What is Libertarianism?

Ron Paul comes to mind.  He preaches that the paramount political virtue is individual liberty displayed as individual choice.  Society has no business dictating those choices whether in the areas of speech, sexual conduct, the use of intoxicants or business activities.  Freedom means absence of any restraint on activities which do not harm others.  Individual rights are what matter.

Man has the right to what is his.  Thus, the power of government to take from him (taxation) is strongly resisted.  People should be able to use their assets (“property”) as they alone -- not others who exercise their will through government’s power to confiscate -- wish.

Libertarians are not anarchists.  They appreciate that government is essential to provide “law and order” to protect the individual’s rights from those who would take them away.  [Thieves and would-be slave masters, for example.]  But they insist that governmental authority be tightly constrained.  Thus, in the American context, libertarians are strict constitutionalists.  The U.S. Constitution, in combination with the Bill of Rights, is a charter of carefully prescribed – and limited – government.  If it’s not in it, it can’t be done.

Accordingly, libertarians oppose U.S. involvement in foreign lands such as Iraq and Afghanistan.  [Ron Paul’s claim that the 9/11 attack on America is a product of our meddling is a peculiar view of his, not libertarianism.] The Constitution’s preamble about providing for “the common defense” is interpreted as authorizing military action only to protect our land from direct attacks.

Libertarianism has always a been a strong strain in American culture, from the Republic’s founders’ appreciation of John Locke and John Stuart Mill, to the early settlers quest to head for the western frontier in search not only of opportunity but space to be left alone.