Why I’m a Republitarian

Pete Kaliner, veteran news reporter for 1110 WBT in Charlotte, NC, filled in for Tara Servatius on Wednesday night with a topic of discussion that intrigued me. He spoke on the theory that the people of this nation are becoming more Libertarian in nature, but refuse to admit it for the sake of the "jersey" they currently wear in the form of an R or a D. (That's Republican and Democrat for you uninitiated.)

I would have to say that is certainly the case for me. I've often described myself to friends as being a "Republitarian"...sort of the bastard son of a Libertarian and a Republican. When it comes to government, my basic philosophy is that the least the government can be involved the better.

Traditionally, the Republicans have been the party of less government and lower taxes...though that is now a laughable label to apply to them. However, even in their heyday, a fiscally conservative member of the GOP would still be found attempting to use government for the "moral" purposes of fighting a stupid drug war, declaring abortion illegal, outlawing "deviant" sexual practices, etc. It seems they believed government shouldn't take your money, but by all means they should control what you do with your own life and body.

The opposite is true for the Democrat party. It's all about freedom of choice until you want to choose the school your child goes to. Then all Hell breaks loose.

I think more and more people are coming to the realization that both parties suffer from a bad case of hypocrisy. We are yearning for something different...something at least consistent.

Enter the Libertarian Party. Overall, an amazing general belief system, but saddled with the most inept leadership ever. (That is almost by design though. I mean, how can a party based on individualism rightly elect leadership! It's counter-intuitive!) They are in great need of a marketing and image specialist who could focus their agenda on something other than legalizing drugs. I agree that's a valid position, but reality dictates it will take a while before our culture can jump that logical hurdle. The party also suffers from state laws written by the monopoly parties to keep ballot access a distant dream. When a party spends more time gathering signatures to appear on a ballot than it does debating the issues, it's hard to win converts. We need ballot access reform badly, but that is another article.

The problem with the Libertarians is that they don't believe in an activist foreign policy. Sadly, we live in a world based on power. If not the United States projecting its power, some other nation would fill the void were we to distance ourselves from global affairs. Who would it be? Russia? Germany? China? We are far from perfect, but with a finger on the trigger of the world, I would much rather it be an American finger than any other country. We can't pull out.

I also believe that government does have some role in our economic well being. My understanding is that a true Libertarian wouldn't even support government funding of roads or sewer lines. I would disagree. Government certainly has a role in organizing and preparing infrastructure, just not much else.

I believe that government can create the equal playing field and the foundation on which our economy is based (currency policy for example), but at that point should then step away and let free market capitalism rule the day.

So I become a "Republitarian". I believe government has a role, and one that is closer to that championed by Libertarians, but I still believe in establishing our national influence on a global stage. I also believe that some things are best left to government lest pure anarchy rule the day. But, I'll say it again....

The less government we have the better. Remember, a government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take away everything you have!