RIP Ronald Reagan

[Radar]

Actually, I'm a good libertarian. And there aren't several types of libertarians. There are some who claim to be libertarians, but who really aren't. This is the biggest problem in our party. You get a bunch of morons trying to change the party into the Republitarian party or the Demotarian Party. You get people who say they don't support the initiation of force, yet support starting a completely unprovoked war like that in Iraq. You get people saying they don't support government force to tell us what to do with our own body...unless it's having an abortion. Then it's ok to initiate force against them.

There are no shades of gray. You're a libertarian or you're not. You either support the initiation of force for political gain or social engineering, or you don't. Claiming to be a libertarian who supports the war in Iraq is no different than saying, "I am a Christian because I believe in every part of the bible other than the parts about Jesus". By definition if you don't believe in Jesus, you're not a Christian, even if you believe in every other part of the bible.

The same is true of libertarianism. You can support smaller government. You can support the elimination of income taxes. You can support legalizing drugs. You can support unrestricted gun ownership. You can believe in nearly every part of libertarianism other than the NAP (Non-Aggression Principle), and you're not a libertarian. You can disagree with the Libertarian Party in all areas but as long as you believe in the NAP, you're still a libertarian.

For the record, I'm a fantastic example of a Libertarian and an intelligent, reasonable, open-minded, well-educated, well-rounded person in general. Not to mention I've got a wonderful sense of humor and a warm personality.

Oh, and did I mention humble?


Your Friend in Liberty,


Paul T. Ireland
Executive Committee
Libertarian Party of California