1Declaration: Free Markets, Free People, Free Minds

Many, mainly of the ignorant and naive fashion, call libertarians a group of people that stand for nothing because we stand for everything. This is a gross oversimplification and misunderstanding of what libertarianism is and what I stand for. Libertarian philosophy's key thought is in the spelling of the word itself and derives from the word Liberty.

From abortion to the economy, and taxes to the War on Drugs libertarians stand firmly on the side of the individual to participate in any activity they wish so long as that action does not violate the Liberty of another. Libertarians are not for transient politicians or policies. Libertarian's are against State control in general and see government as a necessary evil that must be carefully controlled so as not to interfere with the rights of the individual to participate in any non-aggressive manner they wish to.

Governing Thought is Futile

Libertarians do not vainly attempt to legislate morality (save one concept that I will cover in a moment), thought, beliefs, or religious convictions. Perhaps the only moral guide to sound governance that a true libertarian will follow is the adherence to the belief that governments only legitimate work is to minimize governments negative impacts and maximize individual Liberty. This moral belief has many facets which I will expand on but keep in mind this list is far from inclusive.

1. Taking from Joe and giving to John is sinful and tyrannical. What one individual must work for and give there life, blood, and sweat for another individual is not entitled to. The only legitimate form of welfare derives from voluntary individual donations (not like the voluntary income tax system as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid brazenly claims) that may be paid directly or though a nongovernmental organization. The tax system is not a method to redistribute wealth. Governmental welfare breeds dependence and enslave the mind and spirit of individuals.

You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that, my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.
-The late Dr. Adrian Rogers

2. Using government to force a change in societal norms or individual beliefs is immoral. Libertarians make no predication's about the morality of any given issue unless an individuals actions violate the Liberty of another. If you fail to understand this let me sum it up briefly: what someone else does is there own business until it violates another persons choice to live in a manner that they choose. If you still don't understand let me put it this way: mind your own business not mine!

When will the world learn that a million men are of no importance compared with one man?
-Henry David Thoreau

3. The only legitimate use of force is defensive. From military to individual actions offensive force is never a legitimate use in sound governance. A country must be free to act in a common defense for its citizens (this is afterall the primary purpose of government along with the administration of justice and the maximization of individual liberty) either in retribution for an attack that has already occurred or to prevent an imminent and unavoidable attack. The latter is an option that must be carefully employed until all other options have been eliminated. The attack against a threat that has not yet developed, may never develop, or does not clearly and reasonably act in defense of the United States is never proper or necessary. Just as an individual should not use force until the threat is realized, a government should not use force until a threat is tangible.

War is an instrument entirely inefficient toward redressing wrong; and multiplies, instead of indemnifying losses.
-Thomas Jefferson

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.
-George Washington

Warfare and Liberty

I speak not necessarily of military warfare, which is of the most common and readily accessible tool to remove individual Liberty but one of a far more insidious and deceptive warfare. It is James Madison that perhaps stated it most clearly.

If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. . . Of all the enemies to public liberty, war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.

In recent years military wars have been fought many of them with great foolishness and naivety, which have resulted in a great reduction in individual Liberty for a little more security or at least the appearance of it. Hardly an equal change. James Madison referred to a foreign enemy specifically meaning an enemy country but in the same context that it was spoken here a modern "foreign enemy" includes false enemies of man. Wars against drugs, poverty, climate change, intolerance, and many other hardly tangible, true, or easily recognized ailments plaguing society have been fought. For that manner we can add a War on Terror to that list, especially considering the recent release of a report by the Department of Homeland Security warning of retaliation from right wing political activists.

Modern day false wars have been waged not for the benefit of the citizens of the United States but for an increase in governmental control over its citizens. The War on Drugs has proved to be a complete failure. Since prohibition on now illegal drugs the murder rate has more than doubled. Because the War on Drugs gives cartels, gangs, and drug lords the complete power to control drug distribution, the price of illegal drugs becomes heavily inflated. Nearly 25% of auto theft, 40% of robberies and assaults, and 50% of burglaries are due to drug users trying to cover the cost of there next drug purchase. Still not convinced? Nearly half of all police resources are used to stop drug trafficking.

To summarize this for you, the War on Drugs has made the United States a more dangerous place to live, ties up police resources slowing responses to real crimes, and has cost the United States (meaning taxpayers) billions of there own money in a completely futile and failed attempt at stopping drugs from coming into the country. From the jailing of non-violent drug users whose worst crime was having a few ounces of pot to spending vital policing resources that are unable to make a significant debt in stopping drugs from getting in the country the War on Drugs is a complete failure. Instead of treating a symptom it is time to realize that keeping drugs out of the country is costly and futile endeavor. Instead of incarceration, where the use of drugs will continue as any prison official will continue, let us engage in the most cost effective and efficient way to eliminate drugs by eliminating the need for drugs in the first place by treating the addiction. Only then will the War on Drugs will be winnable or at least better controlled. Drugs are going to get in one way or another, we just need to live with it.

False wars are a dime a dozen. They are waged not for the benefit of its citizens but for the benefit of increasing the power of government. False wars are crusades that build dependency, eliminate individual Liberty, are a reason to increase taxes, or enslave there own citizens under the guise of greater security. Benjamin Franklin most eloquently and correctly stated with much wisdom that "Any society that would give up a little Liberty to gain a little security deserve neither Liberty nor security." It is time to end the false wars and ensure that the Liberties the American Revolution earned us are retained and fully restored for future generations.

Conclusions

It would be far to easy to continue this treatise on Liberty and the philosophy on Libertarians but it is not necessary. What Americans must consider moving forward in the wake of a government filled with elected tyrants is whether the Liberty's that have been stripped from us and will be stripped from us are worth it. As others around the world struggle for Liberty, government and the two major parties have brainwashed the American public into asking for greater security in return an insidious removal of individual Liberties.

Understanding libertarian governance is easy to understand. We oppose the idea of government power and support the maintenance of individual Liberty and choice. As the young patriot, Thomas Paine, wrote during the American Revolution, "Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one."

Libertarians could not agree more. History is filled with many examples of evil and tyrannical governments but only a few that can even be considered tolerable. One commonality exists between all governments in history: all have become tyrannical, despotic, venal, and corrupt.
Libertarians support maximizing individual Liberty and nothing more!