Libertarianism: A Misconception

Libertarianism:  To Legislate Prevention or Consequence?

I wanted to take a moment to offer up a possible correction to a common misperception regarding Libertarianism and legalization or decriminalization of drugs. Libertarians are NOT necessarily in favor of drug use, or sexual exploitation or promotion of any vices. The issue is what role should government play in matters that should be freedom of conscience issues. *This is similar to the Episcopal Church, to which I belong, on matters of conscience not explicitly stated in scripture.

In short, it is a matter of where the bar is set between legalism and antinomianism–as to the role for government to play. A Libertarian, such as myself, may be staunchly conservative–in fact possibly more so than any defender of legalistic barriers. However, I am in favor of informal constructs for promoting that conservatism. An informal construct is choosing to NOT live in a coed dorm, because it represents too high a risk–or, choosing NOT to smoke pot, because it poses too high a risk.

Libertarians draw the line for government at “aggression” against another, and I (and many) would postulate that this also extends to abortion. However, in the case of prohibition issues (substance-based), the law should concentrate on protecting its citizenry against harms to others (such as operating a vehicle under the influence).

The argument follows, that informal constructs exist in abundance to promote abstinence or temperance (i.e., consequences, such as losing one’s job, position, sanity or standing in society). We know from experience that legislating temperance has been a colossal failure and, to be sure, spawns the many manifestations of black market behavior–not the least of which is the absence of a court in which to resolve disputes.

So, I just want to establish that one should not conflate Libertarianism with permissiveness–although through freedom of conscience, some Libertarians are certainly there. The freedom of conscience simply prefers that the individual have the liberty to exist, insofar as the rights of another are not infringed.

For peace must be dared.

“There is no way to peace along the way of safety. For peace must be dared. It is itself the great venture and can never be safe. Peace is the opposite of security. To demand guarantees is to want to protect oneself. Peace means giving oneself completely to God’s commandment. Wanting no security, but in faith and obedience laying the destiny of the nations in the hand of almighty God. Not trying to direct it for selfish purposes. Battles are won not with weapons, but with God. They are won when the way leads to the cross.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

9/12 Project Information

Welcome to the Lakeland 912 Project!

Who we are…

Non-partisan Americans who place people before politics. We believe our representatives have lead us into a condition of servitude and destruction and away from the liberty & prosperity the founders established for us in a Constitutional Republic. We view Liberty as our National Inheritance. Our goal is to preserve that treasured inheritance by recovering the truths, repairing the breaches and re-implementing, for all future generations, the government our fore fathers decreed our nation to be.

Our focus is on the Education, Enlightenment, Empowerment and Entrepreneurship of our neighbors and fellow citizens. We strive to become an asset, to our community and not just an entity within it. We cherish the 9-Principles, as we conduct ourselves with civility in accordance with the 12-Values enumerated in The 9/12 Project.

Come join us… The Lakeland 912 Project where principles become action!

Just What Is A 912 Project?

The 9 Principles:

1.) America Is Good.

2.) I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life. God “The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.” from George Washington’s first Inaugural address.

3.) I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday. Honesty “I hope that I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider to be the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.” George Washington

4.) The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government. Marriage/Family “It is in the love of one’s family only that heartfelt happiness is known. By a law of our nature, we cannot be happy without the endearing connections of a family.” Thomas Jefferson

5.) If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it. Justice “I deem one of the essential principles of our government… equal and exact justice to all men of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political.” Thomas Jefferson

6.) I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results. Life, Liberty, & The Pursuit of Happiness “Everyone has a natural right to choose that vocation in life which he thinks most likely to give him comfortable subsistence.” Thomas Jefferson

7.) I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable. Charity “It is not everyone who asketh that deserveth charity; all however, are worth of the inquiry or the deserving may suffer.” George Washington

8.) It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion. On your right to disagree “In a free and republican government, you cannot restrain the voice of the multitude; every man will speak as he thinks, or more properly without thinking.” George Washington

9.) The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me. Who works for whom? “I consider the people who constitute a society or a nation as the source of all authority in that nation.” Thomas Jefferson

The 12 Values

Honesty

Reverence

Hope

Thrift

Humility

Charity

Sincerity

Moderation

Hard Work

Courage

Personal Responsibility

Gratitude

Waging War

Wonderful follow-up to my last post!

Veritas

“Does your personal constitution heighten and cherish some particular sin? A proneness to some sins may doubtless lie in the natural temper and disposition of individuals. It is from the Fall and the original depravity of our nature that the poison and nourishment of any sin abides in our natural temper. It you are particularly inclined to any particular sinful action, it is but the breaking out of original lust in your nature, and this should humble you. If your constitution is particularly prone to give way to a particular lust, then Satan and sin have a special advantage, and you must, with extraordinary watchfulness, care, and diligence, fight to overcome these attacks against your soul” (The Mortificationof Sin by John Owen). Paul exhorts us: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be…

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Currency Crisis = Nigh.

We know for a fact that we can get downgraded now and surely will again… We also know that we are adding $250 million to the debt every hour, not reversing it, and inflation is soon going to crush us. What else??? We also know that forces throughout the world want to displace the dollar as the universal reserve currency. The interest on our debt is already a major budgetary burden.

There is nothing we can do about it anymore, except to pump our own oil–and that is not going to happen with the climate alarmists and militant environmental lobby. We don’t manufacture anything here to sell to the world anymore, and shortly, we will not be able to afford goods from China anymore. When demand for $s evaporates, we are finished. We will fall into chaos, government seizure of banks, and zero leverage to pay our debt. Obama is talking about the “MyRA” investment vehicle? Why? Yeah, because no one else around the world wants our bonds. Hey, let’s see if we can get our own people to trust us!!!!! It is a debacle looming.

So, printing more money will no longer work when we have to buy things in €, £, ¥.   When the greenback demand ceases, we will cease to EVER get back to where we were as fiat currency to the world. We will actually have to export stuff.  Guess what?????  It’s oil.  That is ALL we’ve got.  And a few cool Ford trucks.

Flight to quality is finding refuge offshore and in physical, intrinsically valued assets. Good luck.

For the Logic Impaired…

People who know me know that I am deeply religious. However, I am also a Libertarian, in that I believe that anything virtuous must be freely chosen. While I might hope that you find Jesus and love him with all of your heart, I also acknowledge that neither I nor anyone else can force that. Nor can we legislate that. Nor can we legislate any tenets of Christian morality. I believe wholeheartedly in the Establishment Clause that provides for separation of church and state.

Let man be free—insofar as his freedoms do not usurp another’s freedoms. Government should be limited to the extent that it only limits a citizen’s ability to limit another citizen’s right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Sometimes, someone asks me how I can possibly be anti-abortion and be a Libertarian. To me, it is glaringly obvious, and it has nothing to do with my morality. Here is the central point… A woman’s rights and a baby’s rights are NOT mutually exclusive. They are equally important. EQUALLY. We apply equality everywhere else in society. EQUAL. Spell it out, if you need to…

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Freely Chosen = Necessary

English: This image of a young Murray Rothbard, originally published by the Mises Institute here, has been released under the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Murray Rothbard, presents his argument for liberty:

“Should virtuous action (however we define it) be compelled or should it be left up to the free and voluntary choice of the individual? …To be virtuous in any meaningful sense, a man’s actions must be free…The point is more forceful: no action can be virtuous unless it is freely chosen.“

Charity vs Welfare

Charity is commanded, and the generosity with which we give is noble. Welfare is simply immoral, unsustainable, habit-forming and demeaning to the poor.