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PREAMBLE
As Libertarians, we seek a world of liberty; a
world in which all individuals are sovereign over
their own lives, and no one is forced to sacrifice
his or her values for the benefit of others.
We believe that respect for individual rights is the
essential precondition for a free and prosperous world,
that force and fraud must be banished from human re-
lationships, and that only through freedom can peace
and prosperity be realized.
Consequently, we defend each person’s right to
engage in any activity that is peaceful and honest, and
welcome the diversity that freedom brings. The world
we seek to build is one where individuals are free to
follow their own dreams in their own ways, without
interference from government or any authoritarian
power.
In the following pages we have set forth our basic
principles and enumerated various policy stands de-
rived from those principles.
These specific policies are not our goal, however.
Our goal is nothing more nor less than a world set free
in our lifetime, and it is to this end that we take these
stands.
STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES
We, the members of the Libertarian Party, chal-
lenge the cult of the omnipotent state and defend
the rights of the individual.
We hold that all individuals have the right to
exercise sole dominion over their own lives, and have
the right to live in whatever manner they choose, so
long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal
right of others to live in whatever manner they choose.
Governments throughout history have regularly
operated on the opposite principle, that the State has
the right to dispose of the lives of individuals and the
fruits of their labor. Even within the United States, all
political parties other than our own grant to govern-
ment the right to regulate the lives of individuals and
seize the fruits of their labor without their consent.
We, on the contrary, deny the right of any govern-
ment to do these things, and hold that where govern-
ments exist, they must not violate the rights of any
individual: namely, (1) the right to life — accordingly
we support the prohibition of the initiation of physical
force against others; (2) the right to liberty of speech
and action — accordingly we oppose all attempts by
government to abridge the freedom of speech and
press, as well as government censorship in any form;
and (3) the right to property — accordingly we oppose
all government interference with private property,
such as confiscation, nationalization, and eminent
domain, and support the prohibition of robbery, tres-
pass, fraud, and misrepresentation.
Since governments, when instituted, must not
violate individual rights, we oppose all interference by
government in the areas of voluntary and contractual
relations among individuals. People should not be
forced to sacrifice their lives and property for the
benefit of others. They should be left free by govern-
ment to deal with one another as free traders; and the
resultant economic system, the only one compatible
with the protection of individual rights, is the free
market.
INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL ORDER
No conflict exists between civil order and individual rights.
Both concepts are based on the same fundamental principle: that
no individual, group, or government may initiate force against any
other individual, group, or government.
1. FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY
Members of the Libertarian Party do not necessarily advocate
or condone any of the practices our policies would make legal. Our
exclusion of moral approval and disapproval is deliberate:
people's rights must be recognized; the wisdom of any course of
peaceful action is a matter for the acting individual(s) to decide.
Personal responsibility is discouraged by society routinely deny-
ing the people the opportunity to exercise it. Libertarian policies
will create a society where people are free to make and learn from
their own decisions.
2. CRIME
The continuing high level of violent crime — and the
government’s demonstrated inability to deal with it -— threatens
the lives, happiness, and belongings of Americans. At the same
time, governmental violations of rights undermine the people’s
sense of justice with regard to crime. The appropriate way to
suppress crime is through consistent and impartial enforcement of
laws that protect individual rights. Laws pertaining to “victimless
crimes” should be repealed since such laws themselves violate
individual rights and also breed other types of crime. We applaud
the trend toward private protection services and voluntary com-
munity crime control groups. We support institutional changes,
consistent with full respect for the rights of the accused, that
would permit victims to direct the prosecution in criminal cases.
3. VICTIMLESS CRIMES
Because only actions that infringe on the rights of others can
properly be termed crimes, we favor the repeal of all federal, state,
and local laws creating “crimes” without victims. In particular, we
advocate:
a. the repeal of all laws prohibiting the production, sale,
possession, or use of drugs, and of all medicinal prescrip-
tion requirements for the purchase of vitamins, drugs, and
similar substances;
b. the repeal of all laws restricting or prohibiting the use
or sale of alcohol, including the imposition of a minimum
drinking age, and making bartenders or hosts responsible
for the behavior of customers and guests;
c. the repeal of all laws or policies authorizing stopping
drivers without probable cause to test for alcohol or drug
use;
d. the repeal of all laws regarding consensual sexual re-
lations, including prostitution and solicitation, and the ces-
sation of state oppression and harassment of homosexual
men and women, that they, at last, be accorded their full
rights as individuals;
e. the repeal of all laws regulating or prohibiting the pos-
session, use, sale, production, or distribution of sexually
explicit material, independent of “socially redeeming
value” or compliance with “community standards”;
f. the repeal of all laws regulating or prohibiting gam-
bling; and
g. the repeal of all laws interfering with the right to
commit suicide as infringements of the ultimate right of an
individual to his or her own life.
