Article View: boulder.general
Article #88491Libertarian Party Platform Part II
From: Marc Anderson
Date: Wed, 27 May 1992 07:18
Date: Wed, 27 May 1992 07:18
872 lines
46748 bytes
46748 bytes
Here's part II of the Libertarian Party platform:
----------------- cut here ---------------
6. MONOPOLIES
We condemn all coercive monopolies. We recognize that government is
the source of monopoly, through its grants of legal privilege to
special interests in the economy. In order to abolish monopolies, we
advocate a strict separation of business and State.
"Anti-trust" laws do not prevent monopoly, but foster it by limiting
competition. We therefore call for the repeal of all "anti-trust"
laws, including the Robinson-Patman Act which restricts price
discounts, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, and the Clayton Anti-Trust Act.
We further call for the abolition of the Federal Trade Commission and
the anti-trust division of the Department of Justice.
We defend the right of individuals to form corporations, cooperatives,
and other types of companies based on voluntary association. Laws of
incorporation should not include grants of monopoly privilege. In
particular, we oppose special limits on the liability of corporations
for damages caused in noncontractual transactions. We also oppose
state or federal limits on the size of private companies and on the
right of companies to merge. We further oppose efforts, in the name
of social responsibility, or any other reason, to expand federal
chartering of corporations into a pretext for government control of
business.
7. SUBSIDIES
In order to achieve a free economy in which government victimizes no
one for the benefit of any other, we oppose all government subsidies
to business, labor, education, agriculture, science, broadcasting, the
arts, sports, or any other special interest. In particular, we
condemn any effort to forge an alliance between government and
business under the guise of "reindustrialization" or "industrial
policy." The unrestricted competition of the free market is the best
way to foster prosperity. We therefore oppose any resumption of the
Reconstruction Finance Corporation, or any similar plan that would
force the taxpayer to subsidize or sustain any enterprise.
We call for the abolition of the Federal Financing Bank, the most
important national agency subsidizing special interests with
government loans. We also oppose all government guarantees of
so-called private loans. Such guarantees transfer resources to
special interests as effectively as actual government expenditures
and, at the national level, exceed direct government loans in total
amount. Taxpayers must never bear the cost of default upon
government-guaranteed loans. All national, state, and local
government agencies whose primary function is to guarantee loans,
including the Federal Housing Administration, the Rural
Electrification Administration, and the Small Business Administration,
should be abolished or privatized.
The loans of government-sponsored enterprises, even when not
guaranteed by the government, constitute another form of subsidy. All
such enterprises -- the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, the
Federal National Mortgage Association, the Farm Credit Administration,
and the Student Loan Marketing Association -- must either be abolished
or completely privatized.
Relief or exemption from taxation or from any other involuntary
government intervention, however, should not be considered a subsidy.
8. TARIFFS AND QUOTAS
Like subsidies, tariffs and quotas serve only to give special
treatment to favored interests and to diminish the welfare of other
individuals. The measures also reduce the scope of contracts and
understanding among different peoples. We therefore support abolition
of all tariffs and quotas as well as the Tariff Commission and the
Customs Court.
9. PUBLIC UTILITIES
We advocate the termination of government-created franchise privileges
and governmental monopolies for such services as garbage collection,
fire protection, electricity, natural gas, cable television,
telephone, or water supplies. Furthermore, all rate regulation in
these industries should be abolished. The right to offer such
services on the market should not be curtailed by law.
10. UNIONS AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
We support the right of free persons to voluntarily establish,
associate in, or not associate in, labor unions. An employer should
have the right to recognize, or refuse to recognize, a union as the
collective bargaining agent of some, or all, of its employees.
We oppose government interference in bargaining, such as compulsory
arbitration or the imposition of an obligation to bargain. Therefore,
we urge repeal of the National Labor Relations Act, and all state
Right-to-Work Laws which prohibit employers from making voluntary
contracts with unions. We oppose all government back-to-work orders
as the imposition of a form of forced labor.
Government-mandated waiting periods for closure of factories or
businesses hurt, rather than help, the wage-earner. We support all
efforts to benefit workers, owners, and management by keeping
government out of this area.
Workers and employers should have the right to organize secondary
boycotts if they so choose. Nevertheless, boycotts or strikes do not
justify the initiation of violence against other workers, employers,
strike-breakers, and innocent bystanders.
