Following our previous list of Five Reasons Why Conservatives Should Vote Libertarian, TLR is now looking at the top five reasons that those other guys, liberals, should also consider voting for the Libertarian Party – in 2016, locally, and beyond.
As the resident lefty libertarian on staff, I have explained my own case before on why liberals and Democrats can and should make good allies for libertarians, but boiling down my case to five points came from a more focused appeal to the two groups’ similarities: both groups care very much about equality for all people under the law, freedom from tyranny, and economic fairness. The problem is, the mechanisms by which the liberals see fit to reach these goals are not quite the same as those held fast to by the libertarians. But perhaps, with some closer examination, the former group can find more reasons than expected to warm up to the latter… Especially with the alternative options from the main parties this year.
Here are five reasons for liberals and Democrats to seriously consider a Libertarian vote:
1. Economic fairness = economic freedom
One cannot have one without the other. Many liberals today have been romanced by eloquent politicians and their too-good-to-be-true promises of the middle and lower class workers finally acquiring their “fair share” from the greedy, rich CEOs of big corporations. But this vision only reckons with the current crony capitalist system we currently live in that has been induced and perpetuated by government meddling. Monopolies, forced low wages, less upstart opportunities for the lower skilled – it’s all made possible through back room deals and fixed systems that advantage big corporations and block out real competition from other companies. This results in fewer options for workers as well as consumers, resulting in the current lack of fairness we have now. The last thing we should be fighting for is therefore more of the government involvement that rigged the system in the first place. Don’t trust a politician that claims he can give you the moon; trust one instead who claims to get out of your way and do his best to clear the path to let you shoot for it.
The Libertarian Party subscribes to the concepts found in the Austrian and Chicago economics schools – full of Nobel Prize-winning experts who advise that those in charge of economic policy do just that – get out of the market’s way and allow competition to flourish. Only through true competition, social honor for entrepreneurs, and the freedom to innovate, can true prosperity and fairness of opportunity true reach the citizens of the U.S. once again.
2. Equality of Opportunity =/= Equality of Outcome
Far too often, liberals will claim that libertarians and other free marketeers are simply after their own personal bottom line. And while there is a kernel of truth to that, it should be noted that capitalism is the only known system that takes advantage of innate human self-interest and transforms it into altruistic results for our fellow men. The only way a CEO can turn a profit in a truly free, competitive market is by providing a service that benefits and helps the masses.
Following that concept, equal opportunity is what breeds such competition and innovation; this by no means guarantees that the same end result awaits everyone who enters the same field, hobby, or other life venture. It is by default meant to work that way, yet ironically, that it is the only way true equality can be achieved. Forcing an equally median outcome for scads of workers who all put in varying qualities of work and effort is not fair at all; making sure the system isn’t rigged in the first place so that everyone starts off with the same opportunities? That is true equality and freedom. It’s in the spirit of liberalism to support such a push, and that is precisely what the Libertarian Party is fighting to bring back into policy.
3. Libertarians will tackle the rigged education and justice systems to equal the playing field for everyone.
A common complaint of the liberal commentators on these topics (and rightly so!) is that these aforementioned systems are rigidly stacked against minority and low wage communities.
Libertarians agree, and support voucher systems for parents that would allow households of any income or school district to choose which school their children can attend. In the localized areas where such a system has been implemented, it has been a success. Libertarians wish to bring this concept to the masses and make it possible for every district in every state to give parents these options – with better education comes better opportunities of all sorts moving forward. This is the first step.
And what of the justice system? Well, the justice system, whether it be the police brutality epidemic, its disproportionately harsher sentences for minority drug offenders, or its inability for said offenders to clear their records and make good lives for themselves even if they do get out, is pretty racist. Libertarian philosophy, as well as proposed political policy, claims that this system is corrupt and needs to be reformed through massive reforms that are focused on repealing present laws, such as civil asset forfeiture, the unbelievably high number of civil fines, and drug laws, that are only enforced against minority and low-income communities, and adhering to Constitutional principles that allow for truly fair dye process, regardless of color or income, to truly be served.
In other words, libertarians see this as a problem that starts well before the police, however abhorrently behaved, are even involved, and starts on the desks of corrupt politicians with bad laws. Libertarians will fight to repeal and keep at bay said laws moving into the future the more influence they start to have in public policy. And congressional bills have even been proposed by libertarian-minded Republicans and Democrats that aim to clear the records of non-violent offenders who have been wrongfully imprisoned and charged.
4. Libertarians provide solvent alternatives to current welfare programs that would still look after the destitute
How often have we heard liberals claim that the Republicans only want to slash medicare, end social security, and lift minimum wage laws, all in order to see the poor and hungry die in the streets? While I don’t claim to know the hearts and minds of the GOP law makers at large, I would argue that fighting to change or end these systems – without providing alternatives – is certainly worthy of scorn. The system we are currently in is crippling, but offering nothing in exchange for cutting the dead weight is not the compassionate, inclusive perspective that libertarianism stands by.
Fortunately, libertarians have historically been at the front of the efforts trying to find said alternatives to a system that truly is broken. Social Security is unsustainable, and mandatory minimum wage hikes truly do affect the least well off in their job security. And yet, abandoning these tactics without offering something better to replace them is something the Republicans have seemingly had no problem with, and even rallied behind, for years. But libertarians do offer sustainable alternatives, such as the LP presidential candidate Austin Petersen, whose platform states that he would allow people the option to opt out of Social Security and seek out alternatives such as sustainable savings accounts, while still allowing it to remain in place for those already invested in it.
And there is the matter of what we can do without minimum wage hikes – a few things, actually. The Basic Income is one option, with one variant of it having local communities pay into a yearly accumulated plot of money for the less well-off to voucher into and live, and the Guaranteed Minimum Income, which would work as a negative income tax that would actually reward families who find work by gradually tapering off as they continue to gain financial stability.
These are viable, feasible solutions to the current problem, and ones that liberals can and have gotten behind once made aware of their existence. The problem often is that neither side, Democrats nor Republicans, acknowledge that such models are out there are are shown to work. Coincidentally, the system currently still in place forces citizens to me more reliant on the state. How interesting.
5. The Libertarian Party has been consistently pro-LGBT rights for far longer than either of the major parties.
Even those libertarians who say that they would rather have government out of marriage altogether will and do advocate that 14th Amendment means marriage should be equally recognized as long as it exists as a public contract in any form. So, if straight couples get a fancy document and legal benefits, so should gay couples.
Libertarians have been standing by this position since the 1970s, wherein LP candidate Roger MacBride was fighting for it when it wasn’t politically convenient to do so. Because libertarians stand by their principles for equal treatment before the law and freedom and liberty for all – even if and when it could cost them elections for standing true in these ways.
But what if this time, they could be rewarded for being strong in their conviction? What if liberals and Democrats, equally concerned about these social justice issues but whose own party’s policies have been found wanting, could take a chance and vote for something new this time around? Maybe it’s time to trust the party that has been on the right side of history for its entire four-decade existence since its founding in 1971, and that stands by principles that go back even further to 1776 and the Declaration. Maybe.
In the Libertarian Party’s vision of America, all men truly are created equal. With the choices we now have before us in 2016, perhaps it’s time to put down our mascots on both sides and finally start voting like we see our country that way, too.