Beyond the homosexuals and electric cars of the Democrats, beyond the churches and wealthy of the Republicans, lies the Libertarians.
According to Wikipedia, Libertarians prioritize individual liberty, small government and a government only when necessary.
The Libertarian Party of the United States is the largest third party of them all, and their main candidate, Ralph Nader, got quite a few votes, nothing compared to the others, but pretty high for a third party candidate.
Well, I believe in personal resposibility, general freedoms, and government intervention only when necessary. I think that people can do what they like, as long as they don't hurt anyone. That said, I do not fall in line with the libertarian parties of either the US or Canada. I agree with parts of the essential libertarian philosophy, but I consider myself politically unafilliated. I support and vote by issues and candidates, not by parties.
Barring something drastic, the Libertarians will never have a serious presence on the national stage. The USA government is structured as a two-party system, and the Dems. and GOP are too well entrenched. That's why if a Libertarian wants to get in Congress they have to pretend to be a Republican.
Libertarians do make valid points... I think a return to isolationism and hacking all government entitlement programs to death would certainly help the budget. However, I'm not so keen on no funding for schools. Any schools. As in no public schools. How exactly is that supposed to work? What, schools as charity? Sounds to me like the poor would get ground into the dirt if Libertarians had their way.
Any schools. As in no public schools. How exactly is that supposed to work? What, schools as charity? Sounds to me like the poor would get ground into the dirt if Libertarians had their way.
Yeah, those are the kinds of ideas the libertarians have that I don't agree with. I absolutely think that schools should be government funded and run (and universities too, but thats best-case scenario). I'm also in favour of public health care (I live in Canada where healthcare is mostly free); the two things which would be fundamental in an ideal society are the health and education of its citizens, since those two things would help make people successful.
The main ideas of libertarianism I agree with. It boils down to the social contract; don't X me and I won't X you. There are complications with this idea, of course (as with any universal political theory), but it seems to make quite a bit of sense.
