NOTES on LIBERTARIANISM
PRINCIPLE: A defining characteristic of something; an essential quality or character; a fundamental, primary or general truth on which other truths depend.
In a libertarian society, every act not forbidden by law is allowed in private situations.
In a libertarian society, things permitted by law may NOT be permitted in private situations.
In all instances, (I may have missed a few), the word “right” or “rights” has been replaced with the phrase the “ability to exercise the value of” or similar wording. I’m asking you to roll with it for the moment Unless you’ve got some contractual agreement that is respected, you really don’t have the “right” to anything so why pretend you do?
1 SELF OWNERSHIP (Individualism)
The individual should be free to make his or her own choices according to his or her own desires, as long as those choices don't infringe on the self ownership of others.
Self-ownership – Autonomy - each agent has a right to maximum equal empirical negative liberty, where empirical negative liberty is the absence of forcible interference from other agents when one attempts to do things (see, for example, Narveson 1988, 2000; Steiner 1994; and Narveson and Sterba 2010). This is sometimes called “Spencerian Libertarianism” (after Herbert Spencer). It is usually claimed that this view is equivalent to the above “self-ownership” version of libertarianism. Kagan (1994)
Individualism. Libertarians see the individual as the basic unit of social analysis. Only individuals make choices and are responsible for their actions. Libertarian thought emphasizes the dignity of each individual, which entails both rights and responsibility. The progressive extension of dignity to more people — to women, to people of different religions and different races — is one of the great libertarian triumphs of the Western world.
From Libertarian Party Statement of Principles
1.1 Self-Ownership – overall title of area and THE PRINCIPLE and Personal Liberty is “another truth” based on that principle.
Individuals own their bodies and have rights over them that other individuals, groups, and governments may not violate. Individuals have the freedom and responsibility to decide what they knowingly and voluntarily consume, and what risks they accept to their own health, finances, safety, or life.
UNDER THE PRINCIPLES
ARE
THE “POLICIES” OR “PLATFORM”
1.0 Personal Liberty
Individuals should be free to make choices for themselves and must accept responsibility for the consequences of the choices they make. Our support of an individual’s ability (right) to exercise their choices in life does not mean that we necessarily approve or disapprove of those choices. No individual, group or government may initiate force against any other individual, group or government.
1.1Voluntary Association (we came up with this one)
1.2 Expression and Communication
We support full freedom of expression and oppose government censorship, regulation or control of communications media and technology. We favor the freedom to engage in or abstain from any religious activities that do not violate the ability of others to exercise their values. We oppose government actions which either aid or attack any religion.
1.3 Privacy
Libertarians advocate individual privacy and government transparency. We are committed to ending government’s practice of spying on everyone. We support the values recognized by the Fourth Amendment to be secure in our persons, homes, property and communications. Protection from unreasonable search and seizure should include records held by third parties, such as email, medical and library records.
1.4 Personal Relationships
Sexual orientation, preference, gender or gender identity should have no impact on the government’s treatment of individuals, such as in current marriage, child custody, adoption, immigration or military service laws. Government does not have the authority to define, license or restrict personal relationships. Consenting adults should be free to choose their own sexual practices and personal relationships.
1.5 Abortion
Recognizing that abortion is a sensitive issue and that people can hold good-faith views on all sides, we believe that government should be kept out of the matter, leaving the question to each person for their conscientious consideration.
1.6 Parental and Elder Rights
Parents, or other guardians, have the right to raise their children or protect their elders according to their own standards and beliefs. This statement shall not be construed to condone child or elder abuse or neglect.
1.8 Death Penalty
We oppose the administration of the death penalty by the state.
1.9 Self-Defense
The only legitimate use of force is against aggression in defense of individual life, liberty and justly acquired property. Theability to exercise this value empowers an individual to garner aid from any other individual or group. We affirm the individual ability to exercise the value recognized by the Second Amendment to keep and bear arms, and oppose the prosecution of individuals for exercising their value of self-defense. Private property owners should be free to establish their own conditions regarding the presence of personal defense weapons on their own property. We oppose all laws at any level of government restricting, registering or monitoring the ownership, manufacture or transfer of firearms or ammunition.
2 INDIVIDUAL/GOVERNMENT PARITY
(what can the gov do that individuals should not)
PARITY GOVERNMENT;governments role in the lives of individuals is restricted in its ability to coerce or influence the free choices of its citizens. The only actions that should be forbidden by law are murder, rape, robbery, kidnapping and fraud [original source: Boaz but modified a bit]. Everything else would be tolerated as a byproduct of free choice.
The Rule of Law. Libertarianism is not libertinism or hedonism. It is not a claim that “people can do anything they want to, and nobody else can say anything.” Rather, libertarianism proposes a society of liberty under law, in which individuals are free to pursue their own lives so long as they respect the equal ability of others to pursue theirs. The rule of law means that individuals are governed by generally applicable and spontaneously developed legal rules, not by arbitrary commands; and that those rules should protect the freedom of individuals to pursue happiness in their own ways, not aim at any particular result or outcome.
It is also inherent that governments and bureaucrats would also be held to the same standards and legal requirements of The Rule of Law. It is one set of rules for all levels of civic involvement.
LP Party Platform items
1.7 Crime and Justice
The prescribed role of government is to protect the ability of every individual to exercise their values including the value of life, liberty and property interests. Criminal laws should be limited in their application to violations of the ability to exercise values by others through force or fraud, or to deliberately take actions to involuntarily place others at significant risk of harm. Therefore, we favor the repeal of all laws creating “crimes” without victims, such as the use of drugs for medicinal or recreational purposes. We support restitution to the victim to the fullest degree possible at the expense of the criminal or the negligent wrongdoer. The constitutional ability to exercise the values of the criminally accused, including due process, a speedy trial, legal counsel, trial by jury and the legal presumption of innocence until proven guilty, must be preserved. We assert the common-law ability of juries to judge not only the facts but also the law itself.
3 SPONTANEOUS ORDER
Spontaneous Order. A great degree of order in society is necessary for individuals to survive and flourish. It’s easy to assume that order must be imposed by a central authority, the way we impose order on a stamp collection or a football team. The great insight of libertarian social analysis is that order in society arises spontaneously, out of the actions of thousands or millions of individuals who coordinate their actions with those of others in order to achieve their purposes. Over human history, we have gradually opted for more freedom and yet managed to develop a complex society with intricate organization.
The most important institutions in human society (language, law, money, and markets) all developed spontaneously, without central direction. Civil society, the complex network of associations and connections among people, is another example of spontaneous order. The associations within civil society are formed for a purpose, but civil society itself is not an organization and does not have a purpose of its own.
4 NON-INTERVENTION
Not defined yet
5 NON-AGGRESSION
Not defined yet
6 VOLUNTARY MOVEMENT OF GOODS, SERVICES AND PEOPLE
Not defined yet
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