Practical Libertarianism: An Ongoing Essay (Part 1)

What does it mean to be a libertarian?

I believe anyone who believes in the Golden Rule, that is, to do unto others as you would have done unto you, is basically a libertarian. Don’t dump your leaves in my yard and I won’t dump mine in yours. Don’t steal from me and I won’t steal from you. Respect my privacy and I will respect yours. My rights end where yours begin and vice versa. Simple.

But many people who believe that they live by the Golden Rule would consider themselves anything but libertarian. Why is this?

First, for many on the “right” the term libertarian sounds just a little too much like liberal. It also sounds like the word “libertine,” which congers images of the Marquis De Sade and depraved orgies and stupor inducing drug use. Some frown on orgies and heroin. I understand.

Some also believe that to be a libertarian necessitates a rejection of God. Though it is true that Ayn Rand, often referred to as a libertarian though she rejected the title, was vehemently atheist, this is certainly not true of all or even most libertarians.

You can be pro-life and be a libertarian. Many are.

You can make a very good case for the limitation of immigration as a libertarian.

You can even be a pro-military (that’s military, not military adventurism) libertarian.

Libertarians simply recognize that each individual is worth respect and so should not be subject to violence or fraud perpetrated by anyone or any group, even the state.

As a kid I grew up in a military household. We lived on base. I had posters of submarines and air craft carriers. F-14 models hung from my ceiling. I was as vehement a cold warrior as a 10 year old could have been. But I remember one of the first times I realized that the state perhaps wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

I remember watching something about the draft on TV and asking my mother what she would want me to do if I was drafted. I remember her saying that she hoped that I would do my duty and serve.

I remember laying in bed that night thinking about it and wondering why in a country that was free did the government have the right to send me off to war?

This was my first real libertarian inkling.

More to come…