By CHRIS SUELLENTROP Published: September 09, 2008 (source NY Times) If you like smaller government, should you vote for Barack Obama? Alex Tabarrok, a professor of economics at George Mason University, makes the case at Marginal Revolution. "War is the antithesis of the libertarian philosophy of consent, voluntarism and trade," Tabarrok writes. " With every war in American history Leviathan has grown larger and our liberties have withered. War is the health of the state. And now, fulfilling the dreams of Big Brother, we are in a perpetual war. A country cannot long combine unlimited government abroad and limited government at home. The Republican party has become the party of war and thus the party of unlimited government." He later adds: The libertarian voice has not been listened to in Republican politics for a long time. The Republicans take the libertarian wing of the party for granted and with phony rhetoric and empty phrases have bought our support on the cheap. Thus - since voice has failed - it is time for exit. Remember that if a political party can count on you then you cannot count on it. Exit is the right strategy because if there is any hope for reform it is by casting the Republicans out of power and into the wilderness where they may relearn virtue. Libertarians understand better than anyone that power corrupts. The Republican party illustrates. Lack of power is no guarantee of virtue but Republicans are a far better - more libertarian - party out-of-power than they are in power. When in the wilderness, Republicans turn naturally to a critique of power and they ratchet up libertarian rhetoric about free trade, free enterprise, abuse of government power and even the defense of civil liberties. We can hope that new leaders will arise in this libertarian milieu.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-libertarianism The rainbow is full of colours... I'm more Laissez-faire and closer to this... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarcho-capitalism
The question is whether you want a party that: 1. Spends lots of money, gets in lots of wars, borrows the funds to do this from Communist China, and pushes every problem on to the next guy or... 2. Spends lots of money, gets in fewer wars, pays for it from taxes, and might at least possibly deal with some of our problems Especially considering all the crap that's happened with civil liberties in the past seven years, anyone leaning libertarian would be insane to vote for the GOP. If for no other reason the Repubs must be punished with electoral defeat, and thus forced to change their ways. Taxes? George Bush has already taken your taxes and spent them in Iraq, he's just been dishonest about it by pretending that the money comes from nowhere. Neither of the parties as they exist can or will cut spending enough that taxes won't have to go way, way up, but the Dems might just bite the bullet sooner. It's like those junk loans with no minimum payments that cover interest with more debt. That led to a real estate bust; what happens if the country goes bust?