An ignorant view of Libertarians

An ignorant view of Libertarians

by Keith Murphy • 10/07/03

Letter to the editor It was with a great deal of amusement that I read your Oct. 6 editorial "Free from reality," which attempted to portray the incoming Free State Project members as crackpots who wish the elderly to be thrown into the streets and have children go uneducated. You even accused us of defending slavery!

The writer is either completely ignorant of libertarian principles or intent on misrepresenting them to the public in order to further his own goals. Of course, we oppose slavery; the ownership of one man by another is abhorrent to our entire philosophy. We care about the elderly enough to support them as individuals, without voting en masse to force everyone to submit their hard-earned money to Washington, D.C., where it is inevitably spent on other things anyway. Or haven't the editors of the Monitor been made aware that Social Security is at the edge of bankruptcy? As for education, we believe decisions regarding education are better left with parents. That's why we would support a property tax break for those that choose to home-school or send their children to private schools. Libertarians simply believe people should be free to live their own lives as they see fit and government should stick to protecting the individual rights of citizens from force and fraud. This small-government, classically liberal philosophy was endorsed by Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, George Washington and Thomas Paine, but perhaps the Monitor thinks them nutty as well. This editorial was an excellent example of what happens when a million-dollar press is operated by a group of five-cent minds. Not to worry, editors. Libertarians believe in the freedom of the press. Of course, we also believe in the free market, and when I arrive in New Hampshire in six months, I will choose to support your competitor to the south. KEITH MURPHY Baltimore

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