We're Not Nuts... I Promise

As far as the political spectrum goes most people consider themselves some variation of either Republican or Democrat. People tend to forget that other parties do exist, the peace and freedom party, the green party, the libertarian party etc... but unfortunately since these parties haven't achieved mainstream success people tend to disregard them. I consider myself to be a Libertarian. When I tell people this, I usually hear some sort of intelligent argument against my party such as: "you guys are idiots" or "you should all die", you know really logical statements. But I've come to realize that most people, regretfully, don't even know what the Libertarian Party stands for and that people are usually so staunchly Republican or Democrat that any outside idea is automatically deemed wrong or stupid or whatever degrading term they can think of. I also see that maybe the reason people don't understand us is because we haven't been outspoken enough. So today I will attempt to play my part in spreading the Libertarian philosophy and judging by my page visits maybe two or three might be more informed.

The party itself is called the Libertarian Party because we first and foremost believe in liberty for all, as our forefathers so elegantly put it. The word "liberty" gets thrown around a lot by politicians trying to strike some chord within the public and we hear it so much it tends to lose meaning. But liberty is the backbone to our party and to us liberty is the freedom guaranteed by our constitution to every man, woman, and child in this country to live their own lives the way the choose to without government interference as long as they do not infringe upon others right to liberty. I don't see how anyone could disagree with this sentiment, doesn't everybody want to live as freely as possible? Now this is where people tend to start thinking we're anarchists and we believe in chaos and other nonsense. While we believe ensuring personal freedom to be the most important issue we also believe that you have the right to be protected from your neighbor. If you neighbor steals from you, that's wrong, if your neighbor sneaks into your backyard at night and disposes of harsh chemicals by pouring it on your flower bed, that's wrong. We believe in personal freedom as long as it does not negatively affect others.

Another key philosophy to the Libertarian Party is that we believe governmental power should be restricted as much as possible. Our current government is massively overgrown and needs to be drastically downsized. The general Libertarian philosophy on what a government should be is hugely different from what it is today. People establish governments so that they can live their lives freely and peacefully with their neighbors. If their neighbor decides to steal their potatoes there is someone there to protect the innocent man who had his potatoes stolen and there is also someone to punish the potato stealer. Now I know that is an oversimplification of government but hopefully you get the point. The reason for having a government is pretty basic but of course over the years the government has continued to put its hand on more and more and their job description keeps expanding. We simply propose we downsize the government take away their power and let the people have their freedom back.

This is a very basic, simplified version of the libertarian philosophy and there are a lot of other aspects to it that I haven't covered here. All I ask is that instead of writing us off as kooks give us a shot and do some reading of your own. You'll find that our philosophies are rooted in logic and rational thinking, you'll also find that we are the most principled party out there. There aren't moderate or progressive Libertarians, you're either a Libertarian or your not and we stand by what we believe.

If you have any questions or comments feel free to use the comment box. I enjoy intelligent debates but if you are just going to be hateful or cynical don't bother I won't respond. Also be sure to check out the Libertarian Party's website for more info. I'm sure they explain their philosophy much more elegantly than I do.

Numero Uno

I've already acknowledged that in all likely hood no one is going to read this blog. I also consider most blogs just another way for people to emphasize their own self importance and I'm okay with that. The reason why I'm starting this blog is because over the past four years or so I've found my self becoming increasingly passionate about my political positions. Even though this blog will have little or no effect on anything at least I can say I made my opinions known.

Legalize It

To start this thing off with a bang I wanted to talk about the legalization and taxation of marijuana in California. In short, I am completely for it.

Speaking from a completely financial standpoint legalizing and taxing marijuana would be a great move for California. Its clear that at this point in time this wonderful state has spent itself into a obscene amount of debt and there are no clear solutions available. The marijuana industry in Medocino County alone is estimated to be a 1 billion dollar industry. With moderate taxation of the entire state's pot industry we could expect to see at least 1.4 billion dollars in additional tax revenue each year. 1.4 billion dollars could do a lot to help repair a state that ended 2009 with a budget deficit of 20.7 billion dollars. California wouldn't only make money through taxation but they would also save money by eliminating much of the money spent on fighting the drug war. The war against marijuana has cost this state an unbelievable amount of money. The federal and state government continue to put money into enforcing marijuana laws and incarcerating offenders. Yet marijuana use continues to be on the rise, its clearly a war that is being lost. Do you really want your tax dollars spent on keeping a guy in prison because he likes to get high, watch tv, and eat to many Cheetos? I sure don't. Fiscally the legalization of marijuana makes complete sense.

Now, clearly, people aren't opposed to legalizing marijuana because of financial reasons, its mainly the negative repercussions of "drug" use that have most people reeling when it comes to legalizing pot. Luckily marijuana isn't a drug, its a plant, and all of the negative things that have perpetuated through the main stream media and governmental organizations have been largely proven to be false.

Does marijuana cause lung cancer? There has never been a proven link between marijuana use and the occurrence of lung cancer.

Don't people die from marijuana use? There has never been a marijuana related death EVER. However a significant amount of people die every year from caffeine overdoses.

Doesn't marijuana kill brain cells? No, it has been proven that marijuana contrary to popular belief does not kill brain cells and in some cases has even been proven to increase brain function. Alcohol most definitely kills brain cells.

Is marijuana a gateway drug? There has never been any conclusive evidence to show that marijuana leads to the use of harder drugs. Studies have shown that for every 100 marijuana users there is only one regular user of cocaine and less than one user of heroin. In Holland where marijuana has been legal for 25 years drug use within their population is significantly less than than what we experience in the U.S. The gateway drug argument is largely hearsay and lies perpetuated by the anti drug coalitions.

Does marijuana make you lazy? In some cases, yes, but last time I checked being lazy wasn't illegal. On the other hand some of the most successful people I know are regular marijuana users. So I'd have to say it really depends on the person.

If marijuana is legalized won't all of our children become stoners? Ask any high school student and they'll tell you its easier for them to get pot than alcohol. If marijuana is legalized it will have the same restrictions as alcohol and should actually make it harder for kids to get their hands on it.

The war against marijuana is also indicative of what I believe to be a huge flaw in our modern political system and that is, that we think its the governments job to protect us from hurting ourselves. I think one of the most essential freedoms that we should enjoy in this country is the right to do what we choose to our own bodies. If you want to eat 4 double cheeseburgers from Mcdonalds every day and die of a heart attack at 45 that's your prerogative and the government isn't going to stop you. Obesity is one of the greatest causes of death in this country yet no one is trying to make deep fried Twinkies at the county fair illegal. The criminalization of marijuana is governmental hypocrisy at its finest. As long as your choices don't infringe upon other peoples essential rights you should be allowed to do what choose.

If you think about this debate logically the legalization of marijuana makes a lot of sense and I hope that sometime soon we'll see it legalized so we can focus on some of the greater problems in this country.

If you want more facts and figures do your own research or check out this site. http://norml.org/