Tag Archives: Libertarian

Are Libertarians Taking Over The Republican Party

Libertarian.LogoWhatever the outcome of the recent debates in Washington, I think that the message is pretty clear.  There is a growing movement within the republican party that is decidedly Libertarian.

And to be sure, the methods they are using and the message they are spreading may do them more harm than good.  But I’ve come across two recent articles showing that the trend is steadily growing:

A new poll confirms a libertarian renaissance in 2013.

FreedomWorks commissioned a national survey of registered voters last month, shared first with POLITICO, that finds 78 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents self-identify as fiscally conservative and socially moderate.

It’s not that Republicans are suddenly self-identifying as “libertarians” and devouring Ayn Rand novels, but more that they seem to be embracing underlying libertarian priorities and views about the role of government.

The GOP dominated politics for a generation with a coalition of libertarians, social conservatives and defense hawks that Ronald Reagan successfully cobbled together in 1980. The tea party-affiliated FreedomWorks argues in a 23-page report that the so-called three-legged stool has become lopsided.

The poll asked Republican voters what they are most interested in: 40 percent said “individual freedom through lower taxes and reducing the size and scope of government,” 27 percent picked “traditional values” and 18 percent chose a “strong national defense.”

Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway, who ran the poll, said she’s seeing a spike in voters who feel the government is too expensive, invasive and expansive.

“The perfect storm is being created between the NSA, the IRS, the implementation of Obamacare and now Syria,” she said. “People are looking at the government more suspiciously. They’re looking with deeper scrutiny and reasonable suspicion.”

It’s my hope that this decidedly libertarian push continues.  Partly, mostly, because it’s the right philosophy.  But also because it resonates to more people and will thus generate more of a movement to support the policies.  How many votes has the GOP lost due to Gay Rights or Immigration?

Finally, consider the growth with these two graphs:

Libertarian Graph.1

Freedom Works used Gallup data to generate the trend.  Below is Freedom Works using data from American National Election Studies:

Libertarian Graph.2

Good stuff.

How A Libertarian Government Would Care For People

It wouldn’t:

Raleigh, N.C. — Three Raleigh roommates, inspired by the generosity of their neighbors, are paying it forward in a big way, using digital media to connect people with community needs.

The trio was burned out of their rental on Boylan Avenue in January, and then good things started to happen.

“The Hampton Inn on Glenwood South took us in for a week, and they said stay as long as you need to,” Sarah Styron said. Then a couple they had never met before took them in.

Gift cards for food and clothing seemed to fall from the sky. Sarah Styron and her roommates gathered with friend Will Hardison to celebrate this shower of kindness.

“We just started talking about how great the Raleigh community had been to us,” she said. “It is really cool. Raleigh is cool.”

Hardison, a marketing expert, liked the concept and loved the name. He decided to spread the word.

“It was really just one of those light bulb, a-ha moments,” he said.

He purchased the domain name RaleighisCool.com and is using it to help other local individuals and businesses with their struggles.

“I have been blown away by how much people want to help you out,” Hardison said.

“Emails have flooded in saying, ‘How can I help?’ and ‘How can I get in on the next thing that you do?'”

RaleighisCool.com is selling T-shirts with 70 percent of the proceeds to benefit Nation Hahn, a politically connected young man whose wife was murdered last week. The money raised will help pay for medical treatments for injuries Hahn suffered in the attack that killed his wife.

Hardison wrote on the website, “Nation and Jamie were both heavily involved in the Raleigh community and were seen as a ‘power couple’ at the young ages of 29 and 27.  When I found out the news that he and his wife were the victims, my heart just sank.”

So far, Raleigh is Cool has sold 350 shirts, raising almost $5000 for Hahn

Wherein Pino Is Official

I was debating the role of the state with Nickgb when he pointed out a fact that I need to correct:

Man, I think you are the only conservative/republican in the country who feels that marriage ought to be a federal issue

I need to set the record straight.  I got this in the mail just the other day:

Pino Voter ID

I am horribly dismayed that the abbreviation of Libertarian is LIB, however, that being the case, I am officially a Libertarian here in North Carolina.

Perhaps I need to rebrand as Tarheel Purple?

You MIght Be A Libertarian If…

I was shuttling “Young Master Sensei” around today from karate to YMCA soccer to lunch to the bookstore and everywhere in between.  While acting as the donkey I had a thought:

What does it mean to be Libertarian?

Here goes.

If you believe in Jesus and don’t think that we should legislate “not taking the Lord’s name in vain”, you might be a Libertarian!

War On Drugs Is Lost: Time To Acknowledge And Move On

Pat Robertson has long been a champion of the “moral majority.”  He’s an evangelical’s evangelical.

So when Pat says it’s time to legalize pot you know the time has come:

Of the many roles Pat Robertson has assumed over his five-decade-long career as an evangelical leader — including presidential candidate and provocative voice of the right wing — his newest guise may perhaps surprise his followers the most: marijuana legalization advocate.

“I really believe we should treat marijuana the way we treat beverage alcohol,” Mr. Robertson said in an interview on Wednesday. “I’ve never used marijuana and I don’t intend to, but it’s just one of those things that I think: this war on drugs just hasn’t succeeded.”

