Recently, a professor and I had a brief conversation about politics, a tradition we’ve had in my time here. This professor has liberal political tendencies, while mine swing libertarian. We discussed an article about a possible alliance between left and libertarian politics, particularly focusing on statements made by Ralph Nader and Ron Paul at the Occupy Wall Street protests. I thought, “How is it possible that Ron Paul has anything in common with Ralph Nader?” As it turns out, they do agree on some key issues, in part because of mainstream Republican abandonment of their most important tenet: freedom.
Lefties and libertarians hold similar views regarding foreign policy, though many Green Party types tend to have a Marxist tinge, which makes them a bit different from market-loving libertarians. However, when it comes to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the left and libertarians understand that nation-building in the Middle East is coercive, expensive and dangerous.
During the 2000 elections, George W. Bush ran on the platform of decreasing American military intervention. True story. He followed up this promise with two extremely expensive and unconstitutional wars.
Many conservatives, historically, have opposed this kind of military involvement because it simply isn’t in our best interest to create alliances and enemies abroad. George Washington spoke of this in his farewell address, holding that America should avoid getting involved in foreign countries’ affairs, and instead should trade with all nations, establishing peaceful international relationships and making us safer and more prosperous. If that isn’t the antithesis of today’s foreign policy, then I don’t know what is. If Washington and Jefferson knew that the U.S. had military bases on every continent except Antarctica, they would be turning over in their graves. World police is not a proper role of any government, especially not ours, born out of independence from a government that wouldn’t let its colonists mind their own business.
When it comes to deficit spending and the Fed, both libertarians and progressives typically believe that corporatism, i.e., a mix of government and corporate interests, is a bad idea. Progressives blame corporations and banks first, government second, while libertarians blame the structure of government, advocating a separation of economy and state. Republicans should have more to say about the Federal Reserve, but at some point they stopped caring about government control of our monetary system and become far too concerned with fiscal policy.
While Ron Paul has been Fed-bashing his entire career, mainstream Republicans have rarely complained about the perils of an expanding money supply devaluing our currency. Nor have they complained about the fact that the Fed primarily protects the interests of banks over country. The Fed continues to take actions that benefit banks in the short run but hurt Americans in the long run. However, the problem continues to play a minor role in politics because prominent Republicans such as Michelle Bachmann are more concerned with the inane possibility that public schools are trying to turn children into homosexuals.
The Patriot Act is one of the most disgusting, reckless pieces of legislation in our nation’s history. It circumvents the Fourth Amendment and holds absolutely zero respect for U.S. citizens and their rights. Our government has a habit of declaring “war” on whatever it doesn’t like. Whether it’s the War on Poverty, War on Drugs or War on Terror, wars require sacrifice. One way to make sacrifice desirable is to declare something to be patriotic. It makes sacrifice seem honorable when in reality the only benefactor is the state. Sept. 11 was a deplorable act of terrorism, but it does not merit the government taking away our rights and calling it patriotic.
Alongside libertarians, progressives also work to protect the individual from state surveillance and unconstitutional searches and seizures. Unfortunately, the party of private property rights doesn’t care as much for civil liberties anymore. Democrats are no better, as Barack Obama continues to support the Patriot Act and the wars.
How pathetic is the GOP when the group of people that wants government to leave people alone as long as they don’t hurt others has more in common with progressives than mainstream Republicans? The GOP, in their attempt to appease social and neo-conservatives, has lost its grasp of what it means to value freedom.
