I Am Not Ashamed

Early on, as I studied the principles of liberty, I was reluctant to call myself a libertarian. Libertarians are fringe, they are backwards, and they shouldn't be taken seriously. These were the types of things I understood "libertarians" to be. I had a friend that called himself a libertarian, and did so proudly. That grew on me, and so I finally reached the point where I was comfortable with that title, and used it often. I don't have any reservations about it at all at this point. Other titles that would accurately describe my political philosophy are "voluntaryist" and "anarchist".

"Anarchist" carries plenty of weight. And many dangerous people have erroneously called themselves "anarchists", and so tainted the word. But the point I wanted to make here is that people whose political philosophies can accurately be titled as libertarian, anarchist, or voluntaryist should not for a second be ashamed of them. On the contrary, people whose political philosophies promote and rely on the use of force, the likes of which include liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans, yes those people should be the ones ashamed.

My political philosophy can be described by 5 words we all learned as children, "keep your hands to yourself.". That's it. It's that simple. But the implications are enormous. It would mean no more use of force except in defense of person or property. It would mean an end to economic regulations, currency manipulation, taxation, welfare schemes, government-provided goods and services, intellectual monopoly, and military imperialism, among other evils. It would, in my opinion, mean an end to violence and the beginning of true, lasting, world peace.

I am not ashamed of my political philosophy. It's founded on voluntary trade and social cooperation, not coercion and violence. If you are not a libertarian, you are the one who should be ashamed.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I dare you to rationalize your views using your religion. I GUARANTEE you the prophets would not endorse this view in ANY WAY. Government serves a purpose, and NOT the ones you espouse. If people like you ran this country, the country would lose its very identity. Yes, you are just as the king-men, striving the overthrow the freemen, thank goodness, you have no real clout, or even courage, to make your voice matter.
The burden of justification and rationalization is on those who wish to exercise dominion over others. I don't.
Anonymous said…
Yet again you respond by dodging the issues and the comments, just as you have for years. You most certainly do claim dominion over others, you do so with every ridiculous policy you promote. You believe individuals should be held as slaves to your so called privacy and property. Not one thing in your blog, which should truthfully be called lies, promotes liberty despits your sick illusions.
Uncle delder said…
Hey bro!
ldsphilosopher said…
Anonymous,

Have the guts to reveal your identity.
Anonymous said…
Why should I have to reveal my identity? After all, my identity is MINE! Something I'm sure you crazies would promote. And how DARE you flaunt our religion in your identity. Shame on you.
Anonymous said…
By the way, LDSPhilosopher, your blog is ridiculous as well, portraying an official church lesson manual as inaccurate.