Have you ever had a conversation with somebody where they proclaim to be something, i.e., Christian, Republican, Democrat, etc., and then heard them say something else that was diametrically opposed to one of the basic tenets of the group they just associated themselves with? Examples of this would be somebody that identified themselves as Christian, only to then profess a belief that abortion is a good thing, or a necessary evil, or Democratic Party supporters railing against welfare or federal supremacy, or Republican Party supporters that profess a desire for more gun control or corporate regulations, or self-proclaimed Libertarians that support a militarized police state, or the war on drugs, or conscription. How is it that so many people can be so mistaken about what it means to be a member of the groups that they most want to be identified with? Perhaps it means that there is simply a lot of confusion about what it means to be a Christian or a conservative, or a liberal and most certainly about less than mainstream philosophies such as Libertarianism. But it could also mean that these various groups are trying to be all things to all people and are in the process of appeasement, losing what differentiates them.
The following link is to a video statement from the folks at Libertarianism.org
Exploring Liberty: An Introduction to Libertarian Thought (By: David Boaz)
The most fundamental explanation I can provide for Libertarianism is that “The government is the embodiment of the collective rights of the individual citizens it serves. As such, the government, whether it is local, state or federal in nature, cannot legitimately employ any rights, responsibilities or authority that is not also possessed by the individual.”
I have changed the size, and color of the words above because they are of such import to the basic understanding of what it truly means to be a libertarian, and it is such a game changing concept for those of you whom have only been exposed to the more traditional and mainstream statist philosophies of the Democratic and Republican parties, that it must stand out as completely different and as immensely important!
Governmental power and authority is not merely (supposed to be) constrained by the fact that it only has that authority which its citizens can rightfully bestow upon it. It is also (supposed to be) limited by the fact that its citizens have rights that predate government. Such rights are, depending on a citizen's perspective, a product of their humanity or a gift from their creator. We call these our 'Natural Rights', and governments have no legal authority to create laws that would attempt to minimize, limit, or to take away such rights. This is particularly true in the United States, where the U.S. Constitution specifically acknowledges our natural rights and attempts to protect them with the first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights. Our natural rights are universal and they are INALIENABLE. Which means that not only can our natural rights not be taken away, but we cannot give them away either!
The main question on my mind most of the time is; can government even exist without encroaching on my natural and constitutional rights, freedoms, and protections? I believe that 239 years of American government history has shown conclusively that it cannot. The government exists by taxing the citizenry. It cannot tax the citizenry without compromising our natural and constitutional rights. Our natural rights say that we own ourselves. That we are individually sovereign beings with the right to self-ownership, not just of ourselves, but of the product of our labors and of the property that we purchase with whatever accumulated wealth we are fortunate enough to have earned.
Income tax negates our right to self-ownership. Income tax openly makes slaves of us all to the state and federal governments that enact it. Declaring in no uncertain terms that the government has more of a right to the product of our labors than we do! Then going so far as to say that it must be paid what it considers to be its share of our earnings, plus 15% on average (an interest free loan from the citizen to the government), before we are allowed to even see one penny of our income. The reason is obvious. Our government does not want to give us the opportunity to make the personal decision about whether or not we want to give what the government demands by threat of force. What could the government do if it let you have all of your hard earned money and then for whatever reason, you and a significant portion of the society refused to give it away to the local, state, or federal governments? This is the reason that the IRS has demanded of employers that the government is paid before us. To prevent the possibility of a tax revolt that could damage or even topple the government.
The next most common tax is the property tax. This tax is every bit as destructive to our natural right to own property, as the income tax is to our natural right to own ourselves and the product of our own labor. The government that enacts a property tax is declaring openly that the government, not the people, is the only legitimate owner of any and all property within its borders. To illustrate this fact, we can look at what happens to the citizen holding a deed for the property they have worked and worried over, often for the majority of their lives. Even with that free and clear deed, the failure to pay the local and or state property taxes will see the state relieve that citizen of their property and sell it for taxes the state feels it is owed, to a different citizen who is in turn forced to pay taxes (rent in perpetuity) on the property they would otherwise truly own!
The argument from statists (In political science, Statism is the belief that the state should control either economic or social policy, or both) on both sides of the aisle in American politics, is that without a strong federal government taking our money and spending it as it desires on defense and infrastructure and on social programs, is that a strong military, police and fire departments, schools, good roads, sewage, social security, and Medicaid and many other systems and services that we enjoy and which improve the quality of our overall lives, would simply not exist. This argument is disingenuous at best. We won the war for independence with a well-organized militia, not a standing Army! Furthermore, roads and mills and lighthouses and railroads and much more existed before the state took them over. They were built and maintained by private businesses and industry. The only difference since the state involved itself in such infrastructure and services, is that the costs of such works have increased exponentially (along with the size and cost of government), and the quality and reliability of such infrastructure and services has decreased as a result.
I have said it before and I will say it as often as necessary until the message begins to sink in for the multitude of Americans that have been thoroughly indoctrinated into statist thinking by state run schools. The government, whether it is local, state or federal, is an 'Aggressively Predatory Parasite', and as such, it is akin to an "Indeterminate Growth Species"! It creates nothing, but it consumes more and more as it grows. It is aggressive in its pursuit of ever more resources from its host (the American people), and will use force whenever a citizen refuses to passively comply with the demands of any level of government. Be it local, state or federal! It is predatory in so far as it actively seeks out new streams of revenue to steal from the American people, and new services and projects it can use to justify its existence and further insinuate itself into the everyday lives of individual citizens. Government also displays indeterminate growth characteristics, in so far as government will grow to be as large as the citizenry allows it to. So long as there are more resources to be stolen, and the citizens are not at the gates of government with pitchforks and torches, government will continue to grow as large as available resources and public apathy allow it to! Government is predatory in its use of the law to continuously assume more and more power over our individual lives from before the womb to beyond the grave. Our current government is guilty of so many trespasses against the rights, liberties and property of the American people that it is hard to conclude that we actually have any rights left that are not merely an illusion allowed by the state to mollify and pacify the electorate.
I will end this first part of what it means to be a libertarian with something for you to think about until I can complete and publish the second part of what could become many parts. President Obama has declared that he and the upper echelons of federal power have the authority to assassinate Americans, without congressional oversight, by their sole discretion, and without due process.
The following link is to a video debate about this claim by the executive office. Please watch it and consider the arguments from opposite sides of the legal spectrum of logic and reason.
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