Not my best work...

My pre-election piece:


I despise politicians. Because they win a popularity contest they have the hubris to believe that they have the right to control our lives, limit our liberty, and take away our property.

That’s why I’m voting straight-ticket for the Libertarian Party this election, including a vote for presidential candidate Michael Badnarik. Badnarik is not a career politician; he’s an ordinary citizen who is fed up with what the government is doing to this country. Unlike the politicians running for office, Badnarik promises to respect the right of every citizen to make decisions for his own life, to enjoy the fruits of his labor, and to live in freedom.

Badnarik offers a refreshing change from the major party candidates. Unlike the Republicrats, Libertarians believe that tax money does not belong to the state, but to the people who earned it. Thus Libertarians seek to drastically reduce the size of the federal government by limiting its function to its constitutional responsibilities then returning the money saved back to the people.

In contrast, under the Bush administration non-defense spending has grown by 25%, the fastest growth in over 30 years. The response from the Kerry campaign has been to call for even greater increases totaling trillions of dollars. Both candidates have promised to increase spending, cut taxes, and balance the budget, something that is physically impossible. There is only one word for such promises; they’re called “lies”.

Unlike President Bush, Badnarik knows he is not god. He believes that marriage is a legal contract and a spiritual promise between adults, something that no mortal man has a right to interfere with. Instead of discriminating against unpopular minority groups for political advantage, Badnarik will uphold the American promise of freedom for every individual.

Unlike Senator Kerry, Badnarik knows he cannot avoid economic reality. The Social Security system has $26 trillion in unfunded liabilities, a burden our generation will have to bear. Instead of addressing the issue, the Kerry campaign has avoided it, inviting economic disaster. The younger generation has no choice but to vote for candidates like Badnarik who seek to privatize the system.

Four more years of either Bush or Kerry is unacceptable. Both will continue to spill American blood and fortune upon the desert sands of the Middle East while curtailing our civil liberties at home. However, as Commander-in-Chief Michael Badnarik would pursue a foreign policy of peace while preserving civil liberties. A Libertarian America would seek friendship and trade with all nations, but entangling alliances with none.

As Americans, freedom is our birthright. It is enshrined in the highest law of the land, our Constitution, which protects the rights of the individual against the power of government. If we wish to hold on to the free republic we have been given, we must vote candidates into office which respect our rights and will uphold the Constitution. The Libertarian Party is our only choice for a free, peaceful, and tolerant America.

Anti-War op-ed week of October 3rd

The purpose of waging war is so that we may live in peace. Our lives do not derive meaning from bloodshed and conflict, but rather from achieving our life goals and advancing the human race.

War is only justified when peaceful coexistence is not possible. One case is when another party brings war to us, such as at Pearl Harbor. In the face of a belligerent enemy peace is not an option. A second case is when another party makes life intolerable, such as the Revolutionary War. When we are reduced to servitude to unchosen masters, it is better to die as free men than to live as slaves.

War is rarely justified, and it is less often wise. The costs of war are horrific. Billions of dollars of goods that would have been used for productive purposes are instead used to make implements of death. Capital, that marvelous thing that raises our wages and standard of living, is burned in the conflagration. Most tragically of all, the cost of war is measured in human lives, including innocent civilians.

Unfortunately mainstream politicians do not treat the choice of going to war as the weighty decision it is. Rather than resorting to violence only for the noblest purposes, they have sanctioned the use of force wherever “American interests” may benefit. Worse still, both major parties now support the doctrine of preemptive war, ensuring that peace will exist only as a temporary and fragile thing in this millennium.

Although the position of our leaders is deplorable, it is not surprising. War is the health of the state. With a fearful electorate politicians are able to roll back pesky economic and civil liberties that limit their power. In times of crisis the federal government metastasizes and never returns to its pre-crisis size. Also, war lets politicians play the hero; history classes regard wartime monsters as some of America’s greatest presidents.

The War on Terror continues an unbroken chain of American aggression dating back a century. As an open-ended war on an abstract concept, it is a license for perpetual conflict. Any political opponent of the United States may be branded a “terrorist regime”. We have long ago lost sight of the true terrorist: Osama bin-Laden. We have also lost sight of the end goal of peace.

As the major party debates continue, the voice of peace is silenced. What we don’t hear is Libertarian nominee Michael Badnarik promising to withdraw American troops from the 150 countries where they are stationed around the globe and to stop intervening in local governments which has made America the target of terrorist groups. While Libertarians would fight to the last man defending our nation, they would not spill a drop of blood nor spend a single dollar on unprovoked aggression.

When the mainstream has abandoned lovers of peace, lovers of peace should abandon the mainstream. When the major parties offer us a choice between war and more war, we should choose neither. We should choose Libertarian.