The Libertarian Party of the U.S. comes the closest to the principles of the Founding Fathers with its insistence on the Constitution being the law of the land and not a “rough draft.” The Libertarians advocate for:
1. Personal liberty, not legislating morality
2. Freedom of expression and privacy
3. Economic liberty
4. Very limited government spending with no subsidies to certain industries
5. Workers have a right to organize, but private business also have the right to refuse such organization as the owners of the property and business
6. Supports free trade
7. Few restrictions on immigration for those coming to work, but border still protected from attack
8. Non-interventionist foreign policy and defense of the country only for real attacks and real threats
9. Education left to the free market
10. Health care left to the free market
11. Utilities left to the free market
12. Equality of opportunity left to the free market
The Libertarian Party is decidedly laissez-faire capitalist and capitalism has proven to be the best economic system, however, the Party tends to go too extreme on this and other factors. For example, discrimination could still occur under Libertarianism. The Libertarians contend that the free market will prevent discrimination and racism, but history has shown this is not always true. In some cases, it is more profitable for a business owner to deny certain customers on the basis of race, for example in some Southern states in the 1950’s and 1960’s and earlier.
The above list could be considered the right (wing) – Libertarian views on the major issues. A left (wing) – Libertarian view is that there should be all the personal liberties mentioned above, but with a socialist type economic system. As discussed on other pages of this site, the socialist model does not work in practice, however noble the goals might be.
The Solution
A solution is to create a middle way between these extremes, while still holding true to capitalism and the free market. I call this Centrist-Libertarianism. The two-party system shows no sign of leaving anytime soon, so this is not a call for any new political party, but rather to elect moderate Republican and moderate Democrats who advocate this political philosophy (or to a large degree as few will agree with all of these issues). The platform of Centrist-Libertarianism is very similar to the traditional Libertarian Party shown above, with noted exceptions on education (no. 9), health care (no. 10), utilities (no. 11), and equality (no. 12).
Centrist Libertarian Platform
1. Personal liberty, not legislating morality
2. Freedom of expression and privacy
3. Economic liberty
4. Very limited government spending with no subsidies to certain industries
5. Workers have a right to organize, but private businesses also have the right to refuse such organization as the owners of the property and business
6. Supports free trade
7. Few restrictions on immigration for those coming to work, but border still protected from attack
8. Non-interventionist foreign policy and defense of the country only for real attacks and real threats
9. Education is so important for a democratic society and for a developed society that it must be free through at least the bachelor’s degree. In developed societies manufacturing jobs are being out-sourced to developing nations. In addition, an educated society is necessary to elect competent officials. Schools can be privately run, with the government providing vouchers to parents of children. The schools then compete for students to get their funds. This uses the free market model as the best schools survive and no poor children are denied an education because of the economic status of their parents.
10. Health care is provided to all with citizens paying premiums based on their income levels and health condition or alternatively there is at least a public option for people to buy into. Government’s role is small, but deemed necessary for life and death situations such as national defense, police protection, and fire protection. Health care belongs in this life and death category.
11. Utilities that are left to the free market could result in price gouging and some disadvantaged people being left without basic services such as electricity, water, and gas. Currently most utilities are government run or controlled, but not all. All utilities must be owned and controlled by the government so that all will have access. This includes Big Oil. Currently Big Oil makes trillions in profits per year. The government can buy Big Oil’s stake through the Fifth Amendment:
“ . . . nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”
The government can take private property with just compensation. The government can acquire Big Oil and any other privately held utilities and then reap future profits from said utilities, thereby decreasing the tax burden on the citizens.
12. Laws against discrimination are necessary and must be enforced by the government. The free market cannot always guarantee that there will not be discrimination. Equality is mandated in the Fourteenth Amendment with:
“no state shall … deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
The extremes do not work. Bombing other nations to artificially create jobs in the short term does not work and is extremist and compatible with totalitarianism. Anarchy and too little government does not work either. The solution lies in finding the right balance, the right middle position in the size and scope of government and not engaging in cultural imperialism and unnecessary wars.