no. ..9-
Volume 9, number 2
by Nancy Kempner Davis
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The National Libertarian Party is a new politicaJ party in an old tradition. Libertarians, sometimes called AnarchoCapitalists or Objectivists, believe that unobstructed free market capitalism will solve America' s ills. The party was fonned in J97 I and presently numbers approximately five thousand members. This year. for the fli'St time, they are running a Libertarian candidate for President. His name is Rogtt MacBride, and he expects to win at least a million votes. The s ize of Mr. MacBride's party does not worry him because anarchy is the purest form of Libertarianism, and Libertarians are not apt to join anything. Many libertarians do not consider Roger MacBride a Libertarian at all . They point out t hat he wants a salaried state job wh~n some Libertarians feel that all civil service should be voluntary. Libertarians disagree with each other as much as they disagree with the American government. They view America as both an Imperialist and a Welfare state. Most would be hard put to say which is worse. At the core of Libertarian philosophy is the concept that every individual has an absolute moral right to his own body . ..Self Ownership" means that no man or group may trespass upon another ' s personal freedom . To make this work, man's right to the ownership and disposition of any goods he earns, fmds, or creates must be inviolable . TbeoreticaJJy all property is private and may be exchanged at will . Fragmentation begins with the questions of implication and implementation. At the University of Chicago, weUknown Libertarian economists such as Milton Friedman and the late Henry Simon created an economic ideology of Libertarianism. Some ideas of ..The Chicago School" evoke controvttsy even within the party. They advocateamong other things-voluntary education, wh ich would involve closing the public school system because education is a personal, familial responsibility; dismantling the court system ahd s ubstitution of private arbitration com,__ ,_ panies; and legalization of the so-called " victimless" crimes. lbe Chicago School supports the Throw Welfare out with its siblings foUowing arguments in conjunction with Social Security, Public Housing, and most Libertarians: Redevelop1111!nt The protective government is 1be Abolish all Governnumt Regulatory intrusive government. Welfare, as it Agencies works today. discourages individual The consumer alone must protect effort. Friedman does say that if the himself, because the Government has no poor must have help, cut out the business intervening in his choice of program and just give them the money what to buy or how to live. Libertarians directly. He postulates a negative reason that a company which poUutes in income tax where everyone who earned great quantity will eventually drive its below a certain s um would receive a flat workers away . It will prefer to clean up s ubsidy. Republicans froth at the mouth rather than close down. when they hear this. . This policy includes severe limitation Public housing and Redevelopment or dissolutio n o f the Federal Reserve are a mess. Remember the Model C ities Board, which places artificial restricProgram fiasco in the 60's? Let tions o n the flo w of money, and thus someone tum a buc k reno vating the obstructs the free market. inner city. Personal economic incentive Libertarians object to more than the is the only thing that will keep it goals of the Regulatory Agencies. They n::novated. see them as hotbeds of bure&Jcratic Social Security forces people to take waste. Milton Friedman has said that out Government retirement insurance. In bureaucracy self-perpetuates endless} y, essence, the Govecnment forces its and that it is a parasite o n the American taxpayers to loan it money ar a public. non-competitively low interest rate. Jf
II
I'm runningTofPresident of the United States. People say only two things are
inevitabl~.
Death and taxes.
They're wrong. ___________________ ..______............_______,._______,._____________
•
•
people wish to plan ahead, private companies have shown they can give a better deal. Protect business from government intervention: No more Minimum Wage. Tarrif and Trade Quotas, Price Supports, or Licensing When will people learn that businesses will only hire whom they need? The whole economy is hurt when Businesses can't afford to increase production by hiring more people. Abolition of tarrifs means trade with anyone of any ideology who wants American products. Conservatives rage and Big Business is even less happy. Trade quotas functio n like polite Government contracts to protect Washington 's favorites. There go Fann Subsidies and Russian wheat deals. Now anyone who plans to earn a living must produce in free market competition . 1be idea is that the small fanne!" or individualist gets an economic c hance. The question of Licensing is not
November 11, 1975
popular. If you need a heart surgeon, his only medical qualification will be his reputation. Friedman argues that this is already ~ case since patients shop arm~nd for medical care anyway. Once more the Government interferes by limiting competition. Strict Non-lnterventkmists internationally An America which does not .. advise" other nations won't need to spend billions a year .on defense. Simplify our defense to a modem equivalent of the militia system; just enough nuclear warheads to discourage others from aggression. There are three questions which most Libertarians agree that the Chicag~ School has not solved. If the court system should be abolished, civil cases might well be tried, as many are now, in private arbitration companies whose decisions both parties agree to respect. What happens to criminal cases? A pub lic court, whether or not it used a privately owned, profit-making jail, is necessary, because any smart murderer would slcip town while his lawyers decide what private arbitration company to favor. Close the public schools, sell their buildings, and the universal right to social and economic mobility has been severely limited. In today's increasingly lee~ and special~ society, most management and professionals hold university diplomas. If your father did not make enough to send you through six years of elementary school, the chances are great that you will not make much more than he. Abolish victimless crime in the name of oersonal freedom and individual responsibility, and a shady area of indirect or inadvertant victimization appears. If man has the right to suicide and self-mutiliation, what happens when the breadwinner of a family chops off his hand so that he cannot work? May his family sue h im for breach of contract? Roger Mac~ride says he would avoid these problems by approaching them , ~ he would any other question of policy, with three points in mind. How can these changes be made with minimum political and economic disruption? Is this practicable in America today? Do these matters come under Presidential jurisdiction? Indeed, it is the very practicality of his ideology which rubs other Libertarians the wrong way. 1be AnarchoCapitalists who insist government should be run on a pt.aely voluntary basis feel that If Mr. MacBride retains a police fon:e, he ·interferes with their lives. The object of all this dissent is a s tocky, 46-year-old man with a round red face , round glasses, and an upturned nose-. Owner/Producer of the Little House on the Prairie tele;,ision series, he spends up to 75% of his time campaigning. This is not his first shot at public office, so he knows the political ropes weU enough to realize that the only way be can familiarize himself with the American public is through grass roots, day by day. door to door stumping, and massive mail solicitation. Roger MacBride attended Princeton and Harvard Law School. He published both dissertations and won a Fulbright (continued on page 5)