The Libertarian Approach - Essay Example

Political Theory- The Libertarian Approach Libertarianism is defined as an individual’s right to freedom, which is “the right to do whatever we want with the things we own provided we respect other people’s rights to do the same” (Sandel 60). This freedom applies to the right of personal ownership where an individual has the liberty to do what he prefers in relation to his property, body and beliefs. The libertarian approach opposes and denounces any government intervention in the private lives of individuals. Government’s roles in the private lives of citizens and their activities include enacting contracts, protecting people’s property from theft and keeping peace. Sandel states that “if the libertarian theory of rights is correct, then many activities of the modern state are illegitimate, and violations of liberty” (60). Libertarianism implies that individuals have the right to do whatever they desire with their bodies and property, but refrain from harming other people without their consent or destroying their property. The contemporary social institutions have enforced and implemented laws, regulations, values and policies that prohibit some of the liberties that the libertarian approach consider as the right. These institutions in the society include political, social and economic institutions. Social institutions govern individuals’ relationship and interaction with other people such as religious values, beliefs and customs. Political institutions implement laws and policies that prevent individuals from practicing unaccepted behavior while economic institutions deals with freedom in free markets. Libertarianism and Violation of Liberty According to Sandel (60), individuals have the right to ownership of their body and property. An individual has the right to consent to heinous acts such as cannibalism, scientific experimentations and assisted suicide. Cannibalism is defined as eating human flesh for the purpose of survival, experimentation or cultural beliefs. In the contemporary society, cannibalism is considered a crime punishable by serving a life sentence or death by lethal injection. However, there are people who want to experiment on the old customs of eating human flesh. There are two groups of people who participate in this agreement: the cannibals and the consenting adults who will be eaten. According to the libertarian approach, an adult who has the mental capacity to understand the experiment and know its consequences can consent to cannibalism. The society and the government must not intervene in such matters because people have the freedom and the right to make their own decisions about their bodies. The judicial system will be violating the rights of an individual to ownership by arresting and charging the individuals who participated in the acts of cannibalism or assisted suicide. Libertarian approach advocates for freedom to participate in leisure activities that do not cause harm to other people. Such leisure activities include consented pornography and prostitution. In the contemporary society, state laws and religious rules are enacted to prevent these unlawful acts. Watching and sharing pornography in schools, airplanes and other public areas are serious offenses that lead serving time in prison. Prostitution is illegal and shunned by religious groups. However, according to the libertarian approach, consenting to prostitution as a source of income is a person’s choice and preference. Women who consent to selling sexual favors can do so according to their desires and projected outcomes. Pornography and prostitution are victimless crimes that do not violate or hurt other people. According to the libertarian approach, charging individuals for performing the above acts in a court of law violates their liberty to ownership. In the U.S, a few states have legalized the use of marijuana as a medical drug or leisure drug. Other states refuse to legalize this drug because of the moral constraints associated with it. According to the libertarian model, consenting adults have the right and freedom to ingest any substance that does not harm other people. Marijuana is a relaxing drug that is illegal in most states in the U.S. Consumers have been arrested for smoking, selling and trafficking marijuana in the U.S. Abortion is a sensitive topic in the U.S because there were laws and regulation against it both in the legal and religious institutions. According to the libertarian approach, a woman has the right and freedom to abort a fetus for whatever reason she desires. Some reasons for abortion include medical complications, financial constraints, career opportunities, rape and lack of mental capacity to nurture a child. Women can allow abortion if they have a pressing career that lacks time for family creating. Most women and girls perform an abortion because of limited finances to nurture the child and rape cases. However, religious groups and the legal system do not allow women to perform abortion based on these facts. The state prefers paying for welfare costs for unplanned children, while the religious institutions contribute with limited resources in the form of charity. According to liberals, judging women both legally and religiously violates their liberties. Sexual deviation such as homosexuality, infidelity and prostitution and sex before marriage is considered promiscuous in the modern society by religious groups and other conservatives. Men and women exploring their sexuality beyond the normal accepted society norms are bombarded with constant ridicule and condemnation. According to Libertarians, these acts violate the rights and freedom of people to do whatever they desire. According to the libertarian approach, parents are obliged to nurture, protect and accommodate their children until they are independent. However, children are not obliged to care for their parents in old age or their siblings struggling with financial constraints. Many Americans institutionalize their parents in homes for the elderly and improve their living standards with their nuclear families. However, most cultures and religious values shun people who pay professionals to care for their old parents and leave their siblings to fend for themselves in the current knowledge-driven markets. Libertarians consider these condemnations from the public as acts that violate an individual’s liberties. Free markets are essential in the growth of the U.S economy and other foreign markets. According to the libertarian approach, buyers and sellers have freedom and the right to trade in goods and services of their preferences and satisfaction (Sandel 63). The government should not participate in regulating interests, tax or trade in the free markets. Government institutions should not over-borrow from the federal government leading to over-indebtedness and financial crises that affect all consumers and other economies. Citizens have the right to accumulate wealth through legal trade and enjoy the results of their efforts and talents. These wealthy citizens should not be over-taxed by the government with the intention of balancing the economy of the rich and the poor. Sandel suggest that over-taxing top earners