We demand the use of executive pardon to free and exonerate
all those presently incarcerated or ever convicted solely for the
commission of these “crimes.”
Further, we recognize that, often, the Federal Government
blackmails states which refuse to comply with these laws by
withholding funds and we applaud those states which refuse to be
so coerced.
4. SAFEGUARDS FOR THE CRIMINALLY ACCUSED
Until such time as persons are proved guilty of crimes, they
should be accorded full respect for their individual rights. We are
thus opposed to reduction of present safeguards of the rights of the
criminally accused.
Specifically, we are opposed to preventive detention, so-
called “no-knock” laws, and all other measures that threaten
individual rights.
We support full restitution for all loss suffered by persons
arrested, indicted, tried, imprisoned, or otherwise injured in the
course of criminal proceedings against them that do not result in
their conviction. When they are responsible, government police
employees or agents should be liable for this restitution.
We call for a reform of the judicial system allowing criminal
defendants and civil parties to a court action a reasonable number
of peremptory challenges to proposed judges, similar to their right
under the present system to challenge a proposed juror.
5. JUSTICE FOR THE INDIVIDUAL
The present system of criminal law is based almost solely on
punishment with little concern for the victim. We support testim-
tion for the victim to the fullest degree possible at the expense of
the criminal or wrongdoer.
We oppose the prosecution of individuals for the rights of
self-defense.
We oppose all “no-fault” insurance laws, which deprive the
victim of the right to recover damages from those responsible in
the case of injury. We also support the right of the victim to pardon
the criminal or wrongdoer, barring threats to the victim for this
purpose. We applaud the growth of private adjudication of dis-
putes by mutually acceptable judges.
We support a change in rape laws so that cohabitation will no
longer be a defense against a charge of rape.
6. JURIES
We oppose the current practice of forced jury duty and favor
all-volunteer juries.
In addition, we _urge the assertion of the common-law right of
juries to judge not only the facts but also the justice of the law.
Juries may hold all criminal laws invalid that are, in their opinion,
unjust or oppressive, and find all persons not guilty of violating
such laws.
7. INDIVIDUAL SOVEREIGNTY
The only legitimate use of force is in defense of individual
rights — life, liberty. and justly acquired property — against
aggression, whether by force or fraud. This right inheres in the
individual, who — with his or her consent — may be aided by any
other individual or group.
The right of defense extends to defense against aggressive
acts of government. We favor an immediate end to the doctrine of
“Sovereign Immunity” which ignores the primacy of the individ-
ual over the abstraction of the State, and holds that the State.
contrary to the tradition of redress of grievances, may not be sued
without its permission or held accountable for its actions under
civil law.
8. GOVERNMENT AND MENTAL HEALTH
We oppose the involuntary commitment of any person to a
mental institution. To incarcerate an individual not convicted of
any crime, but merely asserted to be incompetent, is a violation of
the individual's rights. We further advocate:
a. the repeal of all laws permitting involuntary psychiatric
treatment of any person, including children and those
incarcerated in prisons or mental institutions;
b. an immediate end to the spending of tax money for any
program of psychiatric or psychological research or treat-
ment;
c. an end to all involuntary treatment of prisoners by such
means as psychosurgery, drug therapy, and aversion ther-
apy;
d. an end to tax-supported “mental health” propaganda
campaigns and community “mental health” centers and
Programs: and
e. an end to criminal defenses based on “insanity” or “di-
minished capacity” which absolve the guilty of their re-
sponsibility.
9. FREEDOM OF COMMUNICATION
We defend the rights of individuals to unrestricted freedom
of speech and freedom of the press. It is particularly important in
any society, including our own, to guarantee the right of individu-
als to dissent from government itself. We recognize that full
freedom of expression is only possible as part of a system of full
property rights. The freedom to use one’s own voice; the freedom
to hire a hall; the freedom to own a printing press, a broadcasting
station, or a transmission cable; and similar property-based free-
doms are precisely what constitute freedom of communication. At
the same time, we recognize that freedom of communication does
not extend to the use of other people's property to promote one’s
ideas without the voluntary consent of the owners.
