Blog # 3 Libertarianism

I don't usually consider my self associated with a particular political party. Why? Because most parties have been warped into this extreme image of themselves. So much to the point of frustration. When people tell me that they are Republican or Democrat, I look at them with confusion. How can anybody consider themselves a party nowadays. Your delusional if you consider yourself Republican or Democrat and think that REAL Republican and Democratic values exist. Today I make my vote and choices on values. There has been one party that i have grown a relation to. I'M NOT SAYING I'M ASSOCIATED WITH THEM. But I consider their values to be the same as mine. The Libertarian party. Again I do not consider myself part of this party because I do have some views on certain issues that differ from Libertarians. But I do consider most of my principles to be closely knit with the Libertarian party. The Libertarians are a school of thought that relies heavily on little or no government influence in society. It's main image is individual power. People should govern themselves and shouldn't be told how to live their lives. Libertarianism is a view of individuality and liberty. Both socially and economically. I have the same views as well. I believe in individuality and freedom. For example, if someone is shooting heroin, snorting cocaine, smoking marijuana, and injecting steroids; then i believe they have the right to do that without the government telling them that it is bad for them.In their own house that is. I believe people should have the right to destroy their bodies with whatever they want in the privacy of their own home. Of course, there would be regulations, like alcohol precautions. We don't want a bunch of strung up idiots behind the wheel do we? And think about economically, how much money we would be saving from having to incarcarate all these drug users. Maybe we should take a page from the Portuguese and, not legalize, but decriminalize drugs and offer rehab/counseling to addicts. Because let's face it, locking druggies up will not fix them. It is simply a waste of tax payer money to lock them up. If you don't agree, think about it this way, your supporting and keeping a drug user alive in prison! Not theory, FACT! And what about a individualist economy? What does that mean? That means zero government influence in our economy and the markets. It is not the governments, ultimately people's, problem whether a bank or vehicle company goes out of business. Also there is a view with national pride when it comes to economy. For example, we shouldn't be outsourcing our jobs to other countries when there are plenty of jobs, industrial ones not agricultural (the ones that people say the "Mexicans" are taking), that can be filled in and created. Why does WalMart, Ford, Chevy, Apple all outsource their jobs to other countries instead of help boost the economy? This is one controversial topic that has bugged me about the Libertarian view. They believe in an ultimate free market with no government influence. This is where we differ, I believe the government should be able to put rules and regulations on our economy and markets in order to avoid fraud and dishonesty. I don't believe they should bail out companies though. Simply regulate our economy to make sure it runs smoothly. This doesn't go to well with many Libertarians. I also believe that the government should have an influence in elements where the public cannot achieve themselves. For example funding roads and improving our education system, like rebuilding schools and actually getting our teachers paid a decent wage so that way they have motivation to teach our future generations. Leaving schools,roads, medical care, welfare, and etc. to private ownership would then leave room for discrimination, miscommunication, and confusion within the system. Today we have the same problem, why is medicine so expensive for people? Why are there toll roads when they should be free. These are public entities that the public actually needs and the government should be used to maintain it with discretion of the people. I suppose this is where I differentiate myself from libertarians. I believe the public still needs government influence to help maintain a country. We need the government to help fund our schools, build our roads, fix our bridges, help the sick and poor, and ultimately use our tax money wisely. Yes i also believe in taxes. How else would the government be able to pay for all this? I suppose i could consider myself Liberal in social issues yet Conservative in fiscal issues (minus the small government entity). Just like libertarians, minus the delusional thinking.