Once upon a time, the GOP was a party founded upon the ideas of Classical Liberalism. The free market, civil liberties and a small government kept under close scrutiny were the holy virtues it upheld. This was a long time ago, before the needs of the State outweighed the rights of private citizens, their property, and ideas. No one is quite sure what happened, perhaps an evil curse fell upon the land, but one day the freedom loving Republican Party become a hideous monster, bending the knee to large corporate interests and betraying the thing it once loved so dearly: the Individual. Despite knowing all of this, Republican voters kept voting for Republican candidates, and nothing ever changed,
The End.
Jump forward to the 2016 Presidential primaries, and the candidates on the ballot seemed more like James Bond villains than electable candidates. Not once, in any of the debates, did you hear a single candidate profess their loyalty to anything resembling laissez-faire economics, the life-blood and foundation of any society that values freedom for the individual. Despite claiming to love freedom, they all promoted policies that limited it in the same breath. Donald Trump supports imminent domain, preventing private businesses from outsourcing jobs to foreign countries, banning Muslims from entering the country, and many other liberty crushing policies. Ted Cruz rambled on about Christian values in our Government, as if Secularism and Seperation of Church and State are non-existent concepts. Ben Carson and Marco Rubio both seemed to lack any coherence, and Rand Paul, despite promoting many liberty centric policies, chose to remain loyal to his party instead of the values it has discarded.
Are you a Republican Voter disillusioned with the direction your party has gone in? Refusing to vote for Trump? I don't blame you at all. You may already be aware of the third option, or perhaps you have never heard of it. Maybe, you know about the Libertarian Party but your knowledge ends at the fact we always lose. Regardless of your current knowledge, opinion and standing with Libertarianism, I encourage you to read on, because the LP is ready to welcome you with open arms.
Here are ten reasons why you should give us a chance:
1. Libertarians Defend Free-Markets
They do so with a fierce dedication to Austrian economics and an uncompromising laissez-faire attitude.
2. We oppose Government spending every chance we get.
The Libertarian understands that the private alternative always works better than any publicly funded alternative.
3. Low Taxes
As a result of minimal government spending, all Libertarians oppose unnecessary taxation. Some advocate for a flat income tax rate across the board, while others believe in abolishing all taxation aside from sales tax and abolishing the IRS all together.
4. Non-Interventionism
Many Libertarians are students of history, and understand that destabilizing foreign governments who pose no immediate threat to us only serves to further create more chaos in the invaded regions, at the cost of our countrymen and women's lives. With this in mind, we believe our nation should maintain a small military to defend our borders and withdrawal from the 662 overseas bases in operation and cut the careless amount of taxpayer money funneled into the military each year. This ultimately frees up the market and leaves more money in the pockets of American citizens.
5. Your Right To Bear Arms
Libertarians see an individuals right to own property and protect that property from those who would harm it as a universal human right. We stand opposed to gun control measures that only serve to create more victims, not save lives.
6. Your Civil Liberties Are Safe With Us
As a rule of thumb, what individuals do in the privacy of their own property is no business to their neighbors nor their government. From defending privacy rights from mass surveillance to protecting the theft of property by opposing imminent domain, Libertarians keep the smallest minority on Earth in mind: You.
7. No Victim, No Crime
Did you know that tax payers spend $80 billion a year on prisons? Also, did you know that the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world? While there certainly are people who are a danger to the public behind these bars, 86 percent of these people are imprisoned for non violent, victimless crimes. These include drug offenses, prostitution, gambling and any other act that occurs between consenting adults but results in the harm of no victim. Libertarians no justice in imprisoning individuals who do not harm property nor persons.
8. Constitutionalism
The Libertarian believes that the United States constitution outlines the ideal infrastructure for a free society, and seeks to defend those tenets and empower individuals.
9. Separation of Church and State
The Libertarian recognizes the religious diversity of his country, and seeks to maintain the religious freedoms of all by keeping the government out of churches, mosques, and temples. Never will we endorse the passing of laws empowering or oppressing religious organizations.
10. Most Importantly, We Say NO TO THE CORPORATE INTERESTS
That means no to government bailouts, no to the lobbyists, no to the Super PACS, and NO TO CENTRAL BANKS. A free society means no special privileges for the wealthy.
Those are the ten reasons that Republicans could thrive within our party, and being the third largest party in the country, we are very close to rising to a prominent location in the American political theater. All it will take to bring us another step closer to recognizing our goals of free markets and free people is the help of those who believe in those very practical ideals. We want you!
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." - Thomas Jefferson
