Message-ID: <3A105272.21F2A279@eng.sun.com>
Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 12:43:30 -0800
From: Brian Holtz <holtz@eng.sun.com>
To: jackhick@cwnet.com
CC: Melisse Lusin <melisse@gene.com>, LPSM-Discuss@eGroups.com
Subject: Re: LPSM meeting Tues


Hi Jack,
Melisse and I look forward to tomorrow's meeting.  We definitely would
like to see the LP gain more influence over mainstream American
politics.

As a long-time Libertarian sympathizer looking in from the outside, I
see two main problems for the party.  The first is the (of course
misguided) perception that LP activists care more about smoking pot
and minimizing their IRS bill than about the abstract principle of
liberty.  (In Germany on business recently, I was chagrined to see USA
Today's capsule summary of the LP as the party for abolishing the IRS,
FBI, and CIA. Those may be good ideas, but they should not define the
party.)

The second problem is that a few key planks of the LP platform seem
hopelessly outside the mainstream of compassionate politics and
professional economics.  They are:

   * Rely only on charity to aid the indigent.
   * Rely only on torts to regulate pollution and other externalities.
   * Abolish regulation of money and currency.
   * Privatize all natural monopolies and government-owned land.
   * Repeal all antitrust laws.

I wonder if the party would ever replace these near-anarchist
positions with alternatives like the following.

   * Replace all social programs with a (Milton Friedman-style)
     negative income tax.
   * Internalize externalities by e.g. auctioning pollution rights.
   * Regulate currency and the money supply.
   * Regulate physical-network natural monopolies.
   * Ban anti-competitive artificial monopolies.

Below is an attempt to summarize the LP's platform.  I wonder if
everybody in the LP (and LPSM) subscribes to every plank.

   * International Freedom and Security
        o Defend America's borders and practice isolationism. Ban
          military conscription.
        o Allow immigration without regard for linguistic or economic
          proficiency.
   * Governance
        o Establish republican democracy with equal representation for
          all persons.
        o Ban government discrimination against persons. Disallow
          personhood for even viable fetuses. Prevent government
          endorsement of religion. Allow gay marriage and military
          service.
        o Privatize all natural resources including all
          government-owned land.
        o Abolish regulation of money and currency.
        o Replace all income and property taxes with other unspecified
          taxes and fees.
        o Mandate balanced government budgets. Eliminate most
          government spending, except on enforcement of laws against
          force and fraud.
   * Personal Freedom and Security
        o Prevent coercion, enforce contracts, and protect free
          personal association.
        o Abolish all limits on private ownership of even military
          weaponry.
   * Economic Freedom
        o Allow all non-coercive economic association. Repeal all
          antitrust laws.
   * Economic Security
        o Rely only on torts to regulate pollution and other
          externalities.
        o Rely only on charity to aid the indigent.
        o Allow free markets to manage industries, including natural
          monopolies.

--
Brian Holtz             650-OK-HOLTZ   http://holtz.org
Brian.Holtz@sun.com     650-SUN-0598   http://starsync.eng/~holtz
Knowledge is dangerous. Take a risk:   http://humanknowledge.net