I frequent a conservative Christian website called “What’s Wrong With The World” (WWWTW) where my Libertarianism is often
challenged on the basis of Natural Law theory, the “common good”, or on some other
philosophical footing. Now I have to
admit that their views of Libertarianism are so worked out that most of them describe it in terms completely foreign to
me. I’m often confronted with “doomsday scenarios” where, in some
theoretical Libertarian society, all societal structures break down (even the
family) and all that is left is individuals battling other individuals in a
barren wasteland. (The only thing
missing is the zombies!) Now, I’m only a
recent convert to Libertarian thinking and as such am not well versed in its history
or philosophical underpinnings. I will
say this though: the Libertarianism I have learned about from Libertarians
themselves differs dramatically from that described by the WWWTW sages
– so I’m not sure what exactly they’re against, but I’m fairly certain what I
am for… For simple-minded me,
Libertarianism is all about the nature and proper role of government.
First, the nature of government: Government is the only entity in society (other than
parents) that can legitimately exercise coercive control over individuals. The government can come to your
house, break down your door, confiscate your property, drag you and your family
into the street and beat you to a pulp if you resist – all with relative
impunity (even if it turns out later that it was the wrong address). Individuals (even parents) cannot legally do
that. We, as a society, have collectively
agreed to submit to an authority with the power of life and death over us. We do this because we believe in the necessity
of government for order and peace. Everything the government does (and this is important), ultimately
resolves in the threat of lawful force if resisted. Even the most innocent of crimes---say
parking tickets---if ignored long enough will result in the government
forcing its will upon you. The nature of
government then, is ‘legitimized tyranny’.
Or, in the words of Thomas Paine, “Government, even in its best state,
is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one."
So, given the tyrannical nature of government, the question
then becomes “over what areas of society should we grant such tyrannical authority?” In other words: “what is the
proper role of government?” The pure
Libertarian answer is that the role of government is solely to protect the
innocent from force and fraud. Coercive
force, in a Libertarian society, is legitimate only for keeping the peace and
protecting the innocent. A Libertarian State
then, would have departments of Defense, Corrections, Law
Enforcement, and not much else. Other
shades of Libertarianism will add other areas into the mix such as Immigration,
Environmental Protection, or whatever.
But each area added moves the State one step further from pure
Libertarianism. (Of course you'd still have an independant Judiciary and a Legislative branch - though the legislators would have much less to do in a Libertarian society!) For me then, the answer to
the question of 'areas to grant tyrannical
authority over' is: “as few as possible”.
I’m not a pure Libertarian. I
think that a nation should have borders and an immigration policy. I also think there needs to be environmental protections of some sort. And, I know that many Libertarians are
pro-abortion – I’m not. I think that the
primary function of government is to protect innocent life. For me, that means life at conception (see: Science, more specifically: Biology, even more specifically: Genetics, for further information).
So where are we at in this country? Well, currently in this country, we have allowed
the government tyrannical access to so many areas the list is dizzying! (For a list of just the federal departments
of government see here.) We have collectively agreed that we are
willing to submit ourselves to coercive force in the areas of health care,
transportation, agriculture, retirement, education, commerce, the environment, housing,
wages, labor relations… the list goes on and on and on! And, if you doubt that these departments
would ever use force against us, think again.
Many of these departments have “enforcement divisions” consisting of
armed officers. The Department of
Education, for instance, has its own law enforcement arm (the “U.S. Department
of Education Office of Inspector General” or “OIG”) that, on June 7, 2011 broke down a door to a Stockton, CA residence, dragged a man and his three children
out of their home, handcuffed the man and detained all of them for several hours
in squad cars for the “crime” of living in the previous residence of the man’s
ex-wife (who was wanted on some warrant having to do with student loan
fraud).
Such is the nature of government. Something as seemingly innocuous as the Department
of Education can, when provoked, turn quite ugly!
Interestingly, the one area from which the government has voluntarily
withdrawn its tyranny is in the area of the US currency. This,
in spite of the constitutional mandate stating that “only Congress” can coin money
and set its value! So who does the
government trust to create currency and set its value? Believe it or not it has given that power over
to the banking industry! Yes, the Federal
Reserve Bank (a private bank over which the government appoints officers –
but oddly refuses to audit) is in charge of the money supply in this country! It’s a little like letting the fox guard the
hen house. (Of course that's another issue worthy of its own thread!)
So - build a house without a permit: the government steps in,
condemns your house and kicks you out on the street; forget to pay your parking tickets long enough: they haul you off to jail; arbitrarily devalue the US
dollar so your buddies in the banking industry can profit: government winks, extends
their open hand and looks the other way!
This
then, is the nature and role of government in this country. It’s time people, to think Libertarian
thoughts and get ourselves free!
