I remember many years ago at work discussing politics. I happened to mention that I was a Libertarian and this revalation was met with blank looks. If you tell people that you are a conservative/labour/lib dem they know at a rough guess what you support. The conservatives are for business and people who want to better themselves added to a smigeon of lower taxes, labour is the party of the working man (or was until the 10 tax band fiasco) and tax and spend on your behalf and the lib dems stand for high tax and spend but with a bit of social freedom.
Having said that, these are only the publics perceptions. In truth there is really not much to differenciate the three as they struggle for the middle ground.
But lets get back to libertarianism. I could for example, delve into the ideological but this would lead an audience of the general public to sleep as most are actively uninterested in polictical ideology. Indeed I have learnt the hard way that I can’t just extol the virtues of the maximum amount of personal freedom and expect to be understood. Instead, people are interested in ‘what’s in it for them’.
Therefore, in order to teach people the tremendous benefits in a way which they will be receptive too, lets detail some of the Libertarian Parties policies.
1. Total abolition of Income Tax. Someone on the minimum wage of £12,000 a year pays £108 a month in income tax and someone on the median average of £19,500 pays £234 a month income tax. Everybody benefits from the abolition of income tax, there are no losers and no other taxes need to rise in compensation because the amount of state spending is reduced. Most people will be amazed to discover that state spending is so extravagent and wastefull that by merely abolishing all the unnecessary things that the state pays for that income tax can be totally abolished without affecting the NHS, pensions, child benefit, dole money, incapacity benefit or education to the age of 18.
Don’t believe me, see here for some of the details using offical govt figures. Simply stopping govt spending on unnecessary things allows the abolition of income tax. All right, it does mean no foreign aid or free museums but even the most poorly paid individual has an extra £108 a month. You, the voter, want foreign aid? Pay for it yourself with your £108 a month and get to choose eexactly which charity you want to support. Want to take your children to the Science museum? You have an extra £108 a month with which to indulge them. By taxing you less, we increase your freedom to spend your money in the way that is best for you, not how some faceless beaurucrat or self serving politician thinks you should.
2. Stopping the “nanny state”. Do you feel hectored by politicians and just wish they would stop their moralising and butt out of your life. Drug use, prostitution and smoking by consenting adults don’t hurt society and therefore shouldn’t be considered as crimes. They only harm society now because they are illegal, remove the illegality and they can be regulated like any other activity. Crime would plummet. When prohibition was repelled in America, the bootleggers couldn’t compete with off-licences and therefore had to go back to lawful ways of making money and paying tax and public drunkenness didn’t alter either. As for prostitution, lets make it legal and tax it. No more red light districts or the crime that they bring.
Yet the “nanny state” doesn’t just outlaw things, it also tries to alter behaviour by excruicatingly high levels of taxation. Tobacco tax raises £8bn a year for the treasury and smoking costs the NHS about £2bn. Why should those addicted to ciggarettes face confiscatory levels of taxation merely because the authoritarians in society don’t like other people smoking. Are you worried about the cost of petrol? The politicians want other people to drive less so have jacked up the tax to eye wateringly high levels. Next time you fill up your car realise that 70 pence per litre is taxation. Libertarians are happy to let consenting adults do what consenting adults want to without moralising about it and this extends to to not using taxation as a weapon against people to get them to change their behaviour.
3. Returning control with education vouchers and allowing self defence. Many people nowadays feel that they are losing control of their own lives as an overbearing state regulates just what they can and can’t do. Anybody who fails foul of one of these numerous new laws faces a hefty fine and a criminal record like the man whose dustbin lid wouldn’t close properly as it’s only emptied once a fortnight on EU orders. Worried about your childrens education and unconvined about the bearucrats platitudes as they won’t allow failing schools to close and good schools to expand. Isn’t it amasing just how many labour MP’s send their children to private schools yet do nothing about the failing state sector. Proper education vouchers where the money follows the child and people are free to club together and set up a new school without any state intereference is Libertarian policy here. If the state school isn’t good enough, you now have £4,500 with which to send your child eslewhere or even club together with other parents and start a new school.
Concerned over crime? Libertarians would make Chief Constables face election which would force them to takes ordinary peoples views into account other wise they would lose their jobs. There would soon be more bobbies on the beat dealing with burglars rapists and muggers and less doing admin or thinking about irrelevant nonsense like ‘equal opportunities for gay and lesbians’ and ‘hate crimes’. Libertarians would also allow the law abiding the ability for self defence without the fear of being arrested for protecting your family from hooligans and burglars. The law abiding should have the choice of using one of the most suitable weapons available for defending their homes, we would repel the pistol ban which does nothing more than disarm the lawful whislt allowing the criminals free reign.
These three things, high taxation, the nanny state and loss of control, and their libertarian counterparts sum up to me what libertarianism is all about and this is easy to understand for the average voter.
For more details on the Libertarian Parety and their manifesto go here.
