Ideology, not politics

reprinted from July 9, 2003

Words have impact. Writing doesn't come close to one-on-one verbal communication, in which we have a convenient way to correct misinterpretations. Occasionally though, writers do get feedback that can reveal that they've been misunderstood, or that their position isn't clear enough. Such is the case today, as revealed in the cover blog for July 8th, from TCB. This is not intended as criticism; to review and introduce the many Babelogue blogs every day is a serious challenge and a job I don't envy. TCB posted, by way of introducing my blog...

"The problem with minor third parties is that occasionally, they're right. Maybe a better way of putting that would be to say that the major parties are sometimes wrong — really wrong. Bob Smith has a sobering post on casualties in Iraq."

There are 2 evident misunderstandings here:

1. That I write from the viewpoint of the Libertarian Party.
2. That the Libertarian Party is "a minor third party".

Let me deal quickly with the 2nd one first. The Libertarian Party is, by any measure, the 3rd largest political party in the U.S. Currently, over 300 Libertarians hold elective office, more than twice as many as all other third parties combined.

The reason all "third parties" are "minor" has absolutely nothing to do with being right or wrong... it has to do with being FORCED to compete under extreme handicaps. The two major parties have the power of government, and they use it complicitly to keep all other opposition "minor". If the anti-trust laws implemented by those parties were applied to political competition, those two parties would be found guilty of blatant anti-competitive acts, and of coercive monopoly. Perhaps a later blog just on that subject.
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I write from a libertarian ideological position, not as a member of the Libertarian Party. I am a member, a past state chair, and am active in the state party, but my writing is not to promote the party. Personally, I detest politics, as do many libertarians. As I explained in my "About Smith and his blog", my attitude toward politics is that of Gandhi:

"If I seem to take part in politics, it is only because politics encircles us today like the coil of a snake from which one cannot get out, no matter how much one tries. I wish therefore to wrestle with the snake."

The libertarian ideology demands a very limited government... limited power, because political power is always misused. It always corrupts. Libertarians do not WANT to dominate the political scene... they don't WANT political power... they don't want such domination to be POSSIBLE. Libertarians do not want to force their ideas on you.

Understand that libertarians opposed war long before the War in Iraq.

Understand that libertarians opposed the War on Drugs from the beginning.

Understand that libertarians opposed corporate welfare long before the current spate of radicals.

Understand that libertarians addressed environmental issues before there was a green movement... and emphatically add that our government is the biggest polluter of all.

Occasionally right? IN A GNAT'S EYE!

The key piece of knowledge that seems to escape those who hold to all of the other political ideologies is that no government program ever works out the way it was intended... it never stops where you wanted it to stop, and it always has unintended consequences that eclipse any good it might accomplish.

Liberals in particular need to understand, at this point in time, that they are equally responsible for our nation's rise to "Empire"... to power-mongering, warring, bullying dominance in the world... to FORCE gone berserk. Even more than conservatives, liberals have constantly sought to increase the power of government, naively believing that such power would be used for good. Our current batch of power-drunk neo-conservatives are using the powers put there by liberals who were insisting that government can solve our problems.

Increasing government power has never had good results, because the use of FORCE never has good results. History is replete with examples of dominant empires that collapsed, strangled by their own massive power, and the U.S. is rapidly approaching that point. The cost of insane wars in the name of promoting democracy and eliminating enemies can kill even our powerful and resilient economy. When that happens, it will trigger a worldwide depression that could result in another Dark Age for planet Earth.

The solution is not more government programs... not better government programs... not reform of government programs... not different government policies. The solution is to radically reduce the power of government and return this nation to THE PEOPLE. Government does nothing well. It is force by bureaucracy.

How many destructive or inept government programs do we have to witness in order to reach the obvious conclusion that there will NEVER be a government program that does good? Will we have to reach the level of government planning and control that destroyed the Soviet Union before Americans recognize the real problem?

I emphasize again, and again... every time you ask government to do something... no matter how good your intentions... you are asking to increase the government's power over us, and it WILL come back to haunt all of us.

Our nation was founded on the principle of severely limited government, because those founders knew, from history, and from first-hand experience, that government power will always become corrupted.

Tomorrow, I'll introduce you to the WORLD of libertarianism, as a way of demonstrating that this powerful ideology has found a home among people of all nations.

In closing... from those who say it with more eloquence:

The State represents violence in a concentrated and organized form. -- Gandhi

The Constitution is not neutral. It was designed to take the government off the backs of people. -- Justice William O. Douglas

Government is not reason, it is not eloquence – it is force. Like fire it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master; never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.
-- George Washington

The use of force to achieve equality will destroy freedom, and the force, introduced for good purposes, will end up in the hands of people who use it to promote their own interests.
-- Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize winner, Economics

"Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one." -- Thomas Paine

"That government is best which governs least."
-- Thomas Jefferson