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Consequences vs. rights

Milton Friedman defined consequentialist libertarianism as a philosophy that advocates "the least intrusive government consistent with the maximum freedom for each individual as long as he does not interfere with individuals pursuing their own freedom."^[1] Where rights-theorist libertarians oppose all intrusion by government, if they support the existence of a state at all, consequentialists libertarians accept limited government interventions that they consider needed to maximize liberty. They support the levying of a limited amount of involuntary taxes to provide some public goods such as defense, law, and roads, as well as some minimal positive regulation (these are also sometimes called classical liberals). Anarcho-capitalist libertarians, on the other hand, believe that a free market can adequately provide these functions via private defense agencies, arbitration agencies, toll roads, and the like. Milton Friedman (July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist and public intellectual who made major contributions to the fields of macroeconomics, microeconomics, economic history and statistics while advocating laissez-faire capitalism. ... Classical liberalism is a political and economic philosophy, originally founded on the Enlightenment tradition - established by thinkers such as Adam Smith -, as well as on the tradition of a Nordic school of liberalism even slightly before that, set in motion by a Finnish parlamentarian Anders Chydenius. ... A free market is an idealized market, where all economic decisions and actions by individuals regarding transfer of money, goods, and services are voluntary, and are therefore devoid of coercion and theft (some definitions of coercion are inclusive of theft). Colloquially and loosely, a free market economy is an economy... A private defense agency (PDA) is a hypothetical agency that provides defense voluntarily through the free market. ... Arbitration is a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, wherein the parties to a dispute refer it to one or more persons (the arbitrators or arbitral tribunal), by whose decision (the award) they agree to be bound. ... A toll road, tollway, turnpike, pike or tollpike is a road on which a toll authority collects a toll (i. ...

Capitalism

Most libertarians support deregulation and free trade because they believe that people should be able to start and grow businesses, manufacture, transport, trade, buy, and sell with little to no interference from the government. Some may support efforts to limit private monopolies. Some libertarians like Milton Friedman prefer market reforms like school vouchers to the status quo while others like Lew Rockwell see such programs as a threat to private industry and as a covert means of expanding government, and instead would abolish tax-funded schools altogether.^[2]. Many left-libertarians define 'capitalism' in the Marxian sense of state capitalism, and therefore oppose it. Deregulation is the process by which governments remove, reduce, or simplify restrictions on business and individuals in order to (in theory) encourage the efficient operation of markets. ... Free trade is an economic concept referring to the selling of products between countries without tariffs or other trade barriers. ... Historically, the term business referred to activities or interests. ... Milton Friedman (July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist and public intellectual who made major contributions to the fields of macroeconomics, microeconomics, economic history and statistics while advocating laissez-faire capitalism. ... An education voucher, commonly called a school voucher, is a certificate by which parents are given the ability to pay for the education of their children at a school of their choice, rather than the public school to which they were assigned. ... Lew Rockwell Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. ... Historically, the term libertarianism was coined by the classical anarchist movement to describe their own, anti-statist version of socialism, as contrasted with the state socialism implemented by Leninist regimes. ... Marxian economics refers to a body of economic thought stemming from the work of Karl Marx. ... There are multiple definitions of the term state capitalism. ...

Taxation

Some libertarians believe that logical consistency to fundamental libertarian maxims (non aggression, individual rights)^[3] allows no taxation at all or tax resistance,^[4] while proponents of limited government might support low taxes, arguing that a society with no taxation would have difficulty providing public goods such as crime prevention. A tax resister resists or refuses payment of a tax because of opposition to the institution collecting the tax, or to some of that institution’s policies. ... In economics, a public good is a good that is hard or even impossible to produce for private profit, because the market fails to account for its large beneficial externalities. ... Crime prevention is a term describing techniques used in deterring crime and criminals. ...

