The New Idea to Governance

By Tom Rhodes, 2/14/2013

Both factions of the ruling party, the Democrats and Republicans, continue to present old failed ideas. Calling them Progressive or even Conservative doesn't change the fact that they simply want to have the powers of rulers of old. They are still trying to convince us that they are the enlightened elite smart enough to dictate how we should live. This method of ruling is older than written history. The idea is that only those enlightened rulers should be allowed to use force, and the fact that by virtue of being stronger and having better weapons then everybody else grants them not just the authority, but the right to take your property is how society has worked throughout history. Be it tribalism, feudalism, communism, despotism, progressivism, or whatever ism that is currently vogue with the ruling elite, it is the same tired old philosophy. What has been hinted but never fully attempted is Libertarianism.

All the methods of a ruling oligarchy have been around for as long as man has been around, only since the enlightenment has the radical idea that people should be free to live as they want, own and acquire property unfettered by the ruling elite, and the purpose of government is to protect the live liberty and property of all individuals equally. The early works of Smith, Burke, and Locke lead to the ideas our Founding Fathers so concisely put in our Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights. Never before was a government instituted that was so clearly limited. Every other governing system, including that of today's so called "progressives," are statist. They work on the idea that the State has supreme power and the ruling elite know best how everybody should live and has the authority and power to dictate how others live.

Progressives today continue to try and push us to a future that is a repeat of the past. They want to revert to some variation of tribalism with a ruling person or oligarchy that controls all use of force and can force the people to do as they think is best. From dictating what food you can eat, how big a soda you can buy, to how you must build your house, to who is allowed to cut your hair, the assumption is that they know better how to live your life than you do. Their excuse today seems to be that because so many people don't make the right choices that the government must protect people from themselves. They loudly proclaim that the people are too stupid to know how to live their own lives, so they the enlightened will force the stupid masses to live as the ruling elite dictate.

Libertarianism is the only philosophy that doesn't assume some elites, be they kings and dukes, or Presidents and Bureaucrats, or dictators, or other form of gangs with enforcers, have the knowledge and authority to dictate how you should live. Being a libertarian means you don't assume to know how others should live; you assume they should be allowed to choose how they want to live and benefit from that choice; you also assume that should others make bad life choices you should not be forced to pay for those choices; you believe that government is a necessary evil, but should be limited to protecting the natural rights of all individuals equally under the rule of law from force or fraud by other individuals, groups or countries.

Libertarianism is the newest philosophy of how to govern ourselves. History is clear, there will be a government, where there is anarchy soon warlords of some type appear and some statist government emerges. History is also clear; no form of government has lifted the quality of life and relative wealth of the masses better than limited government implementing libertarian ideas. In terms of human history, the libertarian idea is new, and for those in power it is scary, it limits their power, it limits their control, and where in place actually promotes the rule of law where even those in power can be held accountable.

We used to have the rule of law in the USA. Nixon was justly impeached and forced to resign over abusing his power. His abuse included sending the IRS after his enemies, how things have changed. Both Democrat and Republican factions of the ruling party, will not allow themselves to be tried and judged by the same laws they force upon the masses. They are reverting to some variation of tribalism, were the few in power who have better arms and willingness to use force dictate to the masses how to live.

There is nothing "Progressive" about so called liberal/progressive ideas; we are again reverting to the oldest governance known to man, statism; rule by the strongest most willing to use force to preserve their power and enforce their dictates. The ideas and practices that made America prosper were innovative and new, they were libertarian innovations; the ideas and practices that are zapping our prosperity are old and retrograde, they are statist and tribal. The Libertarian Party exists to implement the newest and most "progressive" method of governance, Libertarianism.