You might hate political parties. You might hate politics. Or maybe you want to get involved but you don't feel that you belong on the right or the left. November is going to be here faster than you can say the word "vote," and you're not sure if you should vote for the lesser of two evils, (whomever you deem that to be) or just not vote at all.
Good news! You don't have to do either.
"You mean to tell me there's a third option?" Yes. That's exactly what I'm telling you, and it's called the Libertarian way.
In American politics, we are only used to seeing the never ending battle between the Elephants, and the Donkeys. Both parties have been lacking the ability to compromise, exhausting millions of Americans who don't stand on the right, or the left. But somewhere in the middle.
Come this November, you don't have to choose between the Elephant or the Ass. (No offensive slur intended.) You have the option of choosing the Porcupine. Also known as The Libertarian symbol. And in this particular election, candidate Gary Johnson, the Governor of New Mexico.
You're probably wondering "What even is a Libertarian? That's a party?" Yes it is, and many Americans stand on this platform and don't even realize it because they don't know what Libertarianism is. And that's why I'm here to talk about it. But first, to answer the question that's floating in the back of your mind right now, "But why a porcupine?" The Libertarian party chose the porcupine as their symbol because it's a small, but defensive animal that doesn't harm anything or anyone that leaves it alone.
"So, what is this Libertarianism?"
Like other political parties, there are several sects of Libertarianism that stemmed from different schools of thought. However, as a broad, casual introduction, we're just going to cover the main overarching ideas that the Libertarian party is founded upon.
Libertarian ideology holds individual liberties above everything else. This holds true for not only social issues, but economic issues as well. Libertarian philosophies grew from the roots of classical liberalism. This evolving political viewpoint strives to maximize freedom of choice both socially and economically and minimize government intrusion in both of these areas as well.
Libertarians aren't exactly "anti-government," but believe that the sole purpose of the government is to protect individual liberties by not interfering with their lives and making sure people aren't interfering with each other's lives.
Often times, Libertarianism is described as "socially liberal, but fiscally conservative." In a sense, this is true. Meaning that, Libertarians stand on the left side of the spectrum when it comes to social issues with the belief that the government has no right to dictate what individuals do with their lives. For example, Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson claims to be "pro life" at heart, but recognizes the idea that the government doesn't belong in an individual's personal life, ultimately making him "pro choice" of individual freedom, keeping his own "morals" to himself, and acknowledging that his morals might not be another person's morals.
Being advocates of ultimate liberty, Libertarians put their money where their mouth is here. Libertarian ideology strives for economic freedom as well. This means that they tend to be strong supporters of "laissez faire" (free market), capitalism and property rights in land, infrastructure and natural resources. Freedom is being given to individuals by allowing the people (private entities) to control the market (services, goods, wages, flow of money, etc.) and land of the country rather than the government.
Libertarianism might be something you agree with, or strongly disagree with. And that's okay. Do some personal research before deciding how you feel about it. You can love it or hate it, and that's the beauty of this country. It's just important to know what it is and that it is another option this November.
