LiberContrarian

The question was asked recently, why I am a 'registered' Libertarian? Especially since in the USA, the Republicans and Democrats control purt near ever thang. What's the point? Isn't it just spittin' against the wind for distance?

Well, not in my half-baked, beer-soaked philosophy of politics, it isn't. Let me explain.

First off, as has been mentioned - Libertarians belong to a small political party that takes positions from both the Left and the Right and combines them to come up with a party platform that insists on maximum liberty for the individual, hence the name. The Libertarians believe that governments govern best which govern least.

Where the Repubs would restrict the right of the individual to pursue happiness as they please (by engaging in bedroom acrobatics or with unusual partners, or by taking drugs, etc), the Libs would restrict the right of the individual to own guns, to have their own propery kept from prying government eyes, and so on. Libertarians tend to think that ALL the Constitution and ALL the Bill of Rights were pretty neat things, and pretty much self-explanatory, and pretty much ought to be kept more-or-less intact.

I want my first amendment and my second amendment. I want freedom of speech and freedom to own personal firearms. I want to have the freedom to talk about guns and the freedom to shoot guns at people who talk. Wait. Scratch that last one. OK, then.

Anyway, there's lots more that Libertarians believe, and I won't drone on and on about it - there's a link in the title of this rant if you're interested.

My basic, indissoluble political desire is this - leave me the hell alone. Oh, sure, Brandeis said it more eloquently, but then he prolly had all his teeth and brain cells intact - I do the best I can.

What do you call that political philosophy? I'd form the "Leave me the Hell Alone Party," but I'm too lazy, and the Libertarians pretty much have it nailed down anyway.

I am a Libertarian, not because I agree with everything that the Libertarian platform proposes, but because I can't in good conscience get behind either the Republican or the Democratic party agendas. I'm just way too far beyond that nonsense these days. So I'll live with the few little disagreements I have with the Libertarians and call it good.

Why not just call myself 'independent'? Why not just take a position with the Republicans (who come closer to my beliefs than the Democrats, but not by that much)? Why continue to support a losing party? Why 'throw my vote away'?

I have several reasons for this. First, there are two parties because people didn't want to 'throw their vote away' and support died out for other political parties. That can never change until people start to move away from the two biggies.

If people move away from being Repubs or being Democrats, and become 'nothing' or 'independent', then their voice is just that - their one voice. Even if some group wanted to pander to them - how could they?

By being a 'registered' Libertarian, I am one of the growing number of people who make sure that rules and laws are met that keep Libertarian candidates on the ballots in numerous states. The numbers game is also how federal matching funding for political advertising is done.

As a Libertarian, I also contribute in a very small way to being a 'demographic' that someone must consider in their electoral campaigns, if not actually try to pander to. "What do the Libertarians say?" should become a question that every politician asks their handlers and spin doctors, just like they currently do for the NRA and the AARP and so on. The bigger the Libertarian party becomes, the more likely that is to happen. So I joined, and I wait patiently for all the other US citizens with brain cells and a tad less greed than the rest of us to come join me.

Many essentially Libertarian ideas get co-opted by Republicans and Democrats alike - they pervert them, but they take them. They didn't just come up with that crap on their own, they got it from us. It may be small comfort, but at least it proves they're watching us.

And that brings up another question. What about voting? Well, I vote. As often as I can, in local, county, state, and federal elections. However, I don't vote some kind of party line. Heck, with Libertarians, there usually isn't one. If the contested office is between two unaffiliated people, like it is with judges here in NC, then I refrain from voting. I don't know who they are, I don't know what their records or beliefs are, so I don't vote one way or another. If it is a contest between politicians who are affiliated with a party system, I try to vote for the Libertarian if I can - I try to research before the election to see if I can find out more about them. If in a total quandry, I may vote for the Republican - seeing them as often the lesser of two evils. But there are some Democrats that I have powerful respect for, and I vote for them - such as Richard Lamm, former Governor of Colorado. Brilliant mind, good leader, decent person. Naturally, he ended up leaving the Democratic party - who could blame him?

And another thing about voting - I don't encourage people to do it. I learned this from my favorite Jehovah's Bystander, Milcom Miasma. He pointed out that stupid people who don't research the issues and the candidates, but who just vote for the tallest guy or the most white or the cutest smile or the best ad campaign or the catchiest jingle or the one who promises them the most - these morons should stay away from the polls - they do more harm than good.

Don't mount Herculean efforts to get people registered to vote, to get them to the polls - hell no! People who have to be cajoled into voting shouldn't. That simple.

So that's why I'm a Libertarian, even though my vote may not get me what I want. Except for the 'don't vote you morons' bit - that I got from Milcom and he is right.

Libertarian Hugs,

Wiggy

PS - Although I must admit that I am greatly tempted by the Monster Raving Loony Party - those Brits are wacky!