“It’s NOT Left vs Right,
It’s the State vs You!”
This is my new favorite bumper sticker. It sums up all that is wrong with the political dialogue in this country.
All too often, even libertarians* fall into this trap. I routinely mock statists, and I do not care where the statists fall on the traditional “left/right” or “Republican/Democrat” line. Recently, I mocked statists Keith Olberman and Rachel Maddow for their reactions to the election of statist Scott Brown as the new senator from Massachusetts.
Immediately, I was accused of being “pro-Republican” because I mocked two leftists. That criticism is a complete non-sequitur and is total tripe.
Worse than that, however, it shows how entrenched the “left vs. right” falsehood really is. Those that believe in the “left vs. right” myth honestly think that if someone mocks the “left” then they must be on the “right.”
It is our job as libertarians to destroy this myth.
To that end, I no longer use the words “left” and “right.” Using the words perpetuates the myth and gives the lie credence. I use the words “statist” and “libertarian.” (Of course, the Nolan Chart graphically demonstrates the distinction.)
We, as believers in freedom and liberty, understand that both the “left” and “right” are statist. Therefore there is no need to distinguish the two. They are statist. We are libertarian.
Statists believe in the initiation of force to achieve political ends. Libertarians do not.
Statists believe in the power of the government over the individual. Libertarians believe in the power of the individual over the state.
Statists are wrong. Libertarians are correct.
I ask you all to join me in this mission. Refuse to acknowledge any important difference between the “left” and the “right.” There is none.
Do not even use the words “left” and “right.” Reject the lie.
Embrace the truth. Embrace liberty. Fight the expansion of statism, no matter what purported “direction” it comes from.
And let freedom ring.
*To my Republican friends on the PPC, in this article, the term “libertarian” could very well be read as a reference to the philosophy. I add this footnote in an attempt to head off the otherwise anticipated criticism of being “partisan.” Of course, there is no place for partisanship on the PPC.
