Richardcyoung.com

The Online Home of Author and Investor, Dick Young

  • Home
  • How We Are Different
  • About Us
    • Foundation Principles
    • Contributors
  • Investing
    • You’ve Read The Last Issue of Intelligence Report, Now What?
  • Your Survival Guy
  • The Great Reset
  • COVID-19
  • My Rifles
  • Concentrate on Dividend Record and Compounding
  • Your Security
  • The Swiss Way
  • Dick Young
  • Debbie Young
  • Key West
  • Paris
  • Dick’s R&B Top 100
  • Liberty & Freedom Map
  • Your Health
  • Ron Paul
  • Bank Credit & Money
  • Freedom Force
  • Dick Young’s Safe America
  • Bank for International Settlements

Libertarianism vs. Government Intrusion

April 3, 2014 By Richard C. Young

Libertarian politics in the United States is highlighted here in Al Jazeera America. For refinement, I asked Cato Institute chairman Bob Levy for direction. Here are Bob’s comments on the piece, and the definition of libertarianism laid out by Immanuel Wallerstein in the article.

Not a bad piece … but like many others in the media, it offers a warped view of libertarianism that tends to marginalize us.  For example:

“Libertarianism is most simply defined as a basic hostility to the government and its institutions. A full-fledged libertarian wants few (if any) state-owned enterprises, no constraints on private enterprises by government regulations, extremely low taxes, total individual freedom in the social realm, primacy of privacy rights over governmental intrusion, and the reduction of armed forces and police to a minimum.”

1.  Libertarians favor a constitutionally limited government that has strictly enumerated powers.  Within that framework, we do not have a “basic hostility to the government.”  Indeed, we have great respect for the legitimate functions of government in securing individual liberty.

2.  Libertarians do not argue for “no constraints on private enterprises by government regulations.”  We recognize that government has an important role to play in preventing and punishing force and fraud — whether perpetrated by individuals or by enterprises.  For example, we support properly-structured restrictions on pollution, penalties for securities fraud, and legal remedies for defective products.

3.  Libertarians don’t demand “total individual freedom in the social realm.”  We acknowledge that responsibility goes hand-in-hand with freedom and we do not condone behavior that infringes on the rights of non-consenting bystanders.

4.  Libertarians would not reduce “armed forces and police to a minimum.”  The proper size of the armed forces and the police is the size necessary to undertake the activities duly assigned to those agencies by our Constitution and laws arising thereunder.  The first task is to identify the appropriate functions of the police and military, and then to authorize those entities to perform those functions only — and no others.

Related Posts

  • Get Government Out of Government
  • The Private Sector vs. the Lethargic Federal Government
  • Government Maleficence
  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Richard C. Young
Richard C. Young is the editor of Young's World Money Forecast, and a contributing editor to both Richardcyoung.com and Youngresearch.com.
Latest posts by Richard C. Young (see all)
  • MAP: Track the States With No Mask Mandates - March 5, 2021
  • Hidden Agenda: Bill Gates’s Ulterior Motives - March 4, 2021
  • RIP Bunny Wailer - March 4, 2021

Dick Young’s Must Reads

  • Ted Nugent Tells it Like it Is
  • Your Life on Main Street will Never be the Same
  • Does Big Government Create Poverty?
  • How S.D. Surged in Vaccination Inoculations
  • <i>Warning!</i> Your Survival Guy’s on a Boil Water Advisory
  • The Case for Individual Stocks: Now More than Ever
  • Insurrection Was the Furthest Thing from Trump’s Mind
  • Protection While Traveling in France
  • America’s Colleges Have Become Progressive Liberal Rat Holes
  • 751 “No-Go” Zones in France

Disclosure

RSS Youngresearch.com

  • Your Social Life During the Pandemic and MORE
  • Good Timing? Virgin Galactic Shares Tumble After Chairman Sells Shares
  • Do You Remember When You Purchased Your First Home?
  • Which Fossil Fuel Wins in a Shift to Renewables?
  • Richard Young Reports: The Great Money Explosion and Disasters
  • Fidelity’s 26 Million Retail Accounts in 2020, Up 17%
  • You’re Rich When You Invest Like Croesus
  • Joel Kotkin: Economic Civil War
  • Depositors in Europe Now Being Charged by Banks
  • Teaching A Family Investment: Warren Buffett’s Annual Letter and You

MAP: Track the States With No Mask Mandates

Remind Us Why Washington Needs to Spend $1.9 Trillion

Your Social Life During the Pandemic and MORE

Hidden Agenda: Bill Gates’s Ulterior Motives

Does the Left Think Black Kids Are Too Dumb to Learn Math?

Secession: Impossible? Not if You Think Locally

Copyright © 2021 | Terms & Conditions | About Us | Dick Young | Archives