A Program of the Libertarian Party of Santa Clara County
Six False Political Myths
Democracy assures that people will be free.
Wrong! First of all, a government of any kind is a controller of the people. Nearly
all government laws take away a freedom from some or all of the people, depending
on how narrow or broad it is. So actually, when it comes to freedom, all
governments are to varying degrees, its enemy. Many people around the world
believe that democracy will bring them freedom and prosperity. Our country's
founders were wise enough to realize that a pure democracy would let a majority of
voters pass laws that take freedom from those who differ in some way from the
norm - a process called "Tyranny of the Majority". So they reconvened after writing
the Constitution, to amend it with the Bill of Rights to forestall any laws which
would infringe the freedom of minority religions, news media, and of individuals
to own firearms, speak publicly, and own property. And to forestall federal laws
against other freedoms, they wrote the 10th amendment. This did not prevent the
states from passing laws which interfere with other personal freedoms and the free
market economy and prosperity, but at least it lets people avoid states with overly
oppressive laws.
A big government assures that everyone will be economically secure.
Wrong!This certainly hasn't held true for the biggest governments of them all -
the communist governments of the Soviet Union, China, Korea, Cuba, etc..
Benjamin Franklin said "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little
temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety". Evidence shows that big
governments grow inexorably by taking from the productive and giving to the
unproductive until few are motivated to think and work hard, and everyone
eventually becomes equally poor, except the government officials and their friends.
Libertarians believe in violence against government.
Wrong! Media stories about people like the Ruby Ridge victims, the Freeman in
Montana, and Timothy McVeigh, often mistakenly call these people
"Libertarians". Libertarians (with a capital L) are members of the Libertarian
Party, and to be such must have signed a pledge against the initiation of force. The
Libertarian Party is the only party that expressly advocates honest negotiations to
settle business dealings and differences and not forcing people to associate with
others against their will, and that expressly forbids the use of force except in self
defence against physical attack.
Big goverment fosters and protects family values.
Wrong! Big government is costly, and therefore it takes away substantial income,
and sometimes property, from its families to pay the government's bills. For many
poor and middle income families, this loss of income to taxes eliminates any surplus
after paying for necessities, and makes it impossible for the parents to help their
children get a college or trade school education, start up a business, or help them
out in other ways. As a result, the economic cohesion between poor and middle
income parents and their children that once existed in this country has been largely
destroyed, and with it respect for parents and ties with the family in other realms,
including spiritual and moral, has also diminished.
Voting for a Libertarian candidate is a wasted vote.
Wrong! Half the people don't vote because they either forget on election day, or
are apathetic, believing it a waste of their time and energy because a Democrat or
Republican is sure to win, resulting in no appreciable reform of government, or
they realize the election is very unlikely to be decided by their one vote. And others
who do vote don't vote for what they want, but for someone they think has a
chance to beat someone they don't want to get into power. With the exception of
those who forget to vote, all of these citizens would be right in their voting or
nonvoting strategies if the purpose of voting is to affect the outcome of an election
that won't be decided by a single vote. But if their purpose in voting would be to
send a message to the politicians that they want more personal freedom with
responsibility and less costly and intrusive government with correspondingly less
taxes, voting for a losing Libertarian candidate would be highly meaningful. It
would influence the winners by telling them how many people they are thwarting.
And most importantly, it would tell those who are like minded that they are not
alone, and thereby would encourage them to vote Libertarian at the next election.
Government creates jobs.
Wrong! Massive tax and regulatory burdens obstruct the creation of useful jobs, if
"useful" jobs are defined as jobs which produce goods or services that people buy
voluntarily from a free, competitive market. Although government does create
service "jobs" when it expands its bureaucracy, these services either are forced on
users, often to their detriment (e.g., IRS, EPA), or if used voluntarily often do not
permit full competition (e.g., U.S.P.O., roads). The way government has "created"
jobs on a very few occasions in history, is not to actully hire people, but to get out
of the way of the private sector by restraining growth of government spending and
cutting taxes (e.g., Kennedy tax cut in 1961). The historical evidence leads to the
logical conclusion that government can't create jobs, but it certainly can destroy
them if allowed to grow!