Mr. Robertson’s remarks echoed statements he made last week on “The 700 Club,” the signature program of his Christian Broadcasting Network, and other comments he made in 2010. While those earlier remarks were largely dismissed by his followers, Mr. Robertson has now apparently fully embraced the idea of legalizing marijuana, arguing that it is a way to bring down soaring rates of incarceration and reduce the social and financial costs.

“I believe in working with the hearts of people, and not locking them up,” he said.

Just goes to show ya that when we say “conservative” we mean “classic liberalism.”

Louisburg, NC: Where Libertarians Die

I recently posted about the city of Cary, NC allowing a small flock of hens within city limits.  The idea that keeping animals is a decision that should be up to the property owner not the local federales.  I was impressed with Cary, a notorious regulatory city, in allowing the chickens.  We’ll see if the ordinance passes.

It is in this spirit that I was discouraged to read a related issue in the town of Louisburg.  However, rather than granting the freedom, the city restricted it.

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Cary, NC: Libertarian Mecca

A Chicken Hen

Who knew that Cary, NC of all places would be the rebirth of Libertarianism in North Carolina?  Heck, perhaps in America the rate we’re going these days.

It used to be that you could grow your own food.  Most likely, you HAD to grow your own food.  Then, like minded people got together and said that you could no longer grow your own food.

And now, they are changing their mind.

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Extreme

Some time ago a friend and I were debating politics, life and people.  Wonderful conversations these, some of my most favorite.  Wonderful times.

This friend and I find ourselves at opposite ends of the spectrum.  I enjoy calling myself Libertarian and he Liberal; very Liberal.  And while I agree with his views, mostly, on the tender mercies of the social issues, we are in direct contradiction when it comes to things fiscal, economic or, strangely, on Liberty.

It was the topic of Liberty, actually an extension of what I think Liberty is, just the other night.  And, as so often as these conversations do, they begin rather pleasant and easy going and, unless cared for, degenerate into me in my corner and he in his.  So, this time, I asked that we stop and consider each others claim.

See, I see Liberty being extended to the person.  And, I see personhood being established somewhere between conception and actual live birth.  I’m open to the debate about the when, but really, I don’t think that’s the critical point.  The critical point is that you get someone to acknowledge that life begins sometime before actual birth.

Anyway, we were discussing abortion and I declared that I am pro-Liberty.  That is, before life is established, abortion should be at the discretion of the mother.  And after life is established, abortion is at the discretion of the mother is some cases:

  1. Life or health risk of the mother or the child.
  2. Cases where the mother is the victim of a crime.

As the conversation continued, we moved past this distinction and began exploring the right-wing nuts that refused to listen to any rational thought and held to a “no abortion ever for any reason period” position.  At which point I realized that I thought my friend was debating the wing nuts; not me.

So I asked him, “Given that there are extreme positions on the right – no abortion ever – what is the extreme position on the Left?”

His answer?

“There isn’t one”.

Blink.

Blink.

Now, when debating an individual about a topic and your going in position is that there are extremists, on YOUR side, that you disagree with, it normally sends a signal that you are somewhat moderate.  But when you’re debating partner refuses to acknowledge the same, it sends the signal that they are not; no matter what they claim they are.

Now, to be fair, my friend does not, at least I think does not, claim to be moderate.

Anyway, when faced with this interesting dilemma that extremism only exits on the “other side” I asked him a question that would cause his Liberal tendencies to collide.

“What if the mother decided to abort because the baby was black”?

Or disabled.

Or gay.

Or a girl.

Eugenics, it seemed, was the extreme.

In this case a person has to determine what to defend.  And in this case, the ugly ugly consequences of a genetic means test outranked the ability of a mother to choose.

Now, to be sure, in the specific I agreed with my friend on this.  I would think it horrible if someone decided to abort a child simply based on the fact that she was a she.  However, I am sure that our rational behind that conclusion would be very very different.

And I find THAT fascinating.

Anyway, I was able to make my point.  That there were extremes, on both sides, that we weren’t willing to go.  And just because I happened to add “Or poor” to that list didn’t make me any more vile than, well, anyone else who objects to abortion based on sex.

Liberals And Economics

Don’t mix.

Recently I posted about an Economics Literacy Test.  The Minneapolis Federal Reserve conducted a survey and asked people to answer 13 economic questions.  Those 404 people didn’t do so well.

While I took the test I wondered who would do well and who would do so well.  It occurred to me that some people will do better just because they want the answer to be something other than what it is.  For example, if asked, I suspect a vast majority of Liberals would say that the oil companies make too much profit.  Indeed, the oil companies rank 114 out of 215 industries in profits.  Hardly gouging, huh?

Then I was reminded of a post I blogged here about a year ago.  It described who did well and who did poorly on questions of economics:

Best to worst, with an average number of incorrect responses from 0 to 8:

Very conservative, 1.30

Libertarian, 1.38

Conservative, 1.67

Moderate, 3.67

Liberal, 4.69

Progressive/very liberal, 5.26.

Not so good if you are Liberal.

Who Is John Galt

There are few books that I consider must read.

Atlas Shrugged is one of them.

Now it’s a movie.