Hi. My name is William Hatten, and I’m a Libertarian. I throw away my vote. At least that’s what most people hear when I introduce myself and my political affiliation. Allow me however to tell you why believing in and supporting an organized third party is not a waste of a vote.
I am a born-and-bred Southern Baptist that has lived ninety percent of my life in the South, and I am also an active member of the LGBT community. Certainly, I have a strong sense of pride in my upbringing and in the ideals that my parents instilled in me. I am fiscally conservative, and I am not in any way a proponent of Keynesian economics. I don’t believe in entitlement programs, I don’t believe in the current tax code, and I don’t believe in the massive regulatory market the government has created.
First, let me explain how my economics brought me to the Libertarian Party. The LP believes in a completely classical economic view where the government does not regulate the market or banking institutions in any way, as referenced in its Statement of Principles. Libertarians have also strongly supported removing government interference in censored markets, like prostitution and the drug trade. The LP goes even further and espouses the dissolution of the Internal Revenue Service, the total repeal of income tax, the abandonment of a minimum-wage regulation, as well as disentangling itself from any other financial regulating policy. A LP administration would only operate under a balanced budget, would never carry debt and would defend the United States as the greatest free-market economy in the world.
Even as I hold these radically right-wing views, I am fiercely insistent on the necessity of achieving civil equality and strong personal liberty for all people in the United States. No major party more closely outlines a plan to provide complete equality than the Libertarians. Again, from the party’s Statement of Principles, Libertarians believe that “Government does not have the authority to define, license or restrict personal relationships. Consenting adults should be free to choose their own sexual practice and personal relationships.” A Libertarian administration would also insure complete freedom of expression and would remove all government censorship, including but not limited to decisions affecting your body, your personal property and your privacy. Take abortion for instance. Because the government does not believe in any form of censorship, there would be no federal regulation of abortion as that violates your personal freedoms. In fact, the LP goes so far as to say that any “victimless” crime would immediately be decriminalized because it is not the federal or state government’s right to determine what you do to your own body or property so long as it does not infringe on the personal liberties of someone else.
Now, I recognize that for your average voter, raised in a bi-cameral system, these views are radical. I do not agree with everything that the Libertarian Party preaches in their Preamble and Statement of Principles, but I do absolutely believe that our current political system is broken and cannot be fixed without a significant shift in political thought. While we are a great nation, we don’t have the perfect system. Look to some of the other major democratic nations who have four and five major political parties. I believe that we have a great future, we just have to be willing to think outside our two-party mentality, stand up for our rights and demand that politicians listen to and serve the needs of the American people.
That’s my two cents. I’m William Hatten, and I am a Libertarian. I challenge you to actually find the platform that best represents you and your belief system. Regardless of your choice, I invite you to join me and VOTE on November 6.
