The Disgruntled Libertarian Shrugs
Today, I am a disgruntled libertarian. Oh, don’t get me wrong. I knew that the presidential election was sure to disappoint me either today (in the case of a Bush victory) or a few months from now (in the case of a Kerry victory). Truth be told, I really don’t care about the presidential race overmuch. Nonetheless, I have had a real pisser of a day today based solely on the horrors of the 2004 elections.
Eleven states passed constitutional amendments prohibiting gay marriage. They have used the power of government to ban certain contracts based solely on a personal attribute of the parties entering into said contract. Millions of born-again Christians(1) apparently have forgotten all about the lions and the crucifixions and have opted to start persecution of their own variety once attaining political power. I have no desire to air my family’s dirty laundry, but believe me when I assure you that if anyone had a legitimate reason to distrust homosexual folks, it’s most certainly me. You know what though? I’ve decided that it’s more important to me to put aside my own scarring experiences in favor of a true Christianity that seeks to love others, spread hope, and generally shun being a royal asshole(2).
Alaska voted down a chance for marijuana legalization. While I’ve never used pot (or even smoked a tobacco cigarette for that matter), I recognize the government’s War on Drugs as a miserable failure that has drained our tax coffers and severely damaged our civil liberties.
Here in Florida, we voted for a minimum wage hike of a dollar over the Federal mandate. Furthermore, our new constitutionally-mandated minimum wage is raised every year to match inflation. Small businesses like the locally-owned grocery store where I got my first high school job simply won’t be able to hire as many folks or provide as many hours to the folks they do hire. I strongly disagree with the assertion that the minimum wage should be a “living wage”. I’m of the firm opinion that you shouldn’t be having children if you’re only earning minimum wage. Perhaps you could take advantage of the billions of dollars in federal education spending to teach yourself a skill that will actually earn you enough to live(3). In fact, the only amendment that didn’t pass here in Florida was an amendment authorizing local officials to tax slot machines in specified venues. What happened? Well, the folks who came out in droves to vote for Bush saw the vice of gambling and voted no in the name of Jesus(4).
Libertarians running in my local area didn’t do so hot either. I am deeply annoyed that people somehow feel more comfortable voting for a Democrat or a Republican even though they haven’t bothered to research any of the candidates. I understand that if the Libertarians can ever hope to make a difference at the top levels of the Federal government, we simply have to start winning at the local level. I equally understand that a controversial presidential election with record (partisan) voter turnout isn’t exactly the best time for a Libertarian to get voted into office, but it’s nonetheless disheartening.
The whole election left me with a sense of hopelessness to be honest. If you’re a socialist, there’s all sorts of wonderful countries you can run to that embrace your political ideals to varying degrees. If you want to live in a theocracy, there’s several options that might fit the bill. What do you do if you’re a liberty-minded individual who wants people to leave you alone? What if you dream of a world where anyone can buy a gun and yet gay people can also get married if they choose to? What if you want smaller, less intrusive government that collects fewer taxes from you with absolutely no income tax/withholding?
I have this nearly uncontrollable urge to move to New Hampshire.
Footnotes
- A category which I consider myself a part of by the way.
- I really ought to write an article about being a Christian Buddhist sometime.
- While I personally have compassion and want to help every single person that’s having trouble, I strongly resist the notion that government is the conduit for that assistance. If you’re hungry and no one will help you, dammit, come to me and I’ll buy you dinner. I’ll try to help you find a better job. I’ll help you study for a GED. I just think that the decision to help should be my personal choice. Enforced morality is worthless. If you only do good out of fear or complacency, then your good deeds are barren and empty.
- On Thursday, November 5, it turned out that the gambling amendment did end up passing because a computer program in Broward county ended up skewing the vote count after reaching an arbitrary ceiling of 32,000 votes. Upon reaching that figure, the program began decrementing the tally. I consider the passage of this amendment to be a vaguely positive thing, but it does nothing overall to stem my election-induced bitterness.