[Vision2020] Is Budge is true libertarian?

[Nick Gier]

Greetings:

As I have noted before, I've generally been impressed with David Budge's 
intellectual acumen and what at first appeared to be a consistent 
libertarian position, as opposed to some phony Christian libertarians that 
we know so well.

John Stuart Mill's On Liberty has been a classic resource for contemporary 
libertarians, and one of the most important points that Mill makes in his 
defense of liberty is the protection of minorities.  I believe this is a 
direct quote: "Even a minority of one must be protected."  (This is the 
reason why we need the ACLU.) When Dave states that we must decide basic 
issues of human rights by a democratic vote, he has left, as far as I'm 
concerned, the libertarian fold.  We have a judicial system primarily 
because we don't want a majority of people in Mississippi tell its citizens 
that segregation is OK because that is how they've always done it.

As I have argued elsewhere, in a true libertarian society the role of 
government would contract significantly, but the court system would expand 
not contract.  For example, the libertarian solution to pollution is not a 
clumsy EPA but class action suits against polluters.  The libertarian 
solution against unsafe planes is not the FAA but class action suits 
against unsafe carriers.  The libertarian argument is that this is a far 
more effective way to irresponsible businesses.

After teaching undergraduates for 31 years and learning how poorly they 
understand basic rights such as equality of opportunity and liberty to do 
what one wants within a minimal legal framework, I do not want my fellow 
Americans voting on these basic rights.  They are not negotiable and our 
courts are there to protect our inalienable rights.  That's why I'm so 
fearful of the current administration packing the court system with real 
activist judges.

Yours for liberty, equality, and community,

Nick Gier, Classical Liberal
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20050315/5f243e84/attachment.htm