Socialist Libertarianism: A Manifesto

Posted on July 20, 2004 in Liberty Social Justice

It’s politics Tuesday!

I am often asked “What is a socialist libertarian?” Due to the spectacular efforts of Randenoids at confounding true libertarianism with fascist ideals of physical prowess and blind obedience of the masses to their chosen leaders, many people now believe that libertarianism is just another form of authoritarian capitalism. Libertarianism is never authoritarian by nature: it is inclusive. Perhaps one of the best examples of libertarian practice is the Quaker Meeting where no decisions are made without the consent of every member. Our contemporary society — where the government actively strives to prevent the voices of 1.9 million voters from being expressed — does not qualify as Libertarian or even Pluralist. It arrives at decisions through subterfuge and the repression of individual rights.

Socialist libertarianism, as I believe in it, holds first and foremost that the principal role of Government is to safeguard the civil rights of its citizens. It does not seek to entirely level the economic playing field, but it does assure that no person gets more of a voice in elections or public forums or legislatures than any other person. It strives to promote active discussion of issues on the airwaves (which are a public commons) and access to public forums by all citizens. Unlike LIEbertarianism, it does not support a false liberty which is nothing more than an apologetic for oligarchy. The purpose of liberty is to put the power of putting checks on government and on in each not in the hands of the wealthy, but in the hands of all the people. It is sharing of power and responsibility for the public trust, the commons:

• The socialist libertarian, believing that the purpose of government is to benefit the people as a whole, says fie on false prophets who watch as our Bill of Rights is trampled upon.
  
• The socialist libertarian says fie on those who allow a wealthy few to control our public and private lives.
  
• The socialist libertarian prefers government management of the economy (one allowing for private ownership, industry, and distribution networks) to a capitalist free for all because the latter ultimately leads to oligarchic despotism.
  
• The socialist libertarian does not necessarily stand for the leveling of the economy so that everyone has as much as everyone else. S/he allows for private initiative and marketplace rewards while guaranteeing the eight rights outlined in FDR’s Second Bill of Rights, which is supplemental to the first. The centralization and consolidation of economic power in the hands of unelected private despots not only undermines these rights, but the Bill of Rights itself.
  
• The socialist libertarian looks to the government as the protector of our civil rights, not the denier of them as it has become since the rise of Reagan Republicanism.

• The socialist libertarian promotes public education and literacy so that the people may become better informed and less subject to partisan manipulation.
  
• The socialist libertarian believes in these things because s/he loves her/his country’s people as its most precious resource.

As a socialist libertarian, I stand against wars or other violent social upheavals undertaken for the purpose of enriching a small percentage of the American people.

I stand for equal educational, political, and economic opportunity for all. As I just said, our nation’s most important resource is its people. Government should promote their general welfare and safeguard their rights to the essential freedoms secured by the Bill of Rights.

Anyone who supports any administration which undermines the Bill of Rights for any reason cannot call her or himself a libertarian. Anyone who stands in silence while the power to regulate who may speak in the forum of ideas is privatized (which, in effect, means to dedemocratize them) cannot call her or himself a libertarian. Liberty means before all other things freedom to speak, freedom to practice one’s conscience, freedom to write and publish, and freedom to assemble for the purpose of petitioning one’s government. It means equal voice based not on money (which itself is a public agreement) but on personhood. If you are a person, the socialist libertarian holds, your voice and your mind are protected.

This, the socialist libertarian believes, is what “liberty and justice for all” means. Government lives by and protects these values over all others.