III. DOMESTIC ILLS
Current problems in such areas as energy, pollution, health care
delivery, decaying cities, and poverty are not solved, but are
primarily caused, by government. The welfare state, supposedly
designed to aid the poor, is in reality a growing and parasitic burden
on all productive people, and injures, rather than benefits, the poor
themselves.
1. ENERGY
We oppose all government control of energy pricing, allocation, and
production, such as that imposed by the Department of Energy, state
public utility commissions, and state pro-rationing agencies. We
oppose all government subsidies for energy research, development, and
operation.
We oppose all direct and indirect government participation in the
nuclear energy industry, including subsidies, research and development
funds, guaranteed loans, waste disposal subsidies, and federal uranium
enrichment facilities. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission should be
abolished; full liability -- not government agencies -- should
regulate nuclear power. The Price-Anderson Act, through which the
government limits liability for nuclear accidents and furnishes
partial payment at taxpayer expense, should be repealed. Nuclear
energy should be denationalized and the industry's assets transferred
to the private sector. Any nuclear power industry must meet the test
of a free market.
We oppose any restriction on the use of alternative fuels.
We support abolition of the Department of Energy and the abolition of
its component agencies, without their transfer elsewhere in the
government. We oppose the creation of any emergency mobilization
agency in the energy field, which would wield dictatorial powers in
order to override normal legal processes. We oppose all government
conservation schemes through the use of taxes, subsidies, and
regulation, as well as the dictated conversion of utilities and other
industries to coal or any other fuel. We oppose any attempt to give
the federal government a monopoly over the importation of oil, or to
develop a subsidized government energy corporation whose privileged
status would be used as a yardstick for condemning private enterprise.
We oppose the "strategic storage" program, any attempt to compel
national self-sufficiency in oil, any extension of cargo preference
law to imports, and any attempt to raise oil tariffs or impose oil
import quotas. We oppose all efforts to nationalize energy companies,
or force them to plow back revenues solely into energy production and
the discovery of energy sources, or prohibit them from acquiring
companies in non-energy fields. We also oppose all efforts to break
up vertically and horizontally integrated energy companies or force
them to divest their pipelines.
We consider all attempts to impose an operational or standby program
of gasoline rationing to be unworkable, unnecessary, and tyrannical.
We favor the creation of a free market in oil by instituting full
property rights in underground oil and by the repeal of all federal
and state controls over price and output in the petroleum industry.
All government-owned energy resources should be turned over to private
ownership.
2. POLLUTION
Pollution of other people's property is a violation of individual
rights. Present legal principles, particularly the unjust and false
concept of "public property," block privatisation of the use of the
environment and hence block resolution of controversies over resource
use. We support the development of an objective legal system defining
property rights to air and water. We call for a modification of the
laws governing such torts as trespass and nuisance to cover damages
done by air, water, radiation, and noise pollution. We oppose
legislative proposals to exempt persons who claim damage from
radiation from having to prove such damage was in fact caused by
radiation. Strict liability, not government agencies and arbitrary
government standards, should regulate pollution. We therefore demand
the abolition of the Environmental Protection Agency. We also oppose
government-mandated smoking and non-smoking areas in privately owned
businesses.
Toxic waste disposal problems have been created by government policies
that separate liability from property. Rather than making taxpayers
pay for toxic waste clean-ups, individual property owners, or in the
case of corporations, the responsible managers and employees, should
be held strictly liable for material damage done by their property.
Claiming that one has abandoned a piece of property does not absolve
one of the responsibility for actions one has set in motion. We
condemn the EPA's Superfund whose taxing powers are used to penalize
all chemical firms, regardless of their conduct. Such clean-ups are a
subsidy of irresponsible companies at the expense of responsible ones.
3. CONSUMER PROTECTION
We support strong and effective laws against fraud and
misrepresentation. However, we oppose paternalistic regulations which
dictate to consumers, impose prices, define standards for products, or
otherwise restrict risk-taking and free choice. We oppose
governmental promotion or imposition of the metric system.