and other billionaires to cater for the poor people through welfare is an inappropriate act of theft by the state because it violates the liberty of ownership of one’s talents and skills to fully enjoy the results of the work (65). Republicans Standpoint to Libertarianism As a republican, I support and defend the country’s fiscal liberty and denounce any form of the current government’s intervention in the overall economy. The only role of government is to control social and moral issues such as abortion, gay marriage, and legalizing marijuana among others. Libertarian republicans are inclined to fiscal conservatism because of freedom and the right to trade, accumulate wealth and protect the rights of investors in the market. Citizens will achieve desired economic success when the government does not interfere with free markets by raising taxes on the wealthy citizens, controlling trade activities and raising the debt ceiling due to large government spending to fix the budget deficit. a. Taxing the Wealthy Class The wealthy class in America is 2% of the total population. This class of individuals, organization and families rose beyond their limitations to become excellent leaders owning profitable organization that not only sell their products and services to consumers, but also increase employment opportunities and overall revenue of the country. The rich people in America reserve the right to own property and enjoy the outcomes of their hard work. Republican libertarians have the right and liberty to ownership, which means that they can expand their businesses and continue to make huge profits without government’s interference (Kuhnhenn par 3). The current tax increase policy by the government on the 2% wealthy Americans is violating their right to make profits and enjoy achieving their goals. Poor families and communities require money as an immediate remedy for lack of basic needs and employment opportunities, but not at the expense of hardworking people who multi-task in investment opportunities and use their personal funds in expanding their businesses. The government is interfering with the liberties of people to own wealth by distributing it to people who should be working hard to sustain their livelihood. Welfare should be eliminated because it creates lazy and opportunistic Americans at the expense of few wealthy citizens. Libertarians in the Republican Party demand the government to cut spending on welfare or completely block it to create investment opportunities that will create jobs for the unemployed in America. b. Budget Deficit and Debt Ceiling Republican libertarians advocate for the liberty of fiscal conservation. This implies that traditional economic policies and activities should be protected to prevent prolonged economic crises for future generations. The government spending should not surpass its revenues thus leading to a huge budget deficit (Kuhnhenn par 2). This financial condition creates room for debt with the federal government and other foreign markets. Over-indebtedness of the U.S government will lead to a prolonged recession that will cripple essential spheres of the U.S structure such as education, employment, national security, health and trade with other countries. The proverbial fact that if America catches fever, other developing economies sneeze is true because of the ripple effect a failed economy could impact on other foreign markets. The Congress is trying to prevent the current government from raising the debt ceiling because the State government has not devised economic plans to reduce the debt it already accumulated. The federal government pays for the budget deficit, which does not include any loan repayment methods. The debt incurred will continue soar in the next decade and impose problems on future generations, which will lead to government defaulting and failing. c. Entitlement Reforms and Trade Control The Republican Party advocates for extending the age of retirees in the next generation because of current longevity human aspect consequently increasing revenue (Goozner par 10). Raising the age limit for retirement in the U.S will enable the economy to balance and stabilize because people will work more years to improve their living standards and those of other citizens. The current government is sustaining the age limit for retirement, which does not conserve the economy of the country. d. Controlling trade Libertarian republicans reserve the liberty to control trade in free markets by eliminating government’s trade policies that hinder successful trade (Goozner par 4). Investors have the right and freedom to choose the goods and services that meet the demand of their clients. Consumer’s behavioral habits of buying certain goods will dictate the production and supply of goods. Investors have a liberty to set prices for their goods and services to gain profits. Government’s interventions not only affect the prices in the market, but also contribute to investors’ pessimism and lose confidence in solving problems in the free markets. According to the libertarian approach, controlling free markets by the state and federal governments violate the freedom of investors to exercise their rights in free trade to achieve set goals and objectives. e. Deregulation Libertarian republicans advocate for the freedom to ease the burden the current government imposes on manufacturing companies. Regulatory burden includes putting strict regulations on manufacturing companies because of their energy use and waste or emissions. Some of the strict regulations that cost manufacturers billions of dollars are passed down to consumers. The Congress should have veto power to control environmental issues by easing the strict regulatory measures (Goozner par 10). Manufacturing sector has the liberty to produce goods that will benefit consumers and accumulate profit. Conclusion The libertarian approach in social and economic spheres of the U.S advocate for the right to do whatever an individual wants by using one’s body, property and talent, but refraining from violating the liberties of other people. People have the freedom to decide the actions that satisfy their desires including consenting to cannibalism, assisted suicide, abortion, prostitution, free trade, fiscal conservation and victimless crime. However, as a libertarian republican, my liberty stems from economic issues rather than social and moral concerns, which are left for government intervention. Fiscal conservation is essential in the U.S because it advocates for economic excellence and prevents over-indebtedness of the U.S government to the federal government and other developing economies. Libertarian republicans prevent the president from raising the debt ceiling, assist in deregulation, and ease the government regulatory burden to manufacturers and controlling trade in free markets. Works Cited Goozner, Merrill. Tea Party, Libertarians Win Big in GOP Platform. The Fiscal Times. 23 Aug. 2012. Web. 7 Dec. 2012. Kuhnhenn, Jim. Debt Limit Gives GOP Leverage, Obama Demands Fix. AP, 6 Dec. 2012. Web. 7 Dec. 2012. Sandel, Michael J. Justice: What's the Right Thingto Do? New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009. Print. Read More