A little girl was walking home from school one day. She passed a homeless man who was sitting on the sidewalk. He looked gaunt, so the girl asked, “Mister, you look hungry. Are you okay?”
The homeless man responded, “I am very hungry. Would you mind walking down to that fruit stand and getting some food for me?”
The little girl replied, “I would, but I don’t have any money.”
The homeless guy replied, “Don’t worry about that. Just go take the food. The owner is rich. He shouldn’t mind if you take a little to feed someone in need.”
The girl walked down to the fruit stand, swiped some apples, slipped them into her Hello Kitty backpack, and brought them to the homeless guy. The man munched on the apples and thanked her.
The little girl said, “This worked well. You were hungry, the rich owner of the fruit stand had plenty of food, I got some for you, and it didn’t cost us anything.”
The homeless guy swallowed and replied, “Welcome to the Green Party.”
The little Green Party girl came home and told her mother what had happened. The mother was bothered that her daughter was stealing food for homeless people, so she suggested her daughter come up with better ideas.
The next day, the little girl excitedly told her mother, “I have a great idea. I will go to everyone in the neighborhood and collect money from each house. I can then use the money to buy food for the homeless man.”
The mother replied, “Welcome to the Reform Party.”
The little Reform Party girl went door-to-door attempting to collect money for the homeless man, but very few people wanted to donate. One of her neighbors could see the girl was discouraged, so he suggested, “Don’t be upset. Not everybody has extra money to give.”
A smile came over the girl’s face, and she exclaimed, “I know. I will just go to the big houses to ask for money! The people in the big houses have lots of extra money to buy food for the homeless man.”
The neighbor grinned and replied, “Welcome to the Democratic Party.”
The little girl tried to collect money from the people in the big houses, but many of them were not home because they were out working. In frustration, the little girl gave up and walked down the street to her father’s hardware store.
When she walked into the store, her father noticed she was sad. He asked, “What’s wrong?”
She replied, “Daddy, I have been trying to collect money to buy food for a homeless man, but most of the people are out working or not willing to give me money. Maybe I should tell the homeless guy to start working. Then he would have enough money to buy his own food.”
The little girl’s father replied, “Welcome to the Republican Party.”
Later, the father drove his little Republican daughter home. She was surprised to see a black Suburban and six agents from the National Security Agency in her front yard. The burly lead agent yanked the little girl from her car and informed the child that the "homeless" man she was helping was a suspected threat to national security.
The frightened little girl was then questioned for an hour about her plans to finance the suspect's activities through an unauthorized fundraising/money-laundering scheme. The agent added that the little girl had been under 24-hour surveillance and a continuous wiretap since her initial contact with the suspicious homeless man.
The little girl asked the imposing agent if he had a warrant for all of these intrusions on her Fourth Amendment rights. The agent chuckled, confiscated her Hello Kitty backpack, and marched back to his black Suburban. The other five agents simultaneously scattered and disappeared into the hedges, trees, and flowerbeds around the girl's house.
As the NSA agent pulled away in his black Suburban, the terrified little girl asked, "Daddy, if the Federal government wants to intimidate me and invade my privacy, shouldn't they have to get a warrant first?"
Just then, the girl’s older brother pulled up on his bicycle and said, "Welcome to the Libertarian Party."
Showing posts with label taxation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label taxation. Show all posts
August 26, 2008
December 14, 2005
What’s Wrong with the Libertarian Party?
The Libertarian Party has been in existence since 1971, and it has never presented a considerable challenge to the Republicans or Democrats.
The unfortunate thing is that the Libertarian Party—philosophically—is closer to the ideals of our Founding Fathers than any other party on the current political scene. The question is: If the Libertarian Party is the most traditionally American party, why does it do so poorly in national elections? The answer is simple: The Libertarian Party is too extreme.
Most American do not know much about the Libertarian Party, and they hear about only the most controversial elements. For example, the Libertarians are extremely liberal on the drug issue. This issue alone alienates the vast majority of potential Libertarian voters. How many mainstream Americans really want to be associated with a pro-drug party?
This is the problem. Libertarians just take things too far and are unwilling to budge on anything. The Libertarian Party platform does have a clear and consistent philosophy of freedom and minimal government, but most Americans are not ready to swallow the whole Libertarian pill. The country has gotten too far from its original structure, and through the generations, people have lost touch with the concept of true liberty. Americans have grown comfortable with having the government involved in every aspect of their lives. The prospect of full freedom just sounds like anarchy to most people.
If the Libertarian Party wants to be viewed as a serious and viable party, they have no choice but to adopt an incremental approach. The party needs to show some flexibility by backing off of its most unattractive positions and work toward the big picture of becoming a mainstream national party.
The Libertarians have some very good ideas on many issues such as gun rights, taxation, free speech, and free trade. In many ways, the Libertarian views on these issues match the views of millions and millions of Americans. If the Libertarians would just get focused on a few key issues and put the rest of their platform on the backburner, they could gain tremendous national support. There are millions of disillusioned Republicans and Democrats looking for a place to go. If you Libertarians get your act together, a lot of those voters could be yours.
The unfortunate thing is that the Libertarian Party—philosophically—is closer to the ideals of our Founding Fathers than any other party on the current political scene. The question is: If the Libertarian Party is the most traditionally American party, why does it do so poorly in national elections? The answer is simple: The Libertarian Party is too extreme.
Most American do not know much about the Libertarian Party, and they hear about only the most controversial elements. For example, the Libertarians are extremely liberal on the drug issue. This issue alone alienates the vast majority of potential Libertarian voters. How many mainstream Americans really want to be associated with a pro-drug party?
This is the problem. Libertarians just take things too far and are unwilling to budge on anything. The Libertarian Party platform does have a clear and consistent philosophy of freedom and minimal government, but most Americans are not ready to swallow the whole Libertarian pill. The country has gotten too far from its original structure, and through the generations, people have lost touch with the concept of true liberty. Americans have grown comfortable with having the government involved in every aspect of their lives. The prospect of full freedom just sounds like anarchy to most people.
If the Libertarian Party wants to be viewed as a serious and viable party, they have no choice but to adopt an incremental approach. The party needs to show some flexibility by backing off of its most unattractive positions and work toward the big picture of becoming a mainstream national party.
The Libertarians have some very good ideas on many issues such as gun rights, taxation, free speech, and free trade. In many ways, the Libertarian views on these issues match the views of millions and millions of Americans. If the Libertarians would just get focused on a few key issues and put the rest of their platform on the backburner, they could gain tremendous national support. There are millions of disillusioned Republicans and Democrats looking for a place to go. If you Libertarians get your act together, a lot of those voters could be yours.
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