LIbertarianism-A Life Centered Philosophy

Libertarianism is the only political life centered philosophy. Pure and simple. Forget conservatism, liberalism, and all other "isms" which are nothing more than statist-collectivist delusions. The choice for any society is clear, it is between liberty and statism. Any philosophy that places individual liberty secondary or beneath the "common good", "society" or "culture" is one based on statism. Let's look at the aspects that make Libertarianism a life centered philosophy.

1) Primacy of Individual Rights. Libertarian philosophy holds the individual as sacred. Once born, a human being is entitled to freedom by his very nature of being human. Libertarians believe that all individuals have the right to their own life and the management of it. The paragraphs below will add to this.

2) Economic Liberty-This is paramount to a free life. The right to trade or not to trade, the right to own, possess, and dispose of private property, is an absolute necessity to freedom. As Ayn Rand so eloquently put it ,without property rights, a man has no rights. If one is forbidden to own private property, how can he have any other rights? If one can be deprived of a place to live by the state, without any due process he is a slave.

3) Personal Liberty- The right to associate, or not associate with others, for any reason, the right to speak one's mind freely, without coercion from government, the right to publish one thoughts, the right to worship or not worship a god, the right to remain silent and not incriminate oneself to government authorities, and the right of self defense against private individuals or tyrannical government. These rights are as Jefferson put it, unalienable, natural rights.

4) The Right to freely Emigrate- This is a Jeffersonian belief that one did not have to remain in a nation where "chance, not choice" had placed one. All human beings have the natural right of free movement to remove themselves from a place they do not wish to be to one more conducive to the life they wish to lead.

5) The Right to be free of Coercion- This sounds radical to the statist or average person unaccustomed to true liberty. The Libertarian principle of non-intitiation of force is a natural right. No one, not a nation, state, city, town, mob, gang, or individual has a right to initiate force against another human being. To do so is to commit a crime of violence. Crime, taxation, conscription, and the worst of all war, are all manifestations of coercion. Most initiated coercion is based on human emotions like greed, bigotry, hatred, rage, and ignorance.

These five points are the essence of Libertarian philosophy. I am sure there are more, but these five sum it up. Embrace libertarian philosophy, reject statism, and despotism. It should be the goal of all people who believe in liberty to spread the message far and wide. We must make the 21st century a century of liberty. I am willing to do it, are you?