We oppose all so-called "consumer protection" legislation which
infringes upon voluntary trade, and call for the abolition of the
Consumer Product Safety Commission. We advocate the repeal of all
laws banning or restricting the advertising of prices, products, or
services. We specifically oppose laws requiring an individual to buy
or use so-called "self-protection" equipment such as safety belts, air
bags, or crash helmets.
We advocate the abolition of the Federal Aviation Administration,
which has jeopardized airline safety by arrogating to itself a
monopoly of safety regulation and enforcement.
We advocate the abolition of the Food and Drug Administration and
particularly its policies of mandating specific nutritional
requirements and denying the right of manufacturers to make
non-fraudulent claims concerning their products. We advocate an end
to compulsory fluoridation of water supplies. We specifically oppose
government regulation of the price, potency, or quantity able to be
produced or purchased of drugs or other consumer goods. There should
be no laws regarding what substances (nicotine, alcohol,
hallucinogens, narcotics, Laetrile, artificial sweeteners, vitamin
supplements, or other "drugs") a person may ingest or otherwise use.
4. EDUCATION
We advocate the complete separation of education and State.
Government schools lead to the indoctrination of children and
interfere with the free choice of individuals. Government ownership,
operation, regulation, and subsidy of schools and colleges should be
ended. We call for the repeal of the guarantees of tax-funded,
government-provided education, which are found in most state
constitutions.
As an interim measure to encourage the growth of private schools and
variety in education, including home schooling, we support tax credits
for tuition and other expenditures related to an individual's
education. We likewise favor tax credits for child care and oppose
nationalization of the child-care industry. We oppose denial of
tax-exempt status to schools because of those schools' private
policies on hiring, admissions, and student deportment. We support
the repeal of all taxes on the income or property of private schools,
whether for profit or non-profit.
We condemn compulsory education laws, which spawn prison-like schools
with many of the problems associated with prisons, and we call for an
immediate repeal of such laws.
Until government involvement in education is ended, we support
elimination, within the governmental school system, of forced busing
and corporal punishment. We further support immediate reduction of
tax support for schools, and removal of the burden of school taxes
from those not responsible for the education of children.
5. POPULATION
Recognizing that the American people are not a collective national
resource, we oppose all coercive measures for population control.
We oppose government actions that either compel or prohibit abortion,
sterilization, or any other forms of birth control. Specifically, we
condemn the vicious practice of forced sterilization of welfare
recipients or of mentally retarded or "genetically defective"
individuals.
We regard the tragedies caused by unplanned, unwanted pregnancies to
be aggravated, if not created, by government policies of censorship,
restriction, regulation, and prohibition. Therefore, we call for the
repeal of all laws that restrict anyone, including children, from
engaging in voluntary exchanges of goods, services, or information
regarding human sexuality, reproduction, birth control, or related
medical or biological technologies.
We equally oppose government laws and policies that restrict the
opportunity to choose alternatives to abortion.
We support an end to all subsidies for childbearing built into our
present laws, including welfare plans and the provision of
tax-supported services for children. We urge the elimination of
special tax burdens on single people and couples with few or no
children.
6. TRANSPORTATION
Government interference in transportation is characterized by
monopolistic restriction, corruption and gross inefficiency. We
therefore call for the dissolution of all government agencies
concerned with transportation, including the Department of
Transportation, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Federal
Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board, the
Coast Guard, and the Federal Maritime Commission, and the transfer of
their legitimate functions to competitive private firms. We demand
the return of America's railroad system to private ownership. We call
for the privatization of airports, air traffic control systems, public
roads, and the national highway system. We condemn the
re-cartelization of commercial aviation by the Federal Aviation
Administration via rationing of take-off and landing rights and
controlling scheduling in the name of "safety."
As interim measures, we advocate an immediate end to government
regulation of private transit organizations and to governmental favors
to the transportation industry. In particular, we support the
immediate repeal of all laws restricting transit competition such as
the granting of taxicab and bus monopolies and the prohibition of
private jitney services. We urge immediate deregulation of the
trucking industry. Likewise, we advocate the immediate repeal of
federally imposed speed limits.
7. POVERTY AND UNEMPLOYMENT
Government fiscal and monetary measures that artificially foster
business expansion guarantee an eventual increase in unemployment
rather than curtailing it. We call for the immediate cessation of
such policies as well as any governmental attempts to affect
employment levels.
