Sunday, September 21, 2014

Introduction to My Version of Libertarianism

Welcome to yet another libertarian blog.  Why another one?  Besides my ENTJ personality type, which drives me to press my viewpoints, I believe that my viewpoints represent what our nation, as intended by its Founders, should truly be.

There are a lot of so-called libertarians on television, the radio, or on Internet Blogs (I don't read print papers any more but would love to start one - perhaps I will) but almost without exception, they compromise their stated libertarian or constitutionalist views in some particular fashion or another.  Each seems to have some favorite intrusion of government, intrusions not ever intended by the Founders, that they support - but that's why we have the government we have; so many are willing to sacrifice your liberty or mine in order to get their own favored regulation passed.  This is why I feel the need to create this blog: to represent true libertarianism without compromise.

For an interesting introduction to Libertarianism, in general, I recommend the Wikipedia article on Libertarianism - as it was viewed on September 20, 2014.  This post is not intended to compete with the detailed knowledge to be gained from that article.  The purpose of this post is to simply provide a high-level overview of my political views which are best described, in my opinion, as libertarian.  Others may have different views on what libertarianism means today.  Maybe some will think my views fit somewhere else and are not libertarian at all.  I'd love to hear friendly comments on the topic but am not really interested in arguing it.  I do love friendly and intelligent, thoughtful, debate so let's talk about it if you disagree.

I base my political views very much on the Declaration of Independence, in particularly paragraph 2:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness - That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Key to my philosophy is that all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, including Life, Liberty, ad the pursuit of Happiness.  Just as important is the idea that government derives its powers from the consent of the governed.  This was a key limit on government built into the Constitution of the United States of America.

I believe in individual sovereignty and personal responsibility.  Government, from Local, to State, to Federal, exists only provide those services to the whole that are shared among individuals, including things like roads, water, and national defense.  I'm not an anarchist.  I believe government is necessary but must be limited, as was done when our government was formed by the ratification of the Constitution.

I do not want to turn this opening post of this blog into a hundred page dissertation on what the government should or should not do across all the ways in which state and national government injects itself into our lives so let me just say that unless the Constitution permits it, the government has no authority to be involved.  The best way to know what the Constitution permits and does not permit is to look at government as it existed in the United States for the first 50 years of the nation's existence.  During that first generation of the United States, its people and government knew what was the original intent of the Founders but beyond that, those in power have spent the next 175 years trying to twist the Constitution in order to protect and expand their own power - for instance, we all know that the Commerce Clause of the Constitution was never intended to give the Federal Government the broad, sweeping, powers that they claim today that it grants.

So, the summation of my political philosophy is the principles of individual liberty and sovereignty, individual responsibility and accountability, and government exactly as defined in the Constitution.  Individual liberty, or unalienable Rights, cannot be taken by government, or by popular vote or the masses.  Looking deeper into that philosophy, and how it relates to government today, is the purpose of this blog.

I hope readers will find enlightenment from what I write and that I can influence those who disagree with me to at least give thoughtful consideration to what I say.  Thoughtful consideration of the things I believe about government should almost always lead a person closer to my beliefs than they were otherwise.

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