Libertarian Ideology, Philosophy and Principles

The Guiding Libertarian Rights Principle

No ideology or philosophy, political, social, religious ethical or any other, has a simpler guiding principle covering as many of live’s situations as this sentence:

We oppose the practice of fraud, the initiation of force, and its advocacy, to achieve social and political ends.

There are somewhat different versions of it (here, here, here and here), but the one above is my favorite because it opposes the “practice”, as well as the “advocacy”, of the initiation of force by all. This makes it a general principle for all personal relationships, which also includes our relationship to the politics of government. The name usually given to it is “the non-aggression principle”. But I prefer to call it “The Libertarian Rights Principle” because it is about respecting the rights of everyone and I find it awkward to define something by what it is not.

This brief principle covers a much wider range of ways to distinguish right from wrong than entire books dedicated to other ideologies or philosophies. But that does not mean that all libertarians agree on how the principle is applied in every situation; libertarians are human too. Nevertheless, its power to guide our decisions about what is best for all is extraordinary, given its brevity.

However, what is really important is not just its “elegance” (a term used in science for a theory that explains much in simple terms). The important question is: Does its practice improve the lives to people compared to what we practice now? I believe that it does because all human relationships produce better results when they are peaceful, respectful and voluntary. And I show pages with reasons, evidence and examples of this at the bottom of this page.

Interpretation of the Libertarian Rights Principle at Its Most General Level

To practice the Libertarian Rights Principle individual and organizations should not defraud or be the first to use force to:

make people do something they do not want to do or
prevent them from doing something they want to do.

Of course, using force for self defense is a right.

Fraud does the same thing as force, but by deception. For example, force is used when someone grabs you and points a gun at you to steel your wallet. Fraud is used when people misrepresent themselves in an email to get you to supply your credit card number. Either way you end up having to do something that you did not want to do.

We define “freedom” as the effective right to not being subjected to the first use of force or fraud by governments or anyone else. And each first use of force deprives people of some of their freedoms to act according to their own choices.

The Christian Bible states “do to others what you would have them do to you”. Following the same format, libertarians would say “do not do to others what they don’t want done to them”. Compared to Christianity, Libertarian ideology is different in these ways: (1) it (a) only requires respect for the rights of others to be free from unwanted interference in their life, (b) does not require doing something for them or to them, and (2) the libertarian rights to respect are (a) those the others want respected, not (b) what you would want done to you.

Of course, libertarian ideology does not oppose doing things for other people who want it. And libertarians view private charity very favorably, and as a necessary substitute for government subsidies to the needy and poor.

Broad Corollaries that Follow from the General Interpretation of the Libertarian Rights Principle

Corollaries About Private Individuals

RESPONSIBILITIES

Respecting Individual Personal and Private Property Rights

No person should deliberately commit fraud or initiate force to make others do what they do not desire to do (which includes unwanted harm to their person or property) or keep them from doing what they want to do. This is the meaning of “respecting other people’s rights to their freedoms”. Our principle implies that these rights belong to all of those also that also respect everyone else’s rights.

Earning an Honest Living

Noone who is healthy enough to earn a living should expect to be supported by someone else.

Preventing Unwanted Harm to Scattered Probable Victims

There are acts that directly or indirectly have a high probability of adversely affect many scattered people, mostly unknown to the actor. These are of the following two types:

Avoiding Reckless Endangerment

Unrequested acts that endanger other people by their recklessness are also considered first use of force because of: (1) the high probability of causing unwanted harm and (2) the existence of the danger is by nature an undesired harm to individuals. For example, driving at 70 miles per hour in a residential area with a 30 mile per hour limit requires extra attention by other drivers and pedestrian, causes consternation and denies other the enjoyment of their car trip, walk or cycling; and has a high probability of causing a harmful accident.

Refraining from Damaging the Commons Environment

The term “the commons” means something that is available for use by everyone with no restrictions, such as public parks and most of the air and water. No person or organization should act in ways that damage the commons, therefore deny others or its proper use.

RIGHTS

The Right to Own Yourself

The Libertarian Rights Principle opposes the use of force to prevent people from doing something that does not harm or use force against others. This implies a right to do as we please with our own bodies, that is, the right to own our bodies. A general respect for the Libertarian Rights Principle makes that ownership a reality.

Owning our bodies means that we can do anything we want with them, not what someone else wants us to do, as long as this does not violate other people’s rights.

The Right to Self Defense

Everyone should have the right of self defense from the first use of force or fraud perpetrated on them by private persons, governments or any other organization. The use of only the necessary degree of force needed for self defense is not a “first use of force or fraud”.

The Right to Voluntarily Interact With Others

This is the right of people to decide on whether or not to voluntarily communicate, associate, transact (such as in trading goods or gambling) or engage in any other interaction with others in any manner that is mutually agreeable.

Many specific applications of this general right are found in the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution (such as freedom of speech, religion and assembly). Other specific applications are found in the writings of libertarian and other economists on the subject of the freedom from government control of trade and the freedom of association.

Corollaries About Government

RESPONSIBILITIES

Preventing the First Use of Force, and Fraud

The purpose of government is to prevent people or organizations (including its own agents and other governments) from practicing the first use of force or fraud on the people within its jurisdiction. First use of force includes acts that (1) initiate force that damages others or (2) have a high probability of doing so, (3) directly or indirectly, and (4) even if the others cannot be identified by the person committing the act.

