“A society that puts equality before freedom will get neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both.”
― Milton Friedman
One has to wonder when rehabilitation of the Republican Party becomes a losing proposition for classic liberals – perhaps it already has. The pull-out of funding from the party coffers to the Virginia gubernatorial effort a scant three weeks before the election and the absolute lack of curiosity about a “libertarian” challenger, one at least partially funded by an Obama campaign bundler, indicates a level of indifference to so called Tea Party beliefs that simply boggles the mind. The lack of support for Ken Cuccinelli is tantamount to support for Democrats.
My only demand of my political representation is to protect my individual rights, those being the “certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…” that were enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. I ask for nothing in return, my creed is that of the mythical John Galt:
“I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.”
But I guess I have to face the fact that it is just too hard for most to be classical liberals. It takes work, effort, thought. It is hard to be free, Liberty takes more than eternal vigilance, it is a constant war against the vicissitudes of life. You have to believe in something greater than yourself and be prepared to defend your position. Because you believe in individual liberty, you have to make the hard decisions and expect others to make them, too. You have produce and are measured by your tangible successes but your individual success does not mean that you are not compassionate or you care only for yourself, it means that you will give help where necessary but that you will also expect the recipient of that help to work as hard as you do. Your ethos is that if everybody individually works to be successful, all will be successful. To make a worthy effort and fail is laudable and noble, to live a life of subsistence off the success of others is not, to concern yourself with what your life means to society is noble, to try to dictate to others how to live is evil.
And you have to be prepared to be John Galt or his predecessor, Howard Roark. Perhaps more than any other example, Rand’s characters embody the strength of the individual based on the proposition that true liberty depends on the freedom of the individual – the greatest desire of who is to simply be left alone and free to achieve whatever is possible.
It is apparent that today, some people can’t even conceive of being that independent and apparently there are enough who believe in the safety of the hive that they can muster enough votes to win elections. These folks are far more comfortable relying on others and take great pleasure in telling them what to do even as they depend on them for sustenance and support. These people are called “progressives”. They don’t really have to produce anything because they have jobs in elite occupations in academia, union leadership, journalism and government where the measure of performance isn’t what you produce; it is how well you work the bureaucracy or how much dependence you can create in other people. They can be found in large concentrations in the human hives of large urban areas on the left coast, the Northeast and upper Midwest.
It takes little effort to be one of the crowd, a part of the collective.
The great paradox is that most people live their private lives as classic liberals. They make decisions, take responsibility and work to provide for their families but when it comes time to pull the lever for a conservative, they don’t do it. Maybe it is some kind of delusion, some wishful illusion that “progressivism” is really the answer. It isn’t. “Progressivism” is a leech, it only lives off the blood of others. Curiously, Marx stated that:
“Capital is dead labour, that, vampire-like, only lives by sucking living labour, and lives the more, the more labour it sucks”.
In perhaps what is the ultimate irony, Marx actually describes what we call Marxism today, “progressivism”. Where the individual classic liberal is internally driven to produce, the ideology of “progressivism” only survives by sitting above the people, producing nothing, owing its very existence to the practice of taking from one and giving to another while profiting from the exchange, being nothing less than the blood sucking vampire described by Marx.
In doing so, “progressives” are violating a basic natural law – that the productivity and output of the individual is the sole property of that individual – but when the individual doesn’t value their own productivity or see that productivity as being limited by some social or political system that they believe they have no control over, it is easy to convince them that they do not own that output, that it belongs to the collective.
That is the culture that we have to find a way to change.
The Rio Norte Line 
Reblogged this on Brittius.com.
“It takes little effort to be one of the crowds, a part of the collective.”
The crux of the whole problem stated well, in this one sentence. People are lazy, and content to let other’s do “the work of life” for them. And sadly, they are all too willing to allow the government to legislate another person’s rights to your hard earned resources.
Reblogged this on Catholic Glasses.
I believe the time has come for people to now vote with their heart. I fear our hives may very well be in an internment camp. Notice how Christie is now being shoved down our collective throats by the Republicans? Can I just say, WTF? Sorry, just did.
