From: Chris Russo (extropy@russo.org)
Date: Sun Dec 03 2000 - 19:48:18 MST
At 12:54 -0800 12/3/00, hal@finney.org wrote:
>The fact is, neither party is anywhere close to the Liberatarian position
>and it is pointless to say that Libertarians slumming in the mainstream
>ought to vote Republican rather than Democratic.
While I agree that many Republican platform planks are as anathema to
Libertarianism as many Democratic ones, the point of Mr. Brin's
original essay was about working within one (Mr. Brin mentioned only
Democrats, but maybe he meant both parties) or both of the major
parties to achieve Libertarian goals.
The Libertarian party relies *supremely* upon substantial reduction
of the power of the Federal Government. Without reduction of the
power of the Federal Government, only shadows of Libertarians' goals
can be achieved.
The Democrats get most of their power through the redistribution of
wealth through the creation of social programs. Reduction of the
power of the Federal Government is something that they'll never abide.
Sure, the Democrats are for legally protected same-sex unions and
might some day allow the legalization of marijuana, but that's it.
If you give the Democrats more power so they can give us those
trifles, there is no subsequent step that Libertarians can take to
achieve a reduction in taxes, the dismantling of costly entitlements
like Social Security, the withdrawal of our military from
world-building exercises, and the overall increase in power (and
responsibility) of the individual to control her own destiny. The
Democratic party will only move the USA to being a semi-socialist
country as can be found throughout the rest of the world, and the
Libertarian party will lose all traction. If that's all we want,
then why not just move to Denmark?
I dislike the religious component of the Republican party as much as
anyone. I'm an atheist living in Houston, and the vast number of
churches here gives me the heebie geebies. It *scares* me when
Republicans like George Bush Sr. say that they don't think that
atheists should have a voice in American politics.
But the Republicans are the only ones even *willing to entertain* a
reduction of taxes and a corresponding decrease in the size of the
Federal Government. As the Government's size decreases, they'll have
no choice but to cut out more and more Government programs. They'll
have no choice but to reduce their expensive war on drugs. I may not
really like the goals of religious conservatives, but I can see how
working with them, for now, can put us in a position to become a more
Libertarian country.
Regards,
Chris Russo
--
"If anyone can show me, and prove to me, that I am wrong in thought
or deed, I will gladly change. I seek the truth, which never yet
hurt anybody. It is only persistence in self-delusion and ignorance
which does harm."
-- Marcus Aurelius, MEDITATIONS, VI, 21
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