In exercising this responsibility government should respect the well-known constitutional procedural rights of the people, such as: equal protection and enforcement of the law, the right of the accused to a lawyer and a jury trial where they can call witnesses to be questioned, the requirement that searches by government be based on probable cause and approved by a judicial warrant, and others.

The Same Responsibilities as Individual Persons

Governments should have the same responsibilities to practice the Libertarian Rights Principle as listed above for individual persons.

LIMITS

No Restrictions on What People Can Do for Themselves

Laws should not restrict what people can do for themselves that do not involve anyone else. This includes not protecting people from doing things that carry a risk for themselves. Governments should defend us only from others engaging is the first use of force or fraud. Laws that control what we can do with our bodies violate our self ownership and are, therefore, a form of partial slavery.

No Restrictions on Voluntary Human Interactions

Laws should not infringe on the rights of people to decide on whether or not to voluntarily communicate, associate, transact, marry, buy, sell, cooperate, contribute to charity, conduct a business or engage in any other interaction with others in any manner that is mutually agreeable, therefore does not violate the Libertarian Rights Principle.

Democracy in a Limited Government

Libertarian principles draw a clear line between the realm of a limited government and the realm of private individuals. We strongly favor democracy in the realm of our limited government. But, our limitations on government naturally prevents the use of majority rule to control our private lives through the government.

We believe that governments should not act on any issue just because there is a majority that favors it. People may dislike gambling and prostitution and may want government to prohibit them, or to impose minimum wages, time and one half for overtime work, or rent controls. But government should not act on these issues anymore than it should set the time when we can bathe or eat or which newspapers we can read. Things that people do for themselves or in voluntary interactions with others should not be the subject of government legislation.

PAYING FOR GOVERNMENT SERVICES

Voluntary Contributions and User Fees

Taxation involves the first use of force. This is why the predominant libertarian position is that we should pay for the limited government services by raising money from: (1) voluntary contributions and (2) user fees for specific government services provided to specific individuals or organizations.

Whether user fees and voluntary contributions would be enough to pay for all of the responsibilities that libertarian principles assigns to government is a factual question, not an ideological or philosophical question. And I am not aware of any libertarian publication that proves that the cost of a libertarian limited government can be paid by raising money only through voluntary contributions and user fees.

And Some Taxes?

What if what we believe that what our limited government should do costs more than what can be raised by user fees and voluntary contributions? Do we then forgo some necessary government services or keep collecting some taxes as some self-identified libertarians would argue? Collecting taxes would contradict the above statement that governments should have the same responsibilities as individual persons to avoid the first use of force.

The Unproven Vs. The Contradictory, and Their Importance

Paying for government with voluntary contributions and user fees has not been proven as achievable. And the possibility of supplementing that with some taxes contradicts the Libertarian Rights Principle. But I would not throw out the libertarian baby with the bathwater over this issue.

This is a relatively minor unresolved issue compared to the extraordinary ability of libertarian philosophy to guide our decisions about what is best for everyone. And it would be a shame if a division on this issue would prevent libertarians from succeeding at achieving the benefits of a libertarian government to our society, albeit some imperfections and contradictions.

Making the Practice of the Libertarian Rights Principle a Reality

Our principles prevent us from using force to achieve our political objectives. We believe in a limited government by majority rule and our own political party has a very democratic structure.

A necessary condition for freedom is that there be widespread respect for the rights of others, both in the way we treat other people and in the way we vote.

Therefore, our achievement of a limited libertarian government can only succeed by persuading a majority of citizens to practice and believe in our principles and vote for our candidates.

This is why I say “We give each other our rights”. Because we will effectively get all of our rights when the majority of the people support the Libertarian Rights Principle.

Examples of Policy Applications of Libertarian Principles and Its Benefits

This section lists the titles of of pages dedicated to show examples of (1) how the corollaries of the Libertarian Rights Principle apply to specific personal and government actions and (b) why, in each case, applying our libertarian principles leads to better outcomes for individuals and all of society.

These pages were deliberately chosen to cover topics that are controversial. They cannot be a comprehensive list of all situations where libertarian principles apply. But they are some of the more important issues where the replacing current practices with the application of libertarian principles will make a contribution to our personal and social well-being.

The topics below are examples of how libertarian principles apply to actual situations. The titles in blue link to pages that have been written. The rest are in the process of being written. A short title of the completed pages will show up on the menu to the left for you to click on and read. The exact text of the pages may vary over time.

Why Social Security Harms the Economy, Workers and the Poor

Why End Qualified Immunity for State Officials and Police

Why Public Statues Violate Our Civil Rights

Why We Support the Right of Association and Equal Protection

Why Import Tariffs Damage Our Economy

Why Drug Prohibition Can Only Do Harm

Why Other Victimless Crimes Can Only Do Harm

Why You Should Practice the Libertarian Rights Principle

Why Government Should Not Sponsor or Regulate Monopolies

Why Immigration Benefits the Recipient Country

Why Freedom of Speech is So Important

Why Governments Should Not Subsidize Businesses to “Create Jobs”