Moderate Libertarians Just Don't Get It

I am taking a brief moment to discuss a problem that I have seen cropping up lately. As everybody knows, Senator John McCain recently chose Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. Many in the media and in the "blogosphere" have referred to Gov. Palin as a "libertarian Republican." Just do a search for "Sarah Palin" and "libertarian" to see how many people actually think Gov. Palin is a libertarian. Sure, I will admit that she is better than the man she is running with, in fact better than most other politicians. Palin is somewhat reminiscent of Ron Paul in that she is a strong fiscal conservative, pro-life, and though she is by no means a libertarian on cultural issues she is certainly no James Dobson (that being said, unlike the Honorable Dr. Paul she does, much like the evil Bill Clinton, favor continuing the War on Drugs in spite of having admitted to smoking marijuana in the past).

In spite of the fact that Sarah Palin is marginally better on the issues than most other politicians, I cannot emphasize enough the fact that she has chosen to run with Senator John McCain. If Palin were not an advocate of the big government oriented foreign policy of McBush & Co. then why would she run with one of the most diehard neoconservatives in the United States Senate? The answer is that she would not. Additionally, let it be said that being a strong fiscal conservative while still not buying into the whole Religious Right charade does not make you a libertarian. Libertarianism is an anti-state political philosophy whose central premise is that it is inappropriate to initiate force against other people's persons and properties in order to achieve personal, social, or political goals. Say what you will, but a libertarian Sarah Palin is not and even if she were running with Senator McCain, an avowed imperialist and statist, would only send a signal to me that she didn't take her principles very seriously.

The reason that I am bringing this subject up is because it reveals a major problem with so-called "moderate libertarians;" they just don't get it. They, like any run of the mill statist, see politics as a "game" in which democratic majorities get to decide which policies to put into place. A serious libertarian such as myself sees politics for what it really is; a criminal enterprise in which the lives, liberty, and property of individuals are placed up for majority vote. If the majority decides to take away your property and leave you destitute, if the majority decides to imprison you because your personal behavior did not conform to "traditional family values," and if the majority decides to conscript you and send you into warfare to die then it should all be well and good by moderate libertarians. These moderates often refer to radicals such as myself as "utopian" and "impractical." Not for a minute do I believe that my ideal society will come into fruition in a single moment, but I do not lose sight of the goal. Moderates on the other hand go around extolling the benefits of "free markets," "limited government," and "personal liberty." They talk about "reform" and they submit all issues to a cost-benefit analysis, ultimately, they forget what libertarianism is really about.

Real libertarians do not take the positions they take simply because it is the more utilitarian system, even if it is. Real libertarians believe in an individual's right to self-ownership and that this extends to his property rights; no other factor is involved. Sure, we often talk about the benefits of liberty and the horrors of statism, but that is only a strategy intended to get others interested in liberty. At the end of the day I would tell you that it doesn't matter to me at all what "works" best but instead what conforms to the non-aggression principle. Whenever a self-proclaimed libertarian goes around saying that people who display clear ignorance of the non-aggression principle, people such as Sarah Palin, are libertarians it reveals a clear ignorance of the fundamental principles of libertarianism on their part. Ultimately, those people don't get just what this is about; they don't understand what we libertarians are fighting for. That is all I have to say for now.