For this blog’s inaugural post, I think it’s appropriate to address the basics.
On one side, you have the perception that government can solve all social ills. Indeed, while there are legitimate and vital roles for government oversight and assistance (my list is six: safety, health, trust, education, infrastructure and access), one must be careful not to impose legislation or taxation - regardless of how well-meaning it may be - without taking into account at least one of those criteria.
On another side, is the persistent notion that government should serve as an arbiter of morality and virtue, “family values,” if you will. Indeed, such things are of extreme importance in any well-functioning society, but these functions best left to those institutions equipped to deal with them, such as family, friends and faith. Because government is by definition all-encompassing, while things like values are not, it is antithetical to freedom to apply government to values. They are called family values for a reason, not “government values” or “state values.”
Indeed, I believe this philosophy applied to reviewing existing legislation and considering new legislation is the basic philosophy that a “small-l libertarian” should take towards public policy. I say “small-l” because this is not a discourse about the Libertarian Party in any sense.
Regardless of political persuasion, most people in elected positions are extremely eager to pass some law to cure some real or perceived ill. However, libertarians will undoubtedly find themselves opposing much more legislation than they support.
None of this is new. In fact, it’s the essence of the classical liberalism espoused by such luminaries as Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill and Thomas Jefferson, as well as later figures such as William Proxmire.
The party best able to champion truly limited government in 21st Century America in general - and in Idaho in particular - is the Democratic Party. Republicans have talked about this for years, but in practice they’ve advocated “government values” time and time again, and also spent this country further into debt than any that has preceded us. “Big-L” Libertarians have had the opportunity to assume the role, but for a variety of reasons have failed miserably, and I daresay permanently.
The time has come to champion true freedom once again.
