CNN keeps telling me I should be interested in the American mid-term elections because they “have an impact on the entire world”. I do not really care whether the Republicans or the Democrats get a majority. What the Republicans are doing right now under the pretext of security – stifling liberty and expanding government –, the Democrats would keep doing it under the pretext of welfare, equal opportunities or whatever other reasons they come up with.
In this post, I would like to elaborate on how the neo-cons alienated me from the Republicans, why the Democrats would not be any better, how American politics are becoming more and more “European” in a negative way, why it makes sense to vote for third-party candidates, and why Americans who value liberty and their constitutional heritage should vote Libertarian.
How the neo-cons alienated from the Republicans
I have to admit that when I took an exhaustive political quiz some years ago, between the two major political parties, I got twice as high a degree of agreement with the Republicans as with the Democrats. Clearly, the common ground I have with Republicans is what Americans call “small-government conservatism”: cut taxes, reduce public spending, decentralize power, allow for an unhampered and free market.
You may remind me that the Bush administration did indeed cut taxes – which is correct. However, at the same time, they have indulged in an unprecedented spending binge, and, at the end of the day, increasing public spending is nothing else than a deferred tax rise. Think about all the business hand-outs, and projects, think about the hard time that protectionists are giving the advocates of free trade and open markets, including the labour market, within the party (on a side note, I have to give the President credit for his relatively principled stance on these two issues, free trade and immigration). Hardly concealed by conservative rhetoric, economically, the Grand Old Party appears fully to embrace socialism.
Add to that laws such as the cynically named Patriot Act which trample on the very ideas of freedom, individual liberty and limited government that America was founded on. Is it not these ancient liberties that the terrorists are attacking in the first place? Why do them the favour of reducing them voluntarily?
The Democrats are not any better
If you think voting for a Democrat is a solution, think twice. After all, traditionally it's the Democrat's appanage to increase public spending and instinctively to resort to “more of the same” whenever once again government interventionism has proved itself counter-productive. I think that's the entirely wrong direction. The problem in the United States as in the rest of the Western world is not that the government does too little about the hot issues, but that it does too much about them. If you really care about a topic, keep the government out of it.
America becomes more and more “European” – and in a bad way
Over the course of the past five years, a lot of commentators have emphasized how Europe and America have “drifted apart”. I don't share their analysis. Think about it: When in a group of people, two persons do not get along at all and keep clashing, it's usually because they are too similar. The same goes for America and Europe, especially, France.
Yes, you've read that correctly: I hold that in a weird way the neo-conservatives are turning America more and more into France. Since the days of the French revolution, it has been a traditionally French idea to declare one's own values to be universal and to export them to the entire world. Compare that to the foreign policy envisioned by the Founding Fathers of the United States, summed up in the famous Thomas Jefferson quote “friendship and trade with all nations, entangling alliances with none”. Or take morals: Whereas European countries thought they had to make their subjects morally good people by law and force, the Founding Fathers trusted the individual's ability to take his or her own decisions.
Why it makes sense to vote for third-party candidates
As you can see, both Republicans and Democrats have abandoned the American values of liberty and limited government. They keep spending the taxpayer's money as though it were their own and, whatever they want the government to do, they agree in wanting the government to do a lot of things on issues which, quite simply, are none of its business.
You may fear that you are wasting your vote by voting for a third-party candidate that has hardly any chances of actually getting elected. But try to think of it as a signal you send to the establishment, a signal that shows them that you don't want the government to keep intruding into you daily life and to interfere with your personal decisions in ways that are contrary to the spirit of the Constitution. If independent candidates fare well in your district, it might make Republicans and Democrats think about where they have gone wrong.
Apart from that, looking at the negative and simplistic campaigning of the two major parties, it appears that they think the electorate is plain stupid. Prove them wrong.
Why free-marketeers and advocates for a free and open society should vote Libertarian
You may not agree with some of the most radical ideas of the Libertarian Party – but if you are worried about an ever more powerful and intrusive government, voting for them will send the right signal to politicians in the two big parties. Don't let spurious culture wars and clashes over lifestyle distract you from the real issues – culture and lifestyle should not be the government's business anyway. The red-meat-eating, deer-hunting white Christian in Virginia and the urban, arty, gay-friendly student in San Francisco share a common interest in the government not telling them what to do and what to spend their money on, but letting them make their own choices.
I believe that all those Americans who value the great intellectual heritage of their Founding Fathers, share their instinctive distrust of government power and agree with me that the ideas of liberty and individual self-determination that inspired the American Constitution are still as valid today as over 200 years ago, should vote Libertarian today.
Back to the top of this pageCategories: Free Thought, Free Markets
Keywords/tags: America united states elections midterm elections republicans democrats libertarians jefferson small government
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