WHILE RESEARCHING about the different concepts of government, I came across the concept of anarchy vs the concept of the Libertarian. I remember how people have had the tendency to mix Libertarians with anarchists and it is sad. This confusion in the modern sense started in the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s when the Communists, Socialists, and Anarchists started using the term of Libertarian Communes.
We do not have to go far back or to Europe to talk about these differences since those have existed in the United States of America (USA), especially in Colorado. I hope to bring this mythology of Anarchism and Libertarianism being one and the same to an end using this article. The reason is that the USA is suffering because of the Republicans and Democrats and the Libertarians need to express their desire what they want for the United States of America before it is too late.
Anarchism is defined as a concept in which all forms of government are bad and that the best government is ’NO’ government. This kind of practice tends to be destructive as well as violent. When there is ’NO’ government, there is destruction of property and lives as well as unwarranted intrusion and ’extortion taxes’. In the end, there is the mentality of every person for themselves. Examples of anarchy have been Somalia where there has been an absence of government since the overthrow of the Somali Head of State Siad Barre in 1991 and Rwanda during the One Hundred Day Genocide of 1994. A country as complicated as the USA cannot afford anarchy. In many cases, anarchy has lead to dictatorship.
Libertarianism, on the other hand, is based on the principles and writings of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. Libertarianism is based on one concept, which is freedom. Libertarianism respects the rights of individuals to do whatever they want to do with their lives without the intrusion of a nanny state that dictates behaviour.
Libertarianism respects the rights of people to be themselves without reprisals under the condition that the rights of others be respected. Libertarianism also believes in free trade that is fair and without government restriction.
The concept of Libertarianism is also a belief in those societies, which have a right to conduct themselves as they see fit and that interference in the affairs of other countries is counter productive to what George Washington said in his farewell address in 1797. It should be remembered that Washington once stated that the USA should not be involved in ’entangling alliances’, but that it should develop relations with countries that respect the sovereignty of the country and the USA. It appears that we have forgotten this piece of information.
The concept of Libertarianism is based on that the government is necessary but must be limited and/or changed via peaceful means by the people who elect it. The state must be separated from the church, from business, and other non governmental entity so as to avoid lobby groups and conflicts of interests.
Libertarianism is also based in the belief that has been abandoned that the USA is a Federal Republic with the Constitution of 1787 and the declaration of Independence of 1776 as its guide. The Constitution of 1787 and the declaration of independence is the heart and soul of the USA, yet we have allowed our elected officials (or semi-elected officials) convert our Republic, our Constitution, and our declaration of independence into the equivalent of a Christmas ornament to be paraded around on July 4 and then placed in a drawer until next July 4.
Is this the legacy that we want to bestow upon our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren? Do we want to bestow a legacy of lack of freedom and opportunity, which would result in future generations cursing us? I hope we can look at ourselves and say that we do not want to bestow a legacy of excess government. The time to head off disaster is at the present time, not when the USA has entered the phase of a division in the style of Czechoslovakia or Yugoslavia. The time to head off disaster is at the present time instead of when the absence of government yields to the establishment of a dictatorship within our borders.
It is for this reason that I implore the people of the USA to take a hard look at itself, separate Anarchism from Libertarianism and vote for freedom, which is the Libertarian Party.
