MIchael Den Tandt: Libertarians have it in them to provide fresh air from the fringe | canada.com:
June 26, 2014 - "This country increasingly could benefit from a libertarian option that is healthy, voluble and represented in all 338 federal ridings. What’s remarkable is that the movement hasn’t flowered more fully before now.
"Let’s consider, first, the Libertarian Party of Canada; probably as good a representative of 'pure' libertarianism as you will find. As fringe parties go, our Libertarians define the genre. They fielded just a handful of candidates in Ontario and British Columbia in the last election, and in no riding won more than a few hundred votes.
"That’s likely because their policies are extreme. They advocate personal property rights, privacy rights, the right to free speech, gun rights, and all other individual rights, to the nth degree. They would place severe limitations on taxation and the size of government. They would adopt a policy of strict non-involvement in world affairs. They would cancel the minimum wage, and Medicare, and the Canada Pension Plan, and welfare. They would, of course, sell off the CBC. Oh, and they would end taxation. And that’s just for starters. Ack.
"But now consider the flip side, through a less swivel-eyed lens. What would a more moderate version of libertarianism, call it classical liberalism, have to say about some of the more intractable problems we face today? Libertarians believe in personal freedom and equality for every individual under the law. What might that look like, translated into policy in Canada in 2014?...
"A national libertarian or classical liberal movement would create pressure for greater responsibility and caution from governments at all levels in imposing new taxes, in borrowing, and in spending.
"Classical liberals are of course free traders; given greater influence they’d increase pressure on government to scrap dairy supply management, which is a carbuncle of interventionist, regressive, consumer-unfriendly policy left over from a bygone age. Libertarians would not tolerate inter-provincial trade barriers; nor could they countenance state-owned monopolies such as the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, or the big-beer compact.
"A classical liberal wave would send an equally refreshing gust of common sense blasting through some of our more insoluble social problems."
Read more: http://o.canada.com/news/libertarians-have-potential-to-provide-fresh-air-from-the-fringe
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June 26, 2014 - "This country increasingly could benefit from a libertarian option that is healthy, voluble and represented in all 338 federal ridings. What’s remarkable is that the movement hasn’t flowered more fully before now.
"Let’s consider, first, the Libertarian Party of Canada; probably as good a representative of 'pure' libertarianism as you will find. As fringe parties go, our Libertarians define the genre. They fielded just a handful of candidates in Ontario and British Columbia in the last election, and in no riding won more than a few hundred votes.
"That’s likely because their policies are extreme. They advocate personal property rights, privacy rights, the right to free speech, gun rights, and all other individual rights, to the nth degree. They would place severe limitations on taxation and the size of government. They would adopt a policy of strict non-involvement in world affairs. They would cancel the minimum wage, and Medicare, and the Canada Pension Plan, and welfare. They would, of course, sell off the CBC. Oh, and they would end taxation. And that’s just for starters. Ack.
"But now consider the flip side, through a less swivel-eyed lens. What would a more moderate version of libertarianism, call it classical liberalism, have to say about some of the more intractable problems we face today? Libertarians believe in personal freedom and equality for every individual under the law. What might that look like, translated into policy in Canada in 2014?...
"A national libertarian or classical liberal movement would create pressure for greater responsibility and caution from governments at all levels in imposing new taxes, in borrowing, and in spending.
"Classical liberals are of course free traders; given greater influence they’d increase pressure on government to scrap dairy supply management, which is a carbuncle of interventionist, regressive, consumer-unfriendly policy left over from a bygone age. Libertarians would not tolerate inter-provincial trade barriers; nor could they countenance state-owned monopolies such as the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, or the big-beer compact.
"A classical liberal wave would send an equally refreshing gust of common sense blasting through some of our more insoluble social problems."
Read more: http://o.canada.com/news/libertarians-have-potential-to-provide-fresh-air-from-the-fringe
'via Blog this'
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