We support repeal of all laws that impede the ability of any person to
find employment, such as minimum wage laws, so-called "protective"
labor legislation for women and children, governmental restrictions on
the establishment of private day-care centers, and the National Labor
Relations Act. We deplore government-fostered forced retirement,
which robs the elderly of the right to work.
We seek the elimination of occupational licensure, which prevents
human beings from working in whatever trade they wish. We call for
the abolition of all federal, state, and local government agencies
that restrict entry into any profession, such as education and law, or
regulate its practice. No worker should be legally penalized for lack
of certification, and no consumer should be legally restrained from
hiring unlicensed individuals.
We oppose all government welfare, relief projects, and "aid to the
poor" programs. All these government programs are invasive of
privacy, paternalistic, demeaning, and inefficient. The proper source
of help for such persons is the voluntary efforts of private groups
and individuals.
To speed the time when governmental programs are replaced by effective
private institutions we advocate dollar-for-dollar tax credits for all
charitable contributions.
8. HEALTH CARE
We advocate the complete separation of medicine and State.
Recognizing the individual's right to self-medication, we seek the
elimination of all government restrictions on the right of individuals
to pursue alternative forms of health care. Individuals should be
free to contract with practitioners of their choice for all health
care services. We oppose any government infringement upon the
practitioner-patient relationship through regulatory agencies or
contracted review organizations. We condemn the practice of
criminally prosecuting medical practitioners under the anti-trust
laws.
We oppose any form of compulsory National Health Insurance, including
mandatory health insurance benefits required of employers by the
government. We favor abolition of Medicare and Medicaid programs. We
also oppose any state or federal area planning boards whose stated
purpose is to consolidate health services or avoid their duplication.
We support the removal of all government barriers to medical
advertising, including prohibition of publication of doctors' fees and
drug prices. We further support the elimination of laws requiring
prescriptions for the dispensing of medicines and other health-related
items.
We condemn efforts by government to impose a medical orthodoxy on
society. We specifically oppose the attempt by state and local
governments to deny parents the right to choose the option of home
births and to discourage the development of privately funded women's
clinics. We call for the repeal of all laws that restrict the
practice of lay midwifery or that permit harassment of lay midwives
and home birth practitioners. We also call for the repeal of all
medical licensing laws, which have raised medical costs while creating
a government-imposed monopoly of doctors and hospitals.
Since a person's body is his or her own property, we favor repeal of
the existing prohibition on the commercial sale and purchase of body
parts.
We favor the deregulation of the health insurance industry, and oppose
government-imposed limits on its use of genetic and other screening
and testing methods. We oppose laws that limit the freedom of
contract of patients and health care professionals, and laws
regulating the supply of legal aid on a contingency fee basis. We
also oppose subsidy of malpractice insurance through public funds. We
call for the repeal of laws forcing health care professionals to
render medical services in emergencies or other situations.
We recognize that AIDS is a dread disease of epidemic proportions.
But governmental proposals to combat it present an unprecedented
threat to individual liberty and often encourage the spread of the
disease. We oppose all government-mandated AIDS testing. We are
opposed to FDA restrictions which make it difficult for individuals to
secure treatment for this disease. We also call for the
decriminalization of hypodermic syringes, especially since sharing
needles is now a major means of transmission of the disease. We
oppose government-mandated contact tracing and state intervention into
the private medical records of individuals. We are opposed to efforts
by the government, especially the postal service, to restrict the
dissemination of AIDS education material. We support the rights of
all individuals to freedom of association including the right not to
associate.
We condemn attempts at the federal, state, or local level to cripple
the advance of science by governmental restriction of research. We
oppose subsidies to, or restrictions of, medical education. We call
for an end to government policies compelling individuals to submit to
medical experiments, treatment, and testing. We condemn compulsory
hospitalization, compulsory vaccination, and compulsory fluoridation.
As interim measures, we advocate dollar-for-dollar tax credits to any
individual or group providing health care services to the needy or
paying for such services. Tax credits should also be made available
for private grants to medical education and medical research.
