A strong state


Why do libertarians oppose the idea of a strong state?
In the comments of this entry, Juliaki wrote:

Some people, for whatever reason, like the idea of having a strong government running their lives. Some of those people even live in the United States. Libertarians seem to be opposed to the idea of a strong government, therefore they would support removing that strong government from the people who want it. How is that not initiating force on someone?

She is absolutely right, there are people who like the idea of a strong government. I'd say it comes down to one of three reasons. Either they wish to rule, they wish to be ruled, or they want to be protected from all the nastiness in the world.

There are also people who believe that no one should eat meat or animal products. And there are people who believe that excess income should be redistributed to the poor.

These are moral decisions. Yes, even the one about the size of the government. History continually demonstrates that if one moral system is given the force of law over all others, freedom suffers. At best, government is a series of trade offs.

If libertarians could count on being left alone, we'd be perfectly willing to let others have their big government if that is what they wanted. But that isn't what would happen. So it becomes a matter of self defense.

We know from experience that government grows if left unchecked. Even a benevolent government will start taking away freedom unless continually challenged and beaten back.

We also know that government is usually the inefficient way to get things done. The reasons are simple. In most cases, government exists not to do things, but to prevent things from being done. Everything from drivers licenses to building permits shows that.

So libertarians try to move it from a moral argument (whose beliefs are better?) to a question of individual liberty. What government actions (or inactions) will result in the most choices for the most people? What results in the most freedom for the most people at the least cost to the freedom of others?

If this sounds familiar, it should. And not just because I keep saying it. This was the path that the Founders chose. That curious combination of Enlightenment thinking and cold hearted economics, seasoned with a healthy dollop of history and well mixed with faith.

It really does come back to a reciprocal. If you don't want it done to you, don't do it to anyone else. That and self-ownership is the foundation of democracy.

You belong to you. You are the only one who chooses your actions.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Mon - September 26, 2005 at 08:25 PM  Tag


 ◊  ◊   ◊  ◊ 

Random selections from NeoWayland's library


Pagan Vigil "Because LIBERTY demands more than just black or white"
© 2005 - 2009 All Rights Reserved