Later this year (2020), you’re going to get the opportunity to vote for the next President of the United States. Now, I know our votes don’t actually determine who the President will be - that’s left to the Electoral College - but somehow it still feels important.
You’ll have a choice from several candidates - Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, and others. In all but the 2016 election, I voted for the candidate from the same party. Since 2016, I’ve become more educated about political parties. Maybe you have too.
There is a political party that espouses (to one degree or another) the following ideas. Slog through the first few sections or at least skim them. The fun stuff starts at the bullet points.
This is all a secular matter. You shouldn’t try too hard to overlay your religious beliefs on this. It’s not that I’m throwing my religion out the window here; none of that has changed. It’s just that that would be a whole different discussion.
Principles
Freedom is our birthright. Each person owns himself. [Again, this is secularly speaking. A Christian also knows he is not his own.]
The right to initiate the use of physical force, usually called police power, is what makes government different from all other human institutions.
Force is bad, and cooperation is good.
In a free society, individuals may not initiate the use of force against any other individual or group.
Given that a transaction does not involve the use of force or fraud against a third party, people in a free society may not be impeded from engaging in voluntary and informed transactions.
The first legitimate use of the police power is to restrain people from injuring one another.
The second legitimate use of the police power is to enable people to enter into enforceable voluntary agreements (contracts).
The third legitimate use of the police power involves the concept of a public good.
The right to initiate the use of physical force, usually called police power, is what makes government different from all other human institutions.
Force is bad, and cooperation is good.
In a free society, individuals may not initiate the use of force against any other individual or group.
Given that a transaction does not involve the use of force or fraud against a third party, people in a free society may not be impeded from engaging in voluntary and informed transactions.
The first legitimate use of the police power is to restrain people from injuring one another.
The second legitimate use of the police power is to enable people to enter into enforceable voluntary agreements (contracts).
The third legitimate use of the police power involves the concept of a public good.
Public Good
A public good cannot be provided selectively (nonexclusivity).
A public good can be consumed by one person without diminishing its availability to others (jointness of consumption).
A public good can be an activity or facility when individuals benefit from some public service for which they cannot easily be charged (externalities or neighborhood effects).
These are some test questions for determining a public good:
1. Is the good something that cannot be provided by individuals on their own?
2. Am I asking my neighbor to pay for a government service that he doesn’t want?
3. Am I asking my neighbor to pay for a government service that benefits me, or people whom I favor, more than it benefits him?
A public good must enjoy popular support, as determined through the democratic process.
Private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation.
Principle of Subsidiary: The legitimate functions of government should be performed at the most local feasible level.
A public good can be consumed by one person without diminishing its availability to others (jointness of consumption).
A public good can be an activity or facility when individuals benefit from some public service for which they cannot easily be charged (externalities or neighborhood effects).
These are some test questions for determining a public good:
1. Is the good something that cannot be provided by individuals on their own?
2. Am I asking my neighbor to pay for a government service that he doesn’t want?
3. Am I asking my neighbor to pay for a government service that benefits me, or people whom I favor, more than it benefits him?
A public good must enjoy popular support, as determined through the democratic process.
Private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation.
Principle of Subsidiary: The legitimate functions of government should be performed at the most local feasible level.
The Pursuit of Happiness
People want freedom of association. (Little platoons)
People want economic freedom.
Freely determined prices help insure that voluntary exchanges are also informed ones. They give individuals a way of calibrating their own needs and priorities. They encourage equal treatment of people regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, or social status.
The freer a market is, the more abundantly it produces wealth.
Freedom includes property rights.
Freedom includes freedom of personal behavior. A lone adult should be permitted to engage in any activity of his choice in private.
Freedom and responsibility are inseparable. Responsibility is not the “price” of freedom but its reward. It’s what keeps our lives from becoming trivial. Opportunities to exercise our capacities depend on freedom. Actually to do the thing itself requires taking personal responsibility.
Limited government leaves people with the freedom and responsibility they need to mold satisfying lives both as individuals and as members of families and communities.
People want economic freedom.
Freely determined prices help insure that voluntary exchanges are also informed ones. They give individuals a way of calibrating their own needs and priorities. They encourage equal treatment of people regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, or social status.
The freer a market is, the more abundantly it produces wealth.
Freedom includes property rights.
Freedom includes freedom of personal behavior. A lone adult should be permitted to engage in any activity of his choice in private.
Freedom and responsibility are inseparable. Responsibility is not the “price” of freedom but its reward. It’s what keeps our lives from becoming trivial. Opportunities to exercise our capacities depend on freedom. Actually to do the thing itself requires taking personal responsibility.
Limited government leaves people with the freedom and responsibility they need to mold satisfying lives both as individuals and as members of families and communities.
An Image of Limited Government
Aspects or Departments of the Federal government that could be eliminated:
• Regulations of products and services (Manufacturers and providers made liable)
• Regulations of terms of employment
• Regulation of workplaces (Employers made liable)
• Regulation of business acquisitions and mergers (except natural monopolies)
• Business or agricultural subsidies, exemptions, and other privileges
• Civil rights (replaced by Constitutional Amendment)
• Housing and urban development
• Training and employment
• Energy
• Agriculture
• Veterans benefits and services (most)
• General science, space, technology, and the arts (except patent and copyright)
• Transportation (except interstate highways)
• Commerce (except export of military technology)
• Communications (including USPS and FCC)
• Social Security
• Medicare
• Income supports for people of working age (including food stamps, public housing, social services, etc.)