Because all individuals should have full responsibility and control of
their own lives, we support the right of terminally or hopelessly ill
persons to end their lives. We support the freedom to use living
wills and durable medical powers of attorney in which individuals
declare the manner in which they are to be treated and the procedures
for disposal of their remains. In the absence of such wills and the
ability for the individual to choose (e.g. coma) the matter should be
decided by such person or persons as the individual may have clearly
preferred, with whatever guidance they may desire. In keeping with
the principle of non-coercion, no individual shall be forced to either
continue or terminate life sustaining care. This right does not
entitle individuals to force medical professionals or others to assist
them in ending their lives or in continuing life support.
9. RESOURCE USE
Resource management is properly the responsibility and right of the
legitimate owners of land, water, and other natural resources. We
oppose government control of resource use through eminent domain,
zoning laws, building codes, rent control, regional planning, urban
renewal, or purchase of development rights with tax money. Such
regulations and programs violate property rights, discriminate against
minorities, create housing shortages, and tend to cause higher rents.
We advocate the establishment of an efficient and just system of
private water rights, applied to all bodies of water, surface and
underground. Such a system should be built upon a doctrine of first
claim and use. The allocation of water should be governed by
unrestricted competition and unregulated prices. All government
restrictions upon private use or voluntary transfer of water rights or
similar despotic controls can only aggravate the misallocation of
water.
We also advocate the privatization of government and quasi-government
water supply systems. The construction of government dams and other
water projects should cease, and existing government water projects
should be transferred to private ownership. We favor the abolition of
the Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Engineers' civilian
functions. We also favor the abolition of all local water districts
and their power to tax. Only the complete separation of water and the
State will prevent future water crises.
We call for the homesteading or other just transfer to private
ownership of federally held lands. We oppose any use of executive
orders invoking the Antiquities Act to set aside public lands. We
call for the abolition of the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S.
Forest Service. Forced surface-mining of privately homesteaded lands
in which the government has reserved surface mining rights to itself
is a violation of the rights of the present landholders. We recognize
the legitimacy of resource planning by means of private, voluntary
covenants. We oppose creation of new government parks or wilderness
and recreation areas. Such parks and areas that already exist should
be transferred to non-government ownership. Pending such just
transfer, their operating costs should be borne by their users rather
than by taxpayers.
10. AGRICULTURE
America's free market in agriculture, the system that feeds much of
the world, has been plowed under by government intervention.
Government subsidies, regulation, and taxes have encouraged the
centralization of agricultural business. Government export policies
hold American farmers hostage to the political whims of both
Republican and Democratic administrations. Government embargoes on
grain sales and other obstacles to free trade have frustrated the
development of free and stable trade relationships between peoples of
the world.
The agricultural problems facing America today are not insoluble,
however. Government policies can be reversed. Farmers and consumers
alike should be free from the meddling and counterproductive measures
of the federal government -- free to grow, sell, and buy what they
want, in the quantity they want, when they want. Five steps can be
taken immediately:
a. abolition of the Department of Agriculture
b. elimination of all government farm programs, including price
supports, direct subsidies, and all regulation on agricultural
production;
c. deregulation of the transportation industry and abolition of the
Interstate Commerce Commission;
d. repeal of federal inheritance taxes; and
e. ending government involvement in agricultural pest control. A
policy of pest control whereby private individuals or corporations
bear full responsibility for damages they inflict on their neighbors
should be implemented.
11. OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ACT (OSHA)
We call for the repeal of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
This law denies the right to liberty and property to both employer and
employee, and it interferes in their private contractual relations.
OSHA's arbitrary and high-handed actions invade property rights, raise
costs, and are an injustice imposed on business.
12. SOCIAL SECURITY
We favor the repeal of the fraudulent, virtually bankrupt, and
increasingly oppressive Social Security system. Pending that repeal,
participation in Social Security should be made voluntary. Victims of
the Social Security tax should have a claim against government
property. We note that members of the U.S. Congress, and certain
federal, state, and local government employees, have been accorded the
privileges of non-participation, one which is not accorded the working
men and women of America.
13. POSTAL SERVICE
We propose the abolition of the government Postal Service. The
present system, in addition to being inefficient, encourages
government surveillance of private correspondence. Pending abolition,
we call for an end to the monopoly system and for allowing free
competition in all aspects of postal service.
14. CIVIL SERVICE
We propose the abolition of the Civil Service system, which entrenches
a permanent and growing bureaucracy upon the land. We recognize that
the Civil Service is inherently a system of concealed patronage. We
therefore recommend return to the Jeffersonian principle of rotation
in office.
