Posted on 06/18/2002 9:48:13 PM PDT by old-ager
This is a WorldNetDaily printer-friendly version of the article which follows.
Tuesday, June 18, 2002
Why I'm not a libertarian Posted: June 18, 2002 1:00 a.m. Eastern Editor's note: WorldNetDaily Editor, Chief Executive Officer and daily columnist Joseph Farah is working on a new book set for release in early 2003 called "Taking America Back," delineating the problems the country faces and their solutions. In the meantime, you may wish to consider purchasing his most recent book, "This Land Is Our Land."
By Joseph Farah
After I wrote my column last week, "Why I'm not a conservative," many libertarians wrote in happily proclaiming me one of their own.
I hate to disappoint them, but that political label doesn't describe me, either.
Here's why I am not a libertarian and why, I believe, that political movement will never resonate with the American people.
Libertarians make a fundamental mistake about the nature of man. Man is not inherently good. Man can only learn to govern himself when he understands there is a higher accountability a higher authority. Ideally, that higher authority is not the government, but God. Government can only demand good behavior through force. But when individuals understand they are accountable to God, and that He requires certain kinds of behavior as defined in the Ten Commandments and the totality of scripture, there is a chance for man to maximize his freedom here on earth.
Freedom can only be experienced and maximized, though, when it is accompanied by personal responsibility. Personal responsibility cannot be legislated. It cannot be forced. It cannot be coerced. Libertarians generally understand this, but too few of them comprehend a laissez faire society can only be built in a culture of morality, righteousness and compassion.
Libertarians who expect to build such a society through politics alone make a fundamental error. In a sense, they are utopian dreamers like the socialists, ignoring the importance of human nature in shaping communities and nations.
I don't want to be too hard on the libertarians, because of all the political activists in America, they may have the best concept of limited constitutional government. That's a big start, but it's only a start. We cannot ignore the flaws in their positions. We cannot ignore the fact that they don't have a complete picture. We cannot ignore that a libertarian society devoid of God and a biblical worldview would quickly deteriorate into chaos and violence.
Would this country be better off with more libertarians? Absolutely. Do they have all the answers? Not even close.
The truth is there's more to life than politics. Much more.
Here's the way the father of our country and, as some have described him, "the father of freedom," George Washington put it in his inaugural address:
When the libertarians add such a provision to their national platform, let me know. I'll be happy to consider the new label.
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>>>The truth is there's more to life than politics. Much more.
Frankly Joe, you're full of s**t!
And this is why our nation is going to hell in a handbasket today! Bravo JF, as usual!
I think there might be more libertarians than Farah realizes that agree with him:^)
Typical anti-libertarian strawman argument. Libertarianism does not entail a belief that "man is inherently good". In fact, libertarians require that individuals be held responsible for their own actions -- which is the quickest way to expose bad actors.
there's something really backwards about liberals--libertarians and evolutionists...
they think the state/human nature will evolve and wither away---too idealists to put it nicely!
The big lie...
Originally the word liberal meant social conservatives who advocated growth and progess---mostly technological(knowledge being absolute/unchanging)based on law--reality...the nature of man/govt. does not change. These were the Classical liberals...stable scientific reality/society---industrial progress!
Then came the post-modern age of switch-flip-spin...atheist secular materialists through evolution removed the foundations...made the absolutes relative and calling all technology/science === evolution to substantiate/justify their efforts--claims...social engineering--PC---utopias!
Liberals/Evolution BELIEVE they are the conservatives--guardians too!
Hypnotism--witchraft ideology--politics--religion--BRAINWASHING--superstition--BIAS---EVOLUTION
they think the state/human nature will evolve and wither--float away---too idealistic to put it nicely!
We advocate freedom and responsibility. We do recognize the fact that you cannot have freedom without a moral society. What we disagree with is how the state should deal with that. If the people aren't moral, the actions their government takes won't be either. Only a limited government can minimize the damage. Libertarianism is, as many libertarian writers put it, quite possibly the most cynical philosophy about human nature around in the mainstream.
stable scientific reality/society...industrial progress---growth!
This is not what Farah was saying. He said that libertarians do not understand that man is inherently bad. Which has a lot of truth to it.
Right, like drugs. Libertarians refuse to see that allowing everyone to use dangerous narcotic drugs, as an example, leads inevitably to an increase in violent crime and theft and driving under the influence of drugs (which leads to innocent death). By the time the offender has been punished, the crime has been done. They're like the Catholic bishops, who wish to punish homosexual teenage boy molesters after they've committed the crime. By then, the teenage boy has already been horribly harmed.
Why I'm not a libertarian: I keep falling off my broom... |
-- KotS
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