• Regulations of terms of employment
• Regulation of workplaces (Employers made liable)
• Regulation of business acquisitions and mergers (except natural monopolies)
• Business or agricultural subsidies, exemptions, and other privileges
• Civil rights (replaced by Constitutional Amendment)
• Housing and urban development
• Training and employment
• Energy
• Agriculture
• Veterans benefits and services (most)
• General science, space, technology, and the arts (except patent and copyright)
• Transportation (except interstate highways)
• Commerce (except export of military technology)
• Communications (including USPS and FCC)
• Social Security
• Medicare
• Income supports for people of working age (including food stamps, public housing, social services, etc.)
The Trendline Test
[See the book below.]
Choosing to Do It Ourselves
Government intervention is ineffectual. Government displaces civil action.
Removing Government from Economic Life
Proposal: As regards products and services, ratify a constitutional amendment to the effect that (1) Congress shall provide for the enforcement of laws against fraud and deceptive practice and shall provide for efficient administration of civil tort law, and (2) Congress shall not otherwise abridge the right of persons and businesses to provide services or to manufacture and sell products.
In the conduct of business, Congress shall make no law regarding the design, organization, or conduct of the workplace, and shall make no law regarding the terms of employment of workers except for strict protections against the use of force and fraud in presenting and administering the terms of employment.
In the conduct of business, Congress shall make no law regarding the design, organization, or conduct of the workplace, and shall make no law regarding the terms of employment of workers except for strict protections against the use of force and fraud in presenting and administering the terms of employment.
Tolerance and Discrimination
Proposal: Eliminate all antidiscrimination laws and replace them with a constitutional amendment to the effect that (1) no government at any level shall pass any law that requires discrimination by ethnicity, race, religion, or creed; and (2) no government at any level shall pass any law limiting the freedom of association for private individuals and associations.
Permitting Revolutions in Education and Health Care
Proposal: For education, deregulate education at all levels of government. Replace all existing federal programs with an unrestricted $3000 (or other appropriate figure) school voucher, per annum, per child.
Proposal: For health care, treat the value of employee medical benefits as taxable income. Deregulate the health care industry at all levels of government. End Medicaid and Medicare.
Proposal: For health care, treat the value of employee medical benefits as taxable income. Deregulate the health care industry at all levels of government. End Medicaid and Medicare.
Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll
Proposal: Federal and state laws regarding alcohol, drugs, prostitution, gambling, and pornography are repealed, except for provisions regarding minors.
Protecting the Environment
Proposal: Government sets and enforces minimum standards for air and water quality but does not dictate how those standards are to be met. On other environmental issues all individuals are subject to common law regarding nuisances, and all levels of government are required to observe the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution (“nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation”).
Removing Government from Civil Life
Proposal: Eliminate all governmental social-service programs and all income transfers in cash or kind (entitlement programs, subsidies, etc.).
The Demand to Be Left Alone
Proposition: As Americans begin to identify areas of life in which they are willing to give up government benefits in return for being left alone, large changes become possible.
If you this of Government as “Them”, you are in a majority who would like “Them” to leave you alone. If you own a small business, if you have children in school (Pre-K - 12), if you are in the middle of your working life, if you have a family income of about $25,000-$40,000 per year you are almost certainly part of this majority.
Think how much you - individually and as part of this huge group - could change for the better.
If you this of Government as “Them”, you are in a majority who would like “Them” to leave you alone. If you own a small business, if you have children in school (Pre-K - 12), if you are in the middle of your working life, if you have a family income of about $25,000-$40,000 per year you are almost certainly part of this majority.
Think how much you - individually and as part of this huge group - could change for the better.
Lived Freedom
Proposition: As the elites experience freedom in their own lives and see it denied to others, large changes become possible.
If you are in the group with a family income of more than $100,000 per year, you wield enormous influence on American life. Like the group above, you too can change American lives for the better.
If you are in the group with a family income of more than $100,000 per year, you wield enormous influence on American life. Like the group above, you too can change American lives for the better.
The Stuff of Life
Proposition: As people seek to reacquire control over the stuff of life, large changes become possible.
Family values, community, and civil society are important. To live a satisfying life, you have to spend a goodly portion of your waking hours doing important things. Getting the government out of your way will let you do so.
Family values, community, and civil society are important. To live a satisfying life, you have to spend a goodly portion of your waking hours doing important things. Getting the government out of your way will let you do so.
The Source of the Above Ideas
I got the above from a small, thin book by Charles Murray called What It Means To Be a Libertarian. This is just the briefest of sketches of the topics in that book. You probably have serious questions about some of them. Mr. Murray explains his rationale in enough detail for you to easily understand his thought in the book.
I recommend you check it out at your local library, which very likely has a copy. If it doesn’t, it’s worth buying online. (You can resell it later, if you want.)
Some of the ideas above are ones you’ve probably never given serious thought to. You might think some are too radical.
Think again. Then, let's talk.
Most of these ideas were true; that is, their conditions were in existence in the United States before about 1960.
Seriously, they were. That shows you how much has changed in your and your parents’ lifetime.
Do I agree with all of these ideas? I do. I’ve changed from being a Republican to a Libertarian in the past few years. I voted Libertarian in 2016. I will likely vote Libertarian again in 2020.
I encourage you to consider doing the same.
Here’s to secular freedom!
I recommend you check it out at your local library, which very likely has a copy. If it doesn’t, it’s worth buying online. (You can resell it later, if you want.)
Some of the ideas above are ones you’ve probably never given serious thought to. You might think some are too radical.
Think again. Then, let's talk.
Most of these ideas were true; that is, their conditions were in existence in the United States before about 1960.
Seriously, they were. That shows you how much has changed in your and your parents’ lifetime.
Do I agree with all of these ideas? I do. I’ve changed from being a Republican to a Libertarian in the past few years. I voted Libertarian in 2016. I will likely vote Libertarian again in 2020.
I encourage you to consider doing the same.
Here’s to secular freedom!
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