adding my experiances here on FR with them. I'm not saying there are not nice ones. I am saying that there is a strong immoral pro-drug addiction crowd within the party though.
54 posted on 01/11/2002 10:05:08 AM PST by A CA Guy
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To: A CA Guy
I would disagree with the characterization of libertarians as not having morals simply because they do not think the government should be involved in enforcing every moral issue, such as recreational drug use, by the power of the state. I would say in many instances that such use of the power of the state is attacking symptoms, not the problem. And it does not help stop the problem. We, as a people, as parents, friends, religious leaders, and civic leaders should be the ones resolving moral issues. If we fail to do so, we must not pretend that we are addressing the issue because we have passed a law against the act.

Does that help? BTW, that's "TheDon" to you! ;)

55 posted on 01/11/2002 10:08:35 AM PST by TheDon
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To: lormand
"Just what is a Libertarian?" A Conservative with no morals!

A statist is someone who believes that, if he disapproves of something, then there should be a law against it, and if he approves of something, then there should be a government program subsidizing it

A Libertarian is someone who believes that government should be restricted to maintaining a safe environment where people can live, work, and raise a family without fear of violence (internal or foreign), and to providing a court system for resolving disputes. A Libertarian is someone who thinks that if you give lots of power to government officials (even for the "best" of reasons), eventually that power will be used against the people

Just because I think government should not be involved in suppressing some activity, does NOT mean that I approve of, or indulge in, that activity. Just because I'm against government subsidies for an activity, does NOT mean that I'm against that activity

56 posted on 01/11/2002 10:10:04 AM PST by SauronOfMordor
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To: A CA Guy
Where did you get this 70% figure? My observations have been that alcohol is involved in a lot more cases of violent crime than illegal drugs. I know for a fact most domestic violence is alcohol related. Also, it's misleading to lump all illegal drugs into one category. I would legalize marijuana in an instant if I could, but not PCP - the effects on the used are completely different. Why should alcohol and tobacco be legal but marijuana illegal, it make no sense. Arbitrary rule is the worst form of tyranny.
57 posted on 01/11/2002 10:10:24 AM PST by Dakmar
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To: lormand
Running out of arguments eh?

LOL, you ignore the real arguement, I see.

And that comment coming from someone whose main tactic is lies and smears, is funny as hell.

58 posted on 01/11/2002 10:10:41 AM PST by fod
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To: Aron4Rep
A "Drug Warrior"?.
Don't know what you consider that to be.
I am against illegal drug use becuse it does so much harm to us all in violence, crime, health cost and family destruction.
If you define that as a "Drug Warrior", OK that is me!

The main article brought up the drug issue. Not me. GO READ THE ARTICLE ARON!

59 posted on 01/11/2002 10:11:11 AM PST by A CA Guy
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To: vannrox
Just what is a Libertarian?

They work at the library. They organize books and give you dirty looks when you're too noisy. I think they smoke dope when no ones looking too.

60 posted on 01/11/2002 10:11:20 AM PST by yournamehere
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