How should we be run?

Published Fri, Oct 24 2008 1:25 PM | duffmann808

I have been a libertarian since I was about 12 years old, because even at that age I could tell the virtue of individuals making their own choices and deciding what is best for them personally.  It bothers me that even to this day there are still people in our country and around the world who believe that the government knows how to best serve our needs and how to best spend our money.  I will therefore give my interpretation of how the government structure of the USA should be set up if I could ideally allow it to be.

1.) The Federal level of government would be akin to the current local and municipal governments of today.  The government would be small, and there would be very little for it to do, because in my opinion every time the Federal government gets involved with something there is a massive loss of total utility in the system and a very large loss of efficiency.  The government would be allowed to function as a sort of small entity with a few distinct functions.

  • Establishing(or in this case continuing) the military.  Every country no matter its size should have a military to protect itself, and as a world power the USA should always have one.  The spending on the military would probably be the second biggest component of the government spending, but in my mind would be equally as important as the first biggest.
  • Creating a currency that is allowed to fluctuate and is of some value.  The national government is much better prepared to set forth the way for money to be created and spent, but I would much rather see it set forth in a way that actually gives the money itself value, as opposed to the worthless paper in the pockets of citizens today.  This currency would be the largest part of the governments spending, mostly in the printing of the currency, but the currency itself would be tied to something of value to create an actual currency

2.) The state government would be slightly larger than the federal government, but would ideally itself be rather small in order to hold the efficiency in check and to allow all functions it carries out to be the most succinct and proper.  The state government would have more control over the actual policies that are enacted within each state, so that if the citizens of a state desire a certain property they can get the legislation enacted, and the people can have their way.  This also creates the opportunity for citizens who disapprove of the policies to move to a different state in order to get away from the policies they disagree with.  I see this as far superior to a country where many undesirable laws are made by a large federal government, with no real options for moving away from these legislations.

3.)The local bodies would merely mitigate small disputes and pass ordinances to create an even more perfect atmosphere for the citizens of their community.

I believe that if we were to have actual businessmen in the government there would not be many of the problems/infringements that currently entangle and complicate our system.  We allow people who have not seen the proper function of a market to make decisions that affect the rest of the country and the world, and it has propagated into an extremely large problem, hassle and forfeiture of rights, without reason or rhyme.

Comments

# Nicolas Dong said on October 25, 2008 3:28 AM:

Are there many libertarians around you?

Since I'm Chinese, I'm wondering if liberalism is well-understood by the people of the US.

:)

# David Z said on October 25, 2008 9:42 AM:

You should read Bastiat's "The Law", which explains how the law which ought to be the single greatest protector of rights, devolves through government to be the single greatest perpetrator of injustice.

# Jimbo said on October 25, 2008 6:38 PM:

"Every country no matter its size should have a military to protect itself, and as a world power the USA should always have one."

Our military should be militia based, ie National Guard and Reserve Forces being the bulk of the troops. Having everyone in the militia keeps state tyrany at bay. Machiavelli was a proponent of this, because professional or mercenary forces are wonderful billy clubs for the state to use against it's population.

Everyone should undergo a minimum of 16 weeks of Universal Military Training in Infantry tactics upon graduating high school. Anyone who elects to serve in either Active or reserve forces would be allowed to select their Military Occupation Specialty and be trained in that as well.

2/3rd of Troop strength should be Reserve component, 1/3 Active. I would have 1/3rd of Troop units be comprised of Active duty units, the other 2/3 would be Reserve Component.

A small strike element comprised of Special Operations Forces, Airborne, and teh Marine Corps would be purely active for contingencies.

We would exit NATO, Korea, and other entangling alliances. The U.N. building would be converted to low rent housing.

# duffmann808 said on October 26, 2008 1:23 AM:

No one should be required to do anything.  That is not freedom.