Why libertarian?

My first response is to ask Why Not??????

I didn't set out to be a libertarian. As a matter of fact, I didn't even know what a libertarian was. I was raised in a typical Canadian household where political ideologies weren't discussed much. In the early 60's, my parents did give me a respect for JFK and Martin Luther King, but this was base on what they did and not the politics they espoused.

As I grew, I found that I wasn't comfortable in either traditional political camp. Formal political science education wasn't something I ran across and political ideology wasn't a big staple in Canadian debate. Sure, you would support one or the other of the big parties but, with the exception of the NDP, they were virtually interchangeable. What I did do a lot of was read novels, both fiction and science fiction. The ones that stuck with me the most were those of Ayn Rand and Robert A. Heinlein.

In recent years, I found my way to the Vulcan Riders and Owners Club. In addition to sharing ways to improve our Vulcan motorcycles and planning where to gather to ride, a number of VROC members engaged in political and religious discussions on our Newsgroup.

Drawn into the debates, I found a curious thing. On individual freedom topics, like gay marriage, blue laws, drug legislation and freedom of speech, I found myself aligned with the left wing element. My thought is that my freedom should stop at the end of another's nose and that anything that happens between consenting adults is just fine by me. On other issues such as personal accountability, affirmative action and welfare, I found that I was squarely in the right wing camp. I was accused several times of being wishy-washy and a Mugwump (a creature who sits on the fence with his mug on one side and his wump on the other). I didn't think this was true because, dammit, none of my positions was wishy-washy.

Then good old Chris 'U-Turn' Ritz suggested I look up the definition of libertarian. The philosophy, not the party. Lo and behold, there I was. There is a second axis to political thought. One does not need to buy into a one dimensional ideology after all. I can have my cake and eat it too, but there is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.

Libertarians come in various stripes and do not suffer political platforms at all well, so we have very little chance of prevailing in the polarized US or Canadian scenes these days. It is interesting that most of the US Founding Fathers' writings, particularly Thomas Jefferson, show a decidedly libertarian bent. This is what led them to be the first to introduce the ideal that individual freedoms were paramount to the world stage.

I am not a pure libertarian, however. I do accept the Canadian concept that universal health care is a right because we said it was, although I deplore the bureaucratic mess the governments have made of it. I also, in these times, have strong protecionist leanings because a globalization in its current form is not a level playing field. There will be more on these exceptions later, but my general position is concurrent with the principles of libertarianism.

One thing that does intrigue me is that discussions with people who don't usually get into political philosophy often reveal the person to have libertarian leanings. I can't help but wonder that, if we get more vocal and share our views, maybe the world can be changed.

For those not previously familiar with this topic, talk radio host Neil Boortz is a blunt and often obnoxious proponent of the creed. I am currently reading his book, Somebody's Gotta Say It (thanks Scotty), and find myself agreeing with his observations almost completely. I will put the link to his website in the Links section of the sidebar to the right. The Nuze section has daily rants that I like reading.

I'll sign off now, but promise I will be back rambling before too long.