15. ELECTION LAWS
We call for an end to government control of political parties,
consistent with First Amendment rights to freedom of association and
freedom of expression. As private voluntary groups, political parties
should be allowed to establish their own rules for nomination
procedures, primaries, and conventions.
We urge repeal of the Federal Election Campaign Act which suppresses
voluntary support of candidates and parties, compels taxpayers to
subsidize politicians and political views which many do not wish to
support, invades the privacy of American citizens, and protects the
Republican and Democratic parties from competition. This law is
particularly dangerous as it enables the federal government to control
the elections of its own administrators and beneficiaries, thereby
further reducing its accountability to the citizens.
Elections at all levels should be in the control of those who wish to
participate in or support them voluntarily. We therefore call for an
end to any tax-financed subsidies to candidates or parties and the
repeal of all laws which restrict voluntary financing of election
campaigns.
Many state legislatures have established prohibitively restrictive
laws which in effect exclude alternative candidates and parties from
their rightful place on election ballots. Such laws wrongfully deny
ballot access to political candidates and groups and further deny the
voters their right to consider all legitimate alternatives. We hold
that no state has an interest to protect in this area except for the
fair and efficient conduct of elections.
The Australian ballot system, introduced into the United States in the
late nineteenth century, is an abridgement of freedom of expression
and of voting rights. Under it, the names of all the officially
approved candidates are printed in a single government sponsored
format and the voter indicates his or her choice by marking it or by
writing in an approved but unlisted candidate's name. We should
return to the previous electoral system where there was no official
ballot or candidate approval at all, and therefore no state or federal
restriction of access to a "single ballot." Instead, voters submitted
their own choices and had the option of using "tickets" or cards
printed by candidates or political parties.
In order to grant voters a full range of choice in federal, state, and
local elections, we propose the addition of the alternative "None of
the above is acceptable" to all ballots. We further propose that in
the event that "none of the above is acceptable" receives a plurality
of votes in any election, the elective office for that term should
remain unfilled and unfunded.
IV. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
American foreign policy should seek an America at peace with the world
and the defense -- against attack from abroad -- of the lives,
liberty, and property of the American people on American soil.
Provision of such defense must respect the individual rights of people
everywhere.
The principle of non-intervention should guide relationships between
governments. The United States government should return to the
historic libertarian tradition of avoiding entangling alliances,
abstaining totally from foreign quarrels and imperialist adventures,
and recognizing the right to unrestricted trade, travel, and
immigration.
A. DIPLOMATIC POLICY
1. NEGOTIATIONS
The important principle in foreign policy should be the elimination of
intervention by the United States government in the affairs of other
nations. We would negotiate with any foreign government without
necessarily conceding moral legitimacy to that government. We favor a
drastic reduction in cost and size of our total diplomatic
establishment. In addition, we favor the repeal of the Logan Act,
which prohibits private American citizens from engaging in diplomatic
negotiations with foreign governments.
2. INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL AND FOREIGN INVESTMENTS
We recognize that foreign governments might violate the rights of
Americans traveling, living, or owning property abroad, just as those
governments violate the rights of their own citizens. We condemn all
such violations, whether the victims are U.S. citizens or not.
Any effort, however, to extend the protection of the United States
government to U.S. citizens when they or their property fall within
the jurisdiction of a foreign government involves potential military
intervention. We therefore call upon the United States government to
adhere rigidly to the principle that all U.S. citizens travel, live,
and own property abroad at their own risk. In particular, we oppose
-- as unjust tax-supported subsidy -- any protection of the foreign
investments of U.S. citizens or businesses.
The issuance of U.S. passports should cease. We look forward to an
era in which American citizens and foreigners can travel anywhere in
the world without a passport. We aim to restore a world in which
there are no passports, visas, or other papers required to cross
borders. So long as U.S. passports are issued, they should be issued
to all individuals without discrimination and should not be revoked
for any reason.
3. HUMAN RIGHTS
We condemn the violations of human rights in all nations around the
world. We particularly abhor the widespread and increasing use of
torture for interrogation and punishment. We call upon all the
world's governments to fully implement the principles and
prescriptions contained in this platform and thereby usher in a new
age of international harmony based upon the universal reign of
liberty.