I’ve always preferred Fountainhead over Atlas Shrugged. Nice.
http://www.newsherald.com/opinions/letters-to-the-editor/rand-s-philosophy-undermines-columnist-s-concept-of-creator-charity-1.88847?page=1
Damn Kells, now I guess I have to read “Fountainhead”. Sure hope it is not as tedious as “Atlas Shrugged”. lol
Steve: No real libertarian wants to see the whole point of libertarianism defeated by creating a “Libertarian Party” or fielding “Libertarian candidates” who have no chance of doing anything but delivering elections to the Progressives, whose beliefs we completely reject and despise. Sarvis was backed by an Obama bundler and this moron’s attempt to distract from that fact by spreading disinformation only clarifies the sophistication of the fraud. Steve, you know plenty about libertarian beliefs and if you read Sarvis’ “platform” and watch his interviews you will quickly see he is an advocate for higher taxes, bigger government and greater intrusion of government into the lives of individual Americans. This fraudulent clown not only looks like Alfred E. Newman, he is lying through his teeth. Sarvis’ fraud against the people of Virginia has been documented not just by Mr. Limbaugh, but by a dozen other reliable sources. The Progressives are already working to replicate this criminal behavior in other states. Real libertarians need to figure out how to stop the hijacking of our movement’s name and the distortion of our values and beliefs. CDE
Making Libertarians a scapegoat does not do anything to solve the GOP’s problems. As an “independent” I was looking forward to the possibility of debating the weaknesses of Libertarianism. Not so much the actual platform, but rather it’s application in American politics. I am sorry to see you’ve joined the club. 😦
Steve: I haven’t joined any new clubs. I know we libertarians have the most effective policies for our nation, but I have always believed libertarians should be a movement of good ideas rather than a formal political party. Several of our Founders warned against the formation of political parties because such parties tend to take on identities of their own and they tend to become more concerned with maintaining their own power rather than with the good of individual Americans. I think they have been proven correct repeatedly over our history. Today, libertarians agree with the Tea Party wing of the GOP on about 90% of all important issues, and for libertarians to launch a 3rd party, which some intellectually challenged libertarians are trying to do, will be to give elections to our real enemies the Progressives. I will not support the Establishment Republicans of McCain, Christy, Graham and their ilk, but I think Cruz, Paul, Lee, Scott and Rubio are the future of the GOP and of the nation. And our most important task is to defeat the Obama Progressives in 2014 and 2016. Hope that clarifies my thinking. CDE
I didn’t find either tedious. Didn’t mind the length either. I enjoyed your article, but I think your view of her work as well as Stossel’s is askew.
I think the Virginia race proves pretty Clearly the Bankruptcy of a couple of things.
(1)– The Fact that the GOP RINO Elite are basically Liberal Big Government Democrats wearing GOP hats, and this GOP Elite are ONLY out for their Continued Place at the Public trough……and are the DIRECT Enemies of those American People who Genuinely Believe in and want to live by the Constituion. Most especialy but not exclusively Found in the Tea Party and Conservative and Religious Groups).
(2)– The Myth of a 3rd Party as any kind of Viable Solution for Americva’s Slide, especially that Party being any way related to the So-Called Libertarians…….As they proved themselves to be no more sophisticated in their voting Choices than the typical Union supporter pulling the Democrat lever…..they pulled the “Libertarian” lever just because it said Libertarian.
For a Candidate that SAID in interviews he was for Higher Taxes on many fronts and for Increased Surveillance via the Black box in your car ( also for Increased Taxing Purposes)…..but (as usual) he was for Gay Marriage and Legalizing Pot……so there you have it..!……. Here is a Comment Poated by a Libertarian After the Virginia Election……
“….. REALLIIBERTARIAN
Nov. 5, 2013 at 11:15pm
You people don’t get it. Cruz and the other idiots who forced the shutdown have done irreparable harm to the GOP and the chance to win elections. The Tea party has created such distrust among moderates that losing will be the lot of the GOP for a few cycles to come. Get off the social conservatism BS, stop gerrymandering districts, and learn how to deal with moderates and independents. The extremes of the GOP and the DNC are being rejected, and its about time. ”
I think this sums up what they are realyy about….again Where the Rubber meets the Road…when they VOTE. Now both Rand Paul and Ron Paul elevated themselves HUGELY IMO by getting out and walking the Streets and Stating Clearly their support for Cuccinelli….they proved they are for the Constitution….and warned that Sarvis wasn’t a Libertarian in THEIR sense.
Unfortunately……the vast majority of So-Called Libertarians appear to be actually Big Gov’t LIBERALS and not Paul Libertarians…………..The new Libertarian Movement is basically a Tool to divide the Conservatives and like-minded Republicans……Virginia was Ross Perot all over again.
