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Wednesday, October 04, 2006

 
12:21 PM: liberty & justice for all [#] [0]

mph linked to an interesting article encouraging libertarians to vote democratic.

libertarians have consistently been the wedge that allowed reublicans to take control of all the branches of government by dividing the democratic votes. but, as the article notes, "for too long, Republicans promised smaller government and less intrusion in people’s lives. Yet with a government dominated top to bottom by Republicans, we’ve seen the exact opposite."

although the largest threat to liberty isn't the government anymore, anyway: it's corporations. bladerunner (& philip k dick) saw this years ago. now republicans lipsync to libertarian beliefs but manipulate federal laws to the advantage of corporations. and christianity has become a type of corporation: "on social issues, we are seeing a government aggressively seeking to meddle in people’s bedrooms, doctor’s offices, and churches. They want to dictate when life begins, when life ends, and which consenting adults can marry." despite their rhetoric, republicans have no desire to let the states decide, or even let the free market take its course. they're willing to reap the rewards of government infrastructure (the internet, research grants, roads/sewage, education) but then twist them against principles like net neutrality, stem cell research, mass transit and evolutionary theory.

libertarianism may have been a more workable model when there were fewer of us per square foot. when your nearest neighbor is a mile away, there's less chance to step on their toes than when they live directly above you in a 24-story apartment building. libertarians mistrust the expansion of government, but as the population grows, so must the government. and so libertarians either need to find a compelling candidate, or vote for the lesser hypocrisy.