Until such a global triumph for liberty, we support both political and
revolutionary actions by individuals and groups against governments
that violate rights. We recognize the right of all people to resist
tyranny and defend themselves and their rights. We condemn, however,
the use of force, and especially the use of terrorism, against the
innocent, regardless of whether such acts are committed by governments
or by political and revolutionary groups.
The violation of rights and liberty by other governments can never
justify foreign intervention by the United States government. Today,
no government is innocent of violating human rights and liberty, and
none can approach the issue with clean hands. In keeping with our
goal of peaceful international relations, we call upon the United
States government to cease its hypocrisy and its sullying of the good
name of human rights. Only private individuals and organizations have
any place speaking out on this issue.
4. WORLD GOVERNMENT
We support withdrawal of the United States government from, and an end
to its financial support for, the United Nations. We oppose U.S.
government participation in any world or international government. We
oppose any treaty under which individual rights would be violated.
5. SECESSION
We recognize the right to political secession. This includes the
right to secession by political entities, private groups, or
individuals. Exercise of this right, like the exercise of all other
rights, does not remove legal and moral obligations not to violate the
rights of others.
B. MILITARY
1. MILITARY POLICY
Any U.S. military policy should have the objective of providing
security for the lives, liberty and property of the American people in
the U.S. against the risk of attack by a foreign power. This
objective should be achieved as inexpensively as possible and without
undermining the liberties it is designed to protect.
We recognize that the one significant existing risk of foreign
aggression against Americans is the huge Soviet arsenal of nuclear
weapons. The potential use of Soviet, and U.S., nuclear weapons is
the greatest threat to all the peoples of the world, not only
Americans. Thus, the objective should be to reduce the risk that a
nuclear war might begin and its scope if it does.
We reject the policy of massive nuclear retaliation known as Mutual
Assured Destruction (MAD), a policy which ostensibly deters an attack
by threatening to kill hundreds of millions of innocent people in the
attacker's country and utterly destroy its society. MAD is immoral on
its face and impractical because neither the U.S. nor the Soviet
government continues to believe in its credibility. Furthermore, MAD
provides no defense against irrational or accidental nuclear attack.
We call on both the U.S. and Soviet governments to continue
negotiations toward mutual reduction of nuclear armaments, to the end
that all such weapons will ultimately be eliminated, under such
conditions of verification as to ensure mutual security. During arms
reduction negotiations, and to enhance their progress, the U.S. should
begin the retirement of some of its nuclear weapons as proof of its
commitment. Because the U.S. has many more thousands of nuclear
weapons than are currently required, beginning the process of arms
reduction would not jeopardize American security. U.S. weapons of
indiscriminate mass destruction should be replaced with smaller
weapons aimed solely at military targets and not designed or targeted
to kill millions of civilians.
We call on the U.S. government to remove its nuclear weapons from
Europe. If European countries want nuclear weapons on their soil,
they should take full responsibility for them and pay the cost.
We call for the replacement of MAD, or nuclear war fighting policies,
with a policy of developing cost-effective defensive systems.
Accordingly, we advocate termination of the 1972 ABM treaty or any
future agreement which would prevent defensive systems on U.S.
territory or in earth orbit.
We call for the withdrawal of all American military personnel
stationed abroad, including the countries of NATO Europe, Japan, the
Philippines, Central America and South Korea. There is no current or
foreseeable risk of any conventional military attack on the American
people, particularly from long distances. We call for the withdrawal
of the U.S. from commitments to engage in war on behalf of other
governments and for abandonment of doctrines supporting military
intervention such as the Monroe Doctrine and the Reagan Doctrine.
2. PRESIDENTIAL WAR POWERS
We call for the reform of the Presidential War Powers Act to end the
President's power to initiate military action, and for the abrogation
of all Presidential declarations of "states of emergency." There must
be no further secret commitments and unilateral acts of military
intervention by the Executive Branch.
We favor a Constitutional amendment limiting the presidential role as
Commander-in-Chief to its original meaning, namely that of the head of
the armed forces in wartime. The Commander-in-Chief role, correctly
understood, confers no additional authority on the President.