Political alliances

Main article: Libertarian perspectives on political alliances

Most libertarians ally politically with modern conservatives over economic issues and gun laws (but for a libertarian defense of gun control [1], while they are more prone to ally with liberals on other social policies. Foreign policy is a hotly debated issue among libertarians, because most libertarians oppose wars, against conservative wishes, but also oppose the United Nations, against liberal wishes. Some ally with isolationist, religious paleoconservatives, despite sharp disagreement on economic and social issues. Others refuse to ally with any political party other than their own and will never vote for a mainstream candidate. Many voting libertarians typically will only vote for a candidate that is philosophically libertarian, a good example of which in the U.S. is congressman Ron Paul (TX-R-14). Those that choose to vote for whichever main party matches their goals and ideals are called small-l libertarians (l) or "philosophical libertarians" because they are more willing to compromise to advance individual liberty. In the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, a few "small-l libertarians" advocated Howard Dean for President in the primaries because of his belief in gun rights and his moderate approval of free trade. Several philosophical libertarians voted for George W. Bush fearing John Kerry would be even less in favor of free trade than Bush; and others voted for Bush because of the Republican party's claim to be the party of smaller government. Some philosophical libertarians voted for John Kerry, mostly as a protest vote against Bush, because of Bush's failure to restrain federal spending. A greater number of philosophical libertarians either abstained from voting entirely or voted for the 2004 Libertarian Presidential Candidate, Michael Badnarik believing both major party choices in 2004 were opposed to fundamental Libertarian tenets. Libertarian perspectives on political alliances vary greatly, with controversies among libertarians as to which alliances are acceptable or useful to the movement. ... The foundation of the U.N. The United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate co-operation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress and human rights issues. ... Isolationism is a foreign policy which combines a non-interventionist military and a political policy of economic nationalism (protectionism). ... Various Religious symbols, including (first row) Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Bahai, (second row) Islamic, tribal, Taoist, Shinto (third row) Buddhist, Sikh, Hindu, Jain, (fourth row) Ayyavazhi, Triple Goddess, Maltese cross, pre-Christian Slavonic Religion is the adherence to codified beliefs and rituals that generally involve a faith in a spiritual... Paleoconservatism (sometimes shortened to paleo or paleocon when the context is clear) is an anti-communist, anti-authoritarian[1] right wing movement based primarily in the United States that stresses tradition, civil society and classical federalism, along with familial, religious, regional, national and Western identity. ... Ronald Ernest “Ron” Paul (born 20 August 1935) is an American physician, congressman and presidential candidate from the U.S. state of Texas. ... Presidential electoral votes by state. ... Howard Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American politician and physician from the U.S. state of Vermont. ... Badnarik campaigning in July 2004. ...

Intellectual property

Main article: Libertarian perspectives on intellectual property

Some libertarians believe that property rights in ideas (and other intangibles) should be identical to property rights in physical goods, as they see both justified by natural rights. Others justify intellectual property for utilitarian reasons. They argue that intellectual property rights are required to maximize innovation. Still others believe that "intellectual property" is a euphemism for intellectual protectionism and should be abolished altogether. One question that divides libertarians is the legitimacy (or lack thereof) of privileges such as copyright, patent, and trademark — those usually subsumed under the rubric of intellectual property. Many libertarians, particularly those unaware of online politics, dont have a strong opinion on the topic. ... For the 2006 film, see Intellectual Property (movie). ... Intellectual Protectionism is a term used in critique of intellectual property legislation. ...

Immigration

Main article: Libertarian perspectives on immigration

Libertarians of the Natural Law variety generally support freedom of movement, but other libertarians argue that open borders amount to legalized trespassing. The debate often centers on self-ownership of bodies and whether we have the freedom to hire anyone without the federal government's permission. Other times, the debate centers on immigrants abusing tax-funded government resources. "Consequentialist libertarians" may decide the issue in terms of what is best for the economy. Ideally for a libertarian, there would be minimal government involvement in various social programs, thus virtually no increased tax burden of immigration. For libertarians, immigration can be a controversial question. ...

Abortion

Main article: Libertarian perspectives on abortion

A controversy is the role of the state in regulating abortion, if it is in fact unethical. In the United States, some on both sides of this debate agree that this should be settled by the states rather than the federal government, arguing that Roe v. Wade violated traditional state self-police powers. American libertarians who are not states-rights advocates, on the other hand, prefer for the issue to be settled at whatever level of government will reach the best decision. A significant number of libertarians (including many in the Mises Institute) view abortion to be an initiation of force against the fetus and therefore wrong, while other libertarians view the fetus's early stages of development to be under the control of the female or individual(s) bearing responsibility for its development. Some anarcho-capitalists, including Lew Rockwell and Joe Sobran, oppose both abortion and the centralizing Roe v. Wade decision. A uniquely controversial issue, particularly in American politics, is abortion. ... Holding Texas law making it a crime to assist a woman to get an abortion violated her due process rights. ... The Ludwig von Mises Institute is a foundation, based in Auburn, Alabama, dedicated to research on economics and political economy. ... Lew Rockwell Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. ... Joseph Sobran is an American Catholic writer and conservative anarchist who has written extensively on American politics and culture. ...

