The Libertarian Pledge to Americaby Laurence M. VanceNov. 01, 2010 |
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Just in time to bamboozle conservative voters before the election, House Republicans unveiled their "Pledge to America" at a hardware store in Virginia in late September. Although the Pledge contains libertarian rhetoric about promoting "greater liberty" and "smaller, more accountable government," the fact that Republicans promise to roll back spending only to the level it was during Bush’s last year in office and "advance the cause of freedom and democracy around the world" means that the Pledge is stupid and evil. We libertarians are often told that instead of tearing down the policies of liberals and conservatives we should offer some real solutions. Well, if I were a libertarian running for office, I would issue my own pledge. But instead of vague, empty, and false promises we find in the Republican "Pledge to America," I have come up with fifty specific, unambiguous promises that seem so radical to the average voter that I know I could never be elected. But these are not just my preferences and convictions; these are things that all libertarians should be consistently and unequivocally promising – if they are trying to be honest instead of trying to be elected. Here is the Libertarian Pledge to America:
Republicans are so statist and so opposed to liberty that they would choke on the first item. To libertarians, ending the war on drugs is a no-brainer. Aside from the moral argument for personal liberty, which is compelling enough, the costs of drug prohibition far outweigh any possible benefits. It clogs the judicial system, swells prison populations, fosters violence, corrupts law enforcement, erodes civil liberties, destroys financial privacy, encourages illegal searches and seizures, ruins lives, wastes hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars, hinders legitimate pain treatment, turns law-abiding people into criminals, inconveniences shopping, and has no impact on the use or availability of most drugs in the United States. The libertarian pledge to America – outside of Ron Paul and a few libertarians are there any candidates who will take it? November 1, 2010 Laurence M. Vance [send him mail] writes from Pensacola, FL. He is the author of Christianity and War and Other Essays Against the Warfare State and The Revolution that Wasn't. His newest book is Rethinking the Good War. Visit his website. Copyright © 2010 by LewRockwell.com. |