Republican vs Libertarian (The Elephant in the Room)
"Republicans and Libertarians share ground on some policies. They are, generally, both in favor of economic freedom, national defense, respect of property rights, and the right to bear arms. Clear issues of departure between the two groups arise when you begin discussing social issues, like drug legalization, abortion, and same-sex marriage. Republicans will advocate for the prohibition of these actions while Libertarians are in favor of a more 'you do you' stance."
From an economic standpoint, the libertarians and Republicans agree on many things. The main difference is that the Republicans believe in the regulation of drugs because they deem drugs as immoral. In the libertarian mind, we see the Republican desire to regulate morality as inconsistent with the desire for limited government and freedom. The government should be limited both morally and economically. The Republicans in one breath will say we should be allowed to defend ourselves with guns, and in the next breath say that the government should be able to keep somebody from marrying the same sex. It seems to be a little inconsistent to allow somebody the freedom of defending themselves but not the freedom to marry somebody of the same sex.
Libertarians are through and through about liberty whether morally or economically. We don't believe in giving people some freedoms and then taking away other freedoms. Just because we as individual citizens disagree with something morally does not mean that we think that the government shouldn't force or limit people from being able to do it. Will making same-sex marriage an illegal bring down the number of same-sex relationships, no not all? Will making drugs illegal stop anybody from partaking in drugs, not at all? The Republicans buy into the idea that if we regulate it from the government then the individual citizens will bow down and follow suit. The Republicans are sending mixed messages to people. They're saying you should be able to defend yourself from a tyrannical government but you should submit to the government when it says you are not allowed to have drugs.
I speak to you Republicans in this way because I want to plead to you logically that your view is inconsistent. I myself grew up a Republican, I am a third-generation Republican. My father and my father's father are both conservative Republicans. So when I speak to you I don't speak to you as a former enemy but a friend. I have a lot of respect for the Republican’s desire to defend our liberties, but I just think that the Republican Party has not gone far enough.
The Republican Party should not be able to tell the government they can't regulate the economy but then turn around and tell the government that they want them to regulate people's morality. We need to believe in the liberty of all kinds. Republicans have pretended that you can have a middle way, where you can give some liberties but not others, but I believe this is cherry-picking and subjective.
Tom Palmer puts it like this,
“Why be libertarian? It may sound glib, but a reasonable response is, Why not? Just as the burden of proof is on the one who accuses another of a crime, not on the one accused, the burden of proof is on the one who would deny liberty to another person, not the one who would exercise liberty.”
So I ask you Republicans why are you trying to take away other people's liberties? Why would you give people some liberties and not others? What makes the liberties that the Democrats want less valuable than the liberties that you want? Do you see that it's very subjective to whoever happens to be within power? Don't you think you're contradicting yourself by choosing some freedoms and not others?
This is the very thing I had to grapple with as a young man. I agreed with the Republican Party that we should have economic freedom and then I looked over at the Democratic Party and heard their arguments that their morality should not be regulated by the government. I came to realize it was just a fickle king of the hill back-and-forth between the two parties. The bipartisan set up never allows the two parties to make progress but instead creates enemies out of those who value different liberties.
We all should resonate with this quote,
"Beyond the small amount needed to fund a highly limited government, let no one forcibly take other people’s money. When in doubt, leave it out—or rather, leave it to the market and other voluntary institutions.”
So if we can agree that people's money shouldn't be taken from them, then why should their X product be taken away from them or why should the ability to express their love for another is taken away from them? Why are people free to spend their money on which hamburger they want to get but they're not free to partake in whatever drug they want? Why can people go to a doctor and buy the individual pieces of hard drugs that make the drugs but once they put them together they become illegal? It's very logically inconsistent to have such arbitrary laws like these.
America was originally founded by the freedom of church and state for this very reason. The government is not meant to come and establish one rule of morality over all the others. I can agree with you that I think that people should stay away from hard drugs and that homosexual marriage is immoral and against God’s design for marriage, but that's my individual belief as one citizen. I don't think that my individual believes should be put on to the rest of the country. Also just to be clear I have purposefully not dealt with the third part of the earlier quoted abortion because I will deal with that more fully in a later chapter specifically devoted to abortion being murder and thus inconsistent with libertarianism.
Tim Bankes II
Tim is a Christian author. His worldview that informs his writing is Calvinist, Baptist, and Libertarian. His main series is his Christian picture book series, "About God for Kids", where he discusses the attributes of God in a way kids can digest. He also wrote a Christian Romance novel, libertarian book for beginners, and Christian coloring books. He graduated with a Bachelor's in Biblical Studies from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
He has written a book on freedom called “Are You Free” (If you are into listening to books I have it in audio also, Are You Free Audiobook )and he has written multiple children’s books about God. Be Sure to check out the podcast version of the blog, Labor for Truth Podcast. And check out “The Truth About” Youtube Channel. You can find his works at his amazon author page, https://amazon.com/author/timbankes. He even has a free digital ebook on how God is the creator. Get your free copy today at, Greater Creator .Also If you are into Christian Fiction, he has made his first book in his Futuristic Christian Fiction series free, Her Dying Wish
Some of my other favorite books on these subjects that are great for beginners to the liberty movement are: