Recently, Senator Jeanne Dietsch wrote an article about how she isn’t a libertarian (her voting record already let us know that). Her first thought is that libertarian is bad because it was responsible for slavery. I think we need to back up and explain to Senator Dietsch what a traditional libertarian might mean.
Foremost, it means a limited government. That is not the same as no government. I fully support a smaller government. However, there are many appropriate areas for the government to be involved in. The first might be to protect property rights. Of those property rights, I should own my own body. Slavery, is the complete opposite of a libertarian government.
Keep in mind, the United States government, was the one condoning slavery. Through laws, through the courts, and through the force of police. Since we agree neither the government, nor other people, should own our body, lets think of other ways that this comes into play. Should the government be able to tell people what medicine they can use or grow (for example marijuana)? Should the government force me to wear a seatbelt for my own safety? Or should an adult be able to decide for themselves what consensual actions they want to take involving their body?
I would guess Dietsch isn’t familiar with or supportive of the Non-Aggression Principle.
Once we agree that my body is important to me and should be protected from others harming me, should the government be solely responsible for that, or should I be allowed to protect myself? I believe I have a human right to self-defense. I also have Constitutional rights, but Dietsch dismisses those: “But in a democracy, we, the people, get to change government”. How has Dietsch acted in the last year to advance this democracy? She voted for gun free zones, allowing the government to confiscate firearms, and voted to require someone to wait before they can obtain a firearm for self-defense. She believes a victim of domestic violence has to “wait it out” before buying a gun to protect themselves. This is just big government controlling people. Thankfully, we don’t live in a democracy, we live in a Constitutional Republic.
Our system of government protects us from the tyranny of the majority. Ok, now maybe we agree I should be able to control my own body. But surely, the government knows how to spend my money better than I do.
Not to worry, socialist Dietsch has a plan for that. In this last year she voted for an income tax, raising the business taxes, keeping the utility property tax, higher taxes on interest and dividends, and supported a capital gains tax. We need to afford all the “free” stuff somehow. But, those are just pennies, and we already have taxes; socialist Dietsch says.
Instead of raising taxes, maybe we could lower costs of the things we want people to have, such as health insurance. Should the government be able to tell people where they can buy insurance? Senator Dietsch voted against allowing people to purchase health insurance from out of state companies.
Why does Senator Dietsch oppose people shopping for health insurance from more providers? Maybe it is because she blames high health costs on: “the fact that the CEO of CVS made 434 times as much as the salary of his average employee.”
If we actually allowed free market competition (a libertarian philosophy), the costs of health insurance would go down. If we didn’t have the federal and state governments imposing burdensome regulations on businesses, the cost of health insurance would go down. If we let people buy medicine from other places, the cost of prescriptions would go down.
At the end of the day, I want the government out of my wallet, and out of my bedroom. I don’t need Senator Dietsch to be my financial advisor and come in and take my money since she knows how to best spend it. I really don’t need her to be my nanny and tell me what consensual things I can do because big government knows best.
Dietsch is correct on one point: “Is government always done right? Of course not.” Lets start to right our wrongs, and vote for a smaller government senator, and not a socialist nanny.
That’s why I’m not a socialist.
By Dan Hynes, Bedford
(Dan Hynes is a Bedford Republican who ran against Senator Dietsch in the 2018 election for State Senate District 9.)
