Our Founding Fathers were libertarian. That is where I got the idea long before I heard the word libertarian.
From Wikipedia:
The term libertarianism refers to a political philosophy maintaining that all persons are the absolute owners of their own lives, and should be
free to do whatever they wish with their persons or property, provided they allow others the same liberty and avoid harming others by abusing their
liberty.
Doesn't that sound like the Golden Rule applied to Adults? "Your freedom ends where my nose begins."
Do you want to tell me we are not the absolute owners of our lives? Do you want to tell me that I should not be free to own my property?
I'm not at all out of line with the values of this forum. Look at these words from the Republican Liberty Caucus.
Liberty Compact — A Candidate's Pledge:
The Liberty Compact is a written pledge inspired by the words of the late Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-AZ) in his book, "Conscience of a Conservative,"
which promotes the belief that government isn't the solution, but all too often, the problem. The pledge reads as follows:
"I, (insert name), pledge to the citizens of the State of (insert state) and to the American people, that as their elected representative I will work to:
Restore liberty, not restrict it; shrink government, not expand it; reduce taxes, not raise them; abolish programs, not create them; promote the
freedom and independence of citizens, not the interference of government in their lives; and observe the limited, enumerated powers of our Constitution,
not ignore them."
In 1964, Barry Goldwater was the political founder of our modern day Conservative movement when he wrested control of the Republican Party from the
liberal Rockefeller Republicans and paved the way for every Republican President since. Being "small ell" libertarian is the heartbeat of Conservatism.
Goldwater was followed by Nixon and Ford, Goldwater didn’t change the party.
The founding fathers were conservatives, not libertarians.
The European left had not even started libertarianism yet.
Libertarians would have been lynched in 1790, calling for abortion and gay marriage and pornography and hookers and so on.