Libertarianism and the Usual Political Dichotomy

Last fall my daughter Kelley, who fashions herself a libertarian, was making an argument that liberals were close to being libertarians. Her position was a trifle disingenuous – she had made up her mind to support Obama and was trying to justify that decision. I responded to her that liberaltarianism may be valid in respect to social issues, but is a pure oxymoron it terms of economics.

My opinion on social liberalism has been changing. For instance, many liberals were shocked by the fact that Sarah Palin refused an abortion even after she knew that her fetus was going to be born severely handicapped. Apparently liberals are joining conservatives in denying personal decisions. Both sides seem to prefer that the government handles abortion choices, they just disagree on what form that interference should take. And they are both wrong - though the practice of mandated abortions seems more heinous than that of denied abortions.

Anyway, my mind isn’t totally made up about social liberalism. Liberals may yet see the light of personal freedom, just as conservatives are beginning to question the plethora of counter-effective rules they have imposed on businesses. A small, limited government in support of a mostly free economy is a good thing; each generation just has to decide where the line limiting governmental powers should be drawn. Anarchism and fascism are both bad ideas.

Part of my response to Kelley's argument is that fascism lives at the point on the circle where ultra-liberalism and far right conservatism become one. Isn’t it interesting that President Obama is borrowing money from future generations so he can give it to big business? It's just like Adolph Hitler - who in a rush to merge government and big business, sold Germany's future to fund his power grabs. Obama has every right to think that his ideas should have a bipartisan following in the U.S. government. Democrats like government and Republicans like big business. And hey, that same attitude worked out pretty successfully for several years for George W. Bush.

Yep ... Bush and Obama - the same guy doing the same things.