C. ECONOMIC POLICY
1. FOREIGN AID
We support the elimination of tax-supported military, economic,
technical, and scientific aid to foreign governments or other
organizations. We support the abolition of government underwriting of
arms sales. We further support abolition of federal agencies that
make American taxpayers guarantors of export-related loans, such as
the Export-Import Bank and the Commodity Credit Corporation. We also
oppose the participation of the U.S. government in international
commodity circles which restrict production, limit technological
innovation, and raise prices.
We call for the repeal of all prohibitions on individuals or firms
contributing or selling goods and services to any foreign country or
organization.
2. INTERNATIONAL MONEY
We favor withdrawal of the United States from all international paper
money and other inflationary credit schemes. We favor withdrawal from
the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
We strongly oppose any bailout of foreign governments or American
banks by the United States, either by means of the International
Monetary Fund or through any other governmental device.
3. UNOWNED RESOURCES
We oppose any recognition of fiat claims by national governments or
international bodies to unclaimed territory. Individuals have the
right to homestead unowned resources, both within the jurisdictions of
national governments and within such unclaimed territory as the ocean,
Antarctica, and the volume of outer space. We urge the development of
objective international standards for recognizing homesteaded claims
to private ownership of such forms of property as transportation
lanes, broadcast bands, mineral rights, fishing rights, and ocean
farming rights. All laws, treaties, and international agreements that
would prevent or restrict homesteading of unowned resources should be
abolished. We specifically hail the U.S. refusal to accept the
proposed Law of the Sea Treaty because the treaty excluded private
property principles, and we oppose any future ratification.
D. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. COLONIALISM
United States colonialism has left a legacy of property confiscation,
economic manipulation, and over-extended defense boundaries. We favor
immediate self-determination for all people living in colonial
dependencies, such as Samoa, Guam, Micronesia, the Virgin Islands, and
Puerto Rico, to free these people from United States dominance,
accompanied by the termination of subsidization of them at taxpayers'
expense. Land seized by the United States government should be
returned to its rightful owners.
2. FOREIGN INTERVENTION
We would end the current U.S. government policy of foreign
intervention, including military and economic aid, guarantees, and
diplomatic meddling. We would end all limitation of private foreign
aid, both military and economic. Voluntary cooperation with any
economic boycott should not be treated as a crime.
We would repeal the Neutrality Act of 1794, and all other U.S.
neutrality laws which restrict the efforts of Americans to aid
overseas organizations fighting to overthrow or change governments.
We would no longer incorporate foreign nations into the U.S. defense
perimeter. We would cease the creation and maintenance of U.S. bases
and sites for the pre-positioning of military material in other
countries. We would end the practice of stationing of American
military troops overseas.
We make no exceptions to the above.
3. SPACE EXPLORATION
We oppose all government restrictions upon voluntary peaceful use of
outer space. We condemn all international attempts to prevent or
limit private exploration, industrialization, and colonization of the
moon, planets, asteroids, satellite orbits, Lagrange libration points,
or any other extra-terrestrial resources. We specifically call for
the repudiation of the U.N. Moon Treaty. We support the abolition of
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the
privatization of all artificial satellites.
V. OMISSIONS
Our silence about any other particular government law, regulation,
ordinance, directive, edict, control, regulatory agency, activity, or
machination should not be construed to imply approval.
----------------- end cut ----------------
-marc
Technical Details
Message-ID:
<1992May27.071828.28661@ucsu.Colorado.EDU>Path:
arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!sparky!uunet!boulder!ucsu!spot.Colorado.EDU!andersomReferences:
<1992May26.205143.1425@csn.org>Show Full Headers
Complete Article Headers
X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: f49ec,d04e2703621f3a76 X-Google-Attributes: gidf49ec,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 1992-05-26 19:12:24 PST Newsgroups: boulder.general Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!sparky!uunet!boulder!ucsu!spot.Colorado.EDU!andersom From: andersom@spot.Colorado.EDU (Marc Anderson) Subject: Libertarian Party Platform Part II Message-ID: <1992May27.071828.28661@ucsu.Colorado.EDU> Sender: news@ucsu.Colorado.EDU (USENET News System) Nntp-Posting-Host: spot.colorado.edu Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder References: <1992May26.205143.1425@csn.org> Distribution: co Date: Wed, 27 May 1992 07:18:28 GMT Lines: 872