The Take back is that the Tea Party IS the way forward for America…..Values Voters and Religious Conservative Groups are the way forward for America to restore the Constitution……They HAVE to be UNITED and they have to Be UNITED Nationally as well as locally.
Is this a site to comment on? The guy clearly isn’t Libertarian.
Approximately 7% of Virginia voters obviously Didn’t agree with you.
Their vote says he IS a Libertarian.
Utah et al: Old Uncle Karl could really spin a yarn, and he had no better idea of monetary theory than he did of broader economics, history or politics. While adolescents may find Marx believable and even inspiring, I have long thought that was mostly a function of the late maturity of the pre-frontal cortex in many people rather than the insights of Marx’s reasoning. That’s why we mostly send late adolescents to fight wars and why Liberal/Progressives often seem narcissistic and petulant, with Our Dear Leader being Exhibit A.
The Virginia Governor’s race should be instructive for all involved on the GOP-side. Any libertarian reading Mr. Sarvis’ positions or listening to his interviews immediately knew he was not one of us. It is now known that Sarvis campaigned under a false flag and that he was actually financed by Obama fat cats, including a Soros front group. Cuccinelli pounded McAuliffe yesterday if recognizes that Sarvis’ 7% would have have gone to the GOP and that the Democrats won by committing a major fraud, funding a half-wit willing to stand as a faux Libertarian and suck off Cuccinelli’s victory margin. Given the Democrats are now led by the Bernie Madoff of American politics, it should be no surprise they would stoop to such a strategy. What is incredible is that GOP did not sniff out Obama’s Virginia strategy as soon as Sarvis filed as a candidate. And the GOP’s withdrawal of financial support for Cuccinelli was just plain dumb.
I am not, nor am I ever likely to be a registered Republican in this life or any other. I have voted Republican in recent years, often holding my nose while recognizing the Liberal alternative was always far worse. Over the decades, the establishment GOP stood for the country club set and the Democrats stood for corrupt labor unions, race hustlers and limousine Liberals, with very little to distinguish between the two groups once they were in Washington. Both parties bought their reelections with earmarks for their constituents and financial backers and built an enormous and unmanageable welfare state where none was needed. Big business played along with both sides of the aisle and won large no matter who was in the White House. Small business owners, who are what has built and sustained America’s powerful economy, and working citizens, got screwed by the Dems and the GOP consistently, but usually lacked the price of admission to benefit from Washington’s graft bonanza.
But times have now changed and seriously so. The Democrat Party has been reclaimed by the Collectivist/Socialist/Progressive movement that failed miserably in the first half of the 20th century and co-opted the proud name “Liberals,” with whom they shared no beliefs, in order to hide from their own policy disasters. Now “Liberal” polls badly, so the American Collectivist movement has returned to its original Progressive brand name. One suspects the Progressives under Our Dear Leader believe anyone who lived through their earlier failures is now dead or incapacitated, and that most Americans no longer care about or read history. What this means is that old back-scratching game the GOP played with their Democrat pals is now gone, as is the country club group that ran the party for so long. “Moderate Republicans” have no grit or willingness to confront the existential threat that Liberal/Progressivism under Obama poses to the American future. American Conservatives and libertarians are the only groups that have the intellectual rigor and intestinal fortitude to confront the enemies of the US Constitution and our Founders’ unique vision. These groups must forge a solid alliance, and assume the leadership of the national infrastructure that the GOP still enjoys. Third parties are losers and often spoilers in American elections, and that is an indisputable fact of our history. And there is no time for a new party to prevent the economic and social cataclysm that Barack Hussein Obama will usher in if he is permitted to complete his agenda. The time for this alliance was actually years ago, but impending disaster does tend to focus the mind, and this is a time for focus. CDE
I have lost whatever respect I once had for you. The bromance you are cultivating with Utah is sweet, but jeez, get a room already. 🙂
Don: If I say a cat is a dog, it doesn’t make it so. That is the Obama approach to reality. Sarvis was an Obama plant, funded by a Soros front group. Why the Virginia GOP did not shout that for a month is beyond me. It does clarify the point that in quite a few states libertarians will determine the winners. This is a fact the GOP must embrace and act on. Libertarians are the sworn enemies of the Collectivist Liberal/Progressives and that will never change. We need to be brought inside the GOP tent, since all the good ideas are ours already. CDE
http://www.lp.org/with-libertarian-sarvis-mission-accomplished