Have we entered a Libertarian era?

The 2008 elections forever changed the political landscape of American politics. Ron Paul, who had been waging the lonely war of libertarianism since the '70's had finally discovered an audience. Seemingly over night, the pleasant, grandfatherly statesman became an internet sensation. He continually baffled the conniving media by defeating their polls, defying their script and generally swimming against the flow. In just 24 hours, the humble congressman raised over $6 million, completely defying the American political machine.

For Dr. Paul, however, it was just business as usual. He had been preaching the same message for nearly 30 years. It simply had finally struck a nerve. Voters who had been keeping an eye on politics, many of them students, had become disturbed by trends in government which now threatened the liberty and freedoms of American citizens. Neo-conservatives such as Paul Wolfowitz and William Kristol with the support of long-time Republicans and the intimidated Christian right, had led the nation into a war without end. The country was financially hemorrhaging and government had become a runaway train. As 2008 approached, it became clear that not only was the Republican party the party of war, but that war was big business. As the top-heavy mortgage and financial industries began to tumble, the ties between government and mega corporations were stripped away for all to see.

American citizens became increasingly infuriated. Conservatives had skeptically bought the line that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and that Osama Bin Ladin was somehow tied to the destruction of the World Trade Center. However, by the close of 2008, both of these notions had been completely discredited. Voter outrage had only begun to surface. Ron Paul's momentum, would be caught up in this tidal wave of political angst. As conservatives abandoned the Republican party in droves, Democrats took over Congress. Obama promised change but delivered an all-you-can-eat buffet of the same corpra-political feeding frenzy. Government spending, bailouts, stimulus packages, military outsourcing and additional troops provided an unprecedented spending spree which effectively lanced the boil of public outrage. Add to this a mega-billion dollar health care plan and it was all the working-public could take. As the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan continued to blaze and many of the previous administration's policies were strengthened, many liberals also became disenchanted. Suddenly, the long forgotten Constitution was now in vogue.

Libertarianism from a conservative perspective means absolute minimum government. It follows Thomas Jefferson's philosophy that the ideal type of government was that of the Native Americans, loosely structured and based upon the common interests of the people.  Libertarians believe that the government should not intrude into the private lives of its citizens whatsoever. Only in the cases of civil disputes, natural rights abuses, or very basic administrative functions is a government even necessary. This is a far cry from our present-day, over-inflated system.

However, according to trend forecaster, Gerald Celente, a new type of Libertarianism is about to emerge. Celente states that a third political party is looming on the horizon which he calls the "Progressive Libertarian" party. Like conservative libertarians, progressives are concerned with issues of natural rights and individual freedom and view the current two-party system as having one political agenda. Whereas conservative libertarians tend to favor "free market enterprise", progressive, or social libertarians would favor more humanitarian and social equality. While conservative libertarians would oppose a corpra-political merger because of its infringement on individual liberties and the development of monopolies, progressive libertarians would oppose such a merger because of its distribution of wealth to an elite group as well as environmental abuses and contributions to impoverishment. While conservative libertarians are almost exclusively concerned about the natural rights of citizens, progressive libertarians are concerned about the environment as well as humanitarian issues. Progressive libertarians would favor government regulations which would restrict individual freedoms in order to protect the environment or civil liberties. However, conservative libertarians would oppose such measures due to the infringement upon individual liberties. Both groups distrust government and the concentration of political power; however, progressives often see the government as not doing enough to curb abuse and protect its citizenry.

In order for these two groups to merge into a powerful political force, a shift in focus needs to occur. The differences appear to revolve around the role of government. The common ground shared by these two groups is that of individual liberty. However, for the progressives, issues of the environment and humanitarianism are equally important. The difficulty arises when progressives seek to obtain government intervention in order to enforce environmental or humanitarian regulation. Two possible solutions which could facilitate cooperation between these libertarian factions would include emphasis on a more active populace and the enforcement of existing laws.

Both conservative and progressive libertarians share a belief in the superiority of natural law and human rights. They also share a disdain for the abuse of power by both government and large corporations. Laws currently exist which would deal with monopolization, fraud, abuse as well as pollution and environmental abuses. Often, governmental entities ignore these laws for the sake of political or economic gain. Citizen watch dog groups could monitor the activities of political and corporate entities and bring litigation or legal intervention into situations whenever necessary once political lobbying power has been greatly reduced. In other words, many of the legitimate functions of government could be restored once the corpra-political entanglement has been either reduced or eliminated.

Libertarianism appears to be the balance which is currently lacking in the political arena. Whether or not it can find the "happy medium" in order to become a dynamic political force remains to be seen. The rise of a "Progressive Libertarian" party alone, will only add more confusion into the already convoluted mix of American Politics. However, the merging of conservative and progressive thought into a movement which empowers the people and enforces the rule of law would be powerful indeed. The salvation of America from the grip of a bloated, power-addicted government continues to rest squarely on the shoulders of its people.