Death Penalty

Main article: Libertarian perspectives on the death penalty

Some libertarians support the death penalty on self-defense or retributive justice grounds. Others see it as an excessive abuse of state power. Many consitutionalist libertarians disavow the death penalty for its irreversible nature, as well as its perceived conflict with the Bill of Rights' ban on "cruel and unusual punishment." Some libertarians believe that death penalty is an extreme exertion of state power and is of little use in a free society, and it is of great use to a tyrannical government. ... Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted criminal by the state as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes or capital offences. ... Self defense refers to actions taken by a person to defend onself, ones property or ones home. ... It has been suggested that Proportional justice be merged into this article or section. ...

Foreign Intervention

Main article: Libertarian perspectives on foreign intervention

Most libertarians oppose and are suspicious of government intervention in the affairs of other countries, especially violent intervention. Others (such as those influenced by Objectivism) argue that intervention is not unethical when a foreign government is abusing the rights of its citizens but whether a nation should intervene depends on its own self-interest. Libertarians advocating foreign intervention are typically known as "Liberventionists". This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

Gay Rights

Main article: Libertarian perspectives on gay rights

Libertarians believe that adults have a right to choose their own lifestyle or sexual preference, provided that such expression does not trample on the same freedom of other people to choose their own sexual preference or religious freedom. The philosophically pure libertarian answer is to treat all marriage contracts as legal contracts only, and to require that the terms of the marriage are spelled out clearly in the contract, allowing any number of legal adults to marry under any conditions that are legally enforceable, thus ending the implicit government-endorsement of all marriage contracts, including heterosexual ones. If the state no longer endorses only certain marriages as legitimate, there is no inequality; and gays, lesbians, polygamists, etc. can all draw up their own private legal contracts, just the same as heterosexuals could. Currently, the State assumes that heterosexuals who did not draw up pre-nuptial agreements entered into a commonly-recognized Christian ritual union that entitles the united parties to the use of the State's legal system as a means of filing a record of their marriage and of resolving disputes. Many libertarians advocate the concept that there can be no such thing as a just separation of people into differing status groups under the law, so the current definition of marriage must include all those who wish to marry, with the later goal of eliminating this increased role of government in marriage entirely. The libertarian perspective on gay rights has been a topic of debate among libertarians, especially in the United States. ...

Inheritance

Main article: Libertarian perspectives on inheritance

Libertarians may disagree over what to do in absence of a will or contract in the event of death, and over posthumous property rights. In the event of a contract, the contract is enforced according to the property owner's wishes. Typically, libertarians believe that any unwilled property goes to remaining living relatives, and ideally, none of the property goes to the government in such a case. Many libertarians advocate the establishments of trusts to avoid taxation of property at the time of death. Most libertarians believe individuals should have complete freedom of determination of their propertys fate after death (once all open contracts have been settled). ...

Natural Resources

Main article: Libertarian perspectives on natural resources

Some libertarians, (such as free market environmentalists and objectivists) believe that environmental damage is a result of state ownership and mismanagement of natural resources and believe that private ownership of all natural resources will result in a better environment, as a private owner of property will have more incentive to ensure the longer term value of the property. Others, such as geolibertarians, believe that such resources (especially land) cannot be considered property. Libertarian controversy regarding natural resources, (especially land). ... Free market environmentalism is an theory that argues the free market is the best tool to preserve the health and sustainability of the environment. ... Objectivism is the philosophical system developed by Russian-American philosopher and writer Ayn Rand. ... It has been suggested that Tyranny of the Commons be merged into this article or section. ... Geolibertarianism (also geoanarchism) is a liberal political philosophy that holds along with other forms of libertarian individualism that each individual has an exclusive right to the fruits of his or her labor, as opposed to this product being owned collectively by society or the community. ...

Footnotes

References