We oppose all forms of government censorship, whatever the
medium involved. Specifically, we oppose all laws against ob-
scenity or commercial advertising. For example, we oppose all
laws and regulations that would ban “pornography" as an instiga-
tion of rape or assault or as demeaning or slanderous to the
character and nature of women. Enacting such a view of instiga-
tion or a group libel law is simply an abridgment of liberty of
expression. We further condemn indirect oensorshi p through
government control of the postal system and regulation of cable
transmissions.
We support the right of individuals to purchase, manufacture,
and use any type of information reception and storage equipment,
such as digital audio tape recorders and radar warning devices.
We support the repeal of the Intelligence Identities Protection
Act, which classifies information as secret that should be avail-
able to taxpayers, violates freedom of speech and press, and
prohibits public discussion of covert government paramilitary
activities and spying abroad.
We also oppose the government's burgeoning practice of
invading newsrooms, or the premises of other innocent third
parties, in the name of law enforcement. We further oppose court
orders gagging news coverage of criminal proceedings — the
right to publish and broadcast must not be abridged merely for the
convenience of the judicial system. We deplore any efforts to
impose thought control on the media, either by the use of anti-trust
laws, or by any other government action in the name of stopping
“bias.” We further deplore all measures that restrict competition
in the electronic media by barring telephone companies from
publishing electronic newspapers and electronic “Yellow Pages.”
To complete the separation of media and State, we support
legislation to repeal the Federal Communications Act, and to
provide for private homesteading and ownership of airwave
frequencies, thus giving the electronic media First Amendment
parity with the other communications media. Government regu-
lation of broadcasting can no longer be tolerated. We therefore
urge repeal of the the “equal time” rule and the “reasonable
access” provision and oppose legislative renewal of the “fairness
doctrine.” Government ownership or subsidy of broadcast band
radio and television stations and networks -- in particular, the tax
funding of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — must end.
We also oppose government ownership of, grants of monopoly
franchise for, or regulation of, “pay TV” cable, or satellite
transmission systems. We specifically condemn such government
efforts to control broadcast content by banning advertising for
cigarettes and sugar-coated breakfast foods, or regulating depic-
tion of sex or violence.
We call for immediate cessation of federal funding and
contracting of ads produced by the National Ad Council, so that
no individuals be forced to pay to support issues or ideas to which
they would not voluntarily contribute. The implied threat of loss
of license renewal broadcasters face, if they refuse to show
National Ad Council advertisements for free, can only be ended
by abolishing the FCC.
In particular, FCC regulation of political coverage must be
immediately ended, to stop its chilling effect on the level of
political debate in this country. Federally mandated lower rates
for political ads, which unjustly harm established broadcasters,
must cease, as must FCC rules and regulations that unjustly
benefit established broadcasters.
Removal of all of these regulations throughout the commu-
nications media would open the way to untrammeled diversity
and innovation. We shall not be satisfied until the First Amend-
ment is expanded to protect full, unconditional freedom of com-
munication.
10. FREEDOM OF RELIGION
We defend the rights of individuals to engage in (or abstain
from) any religious activities that do not violate the rights of
others. In order to defend freedom, we advocate a strict separation
of church and State. We oppose government actions that either aid
or attack any religion. We oppose taxation of church property for
the same reason that we oppose all taxation.
We condemn the attempts by parents or any others — via
kidnappings, conservatorships, or instruction under confinement
—- to force children to conform to their parents’ or any others’
religious views. Government harassment or obstruction of uncon-
ventional religious groups for their beliefs or non-violent activi-
ties must end.
11. THE RIGHT TO PROPERTY
There is no conflict between property rights and human
rights. Indeed, property rights are the rights of humans with
respect to property, and as such, are entitled to the same respect
and protection as all other human rights.
Moreover, all human rights are property rights too. Such
rights as the freedom from involuntary servitude as well as the
freedom of speech and the freedom of press are based on self-
ownership. Our bodies are our property every bit as much as is
justly acquired land or material objects.
We further hold that the owners of property have the full right
to control, use, dispose of, or in any manner enjoy, their property
without interference, until and unless the exercise of their control
infringes the valid rights of others. We oppose all violations of the
right to private property, liberty of contract, and freedom of trade
done in the name of national security. We also condemn current
government efforts to regulate or ban the use of property in the
name of aesthetic values, riskiness, moral standards, cost—benefit
estimates, or the promotion or restriction of economic growth.
We demand an end to the taxation of privately owned real
property, which actually makes the State the owner of all lands
and forces individuals to rent their homes and places of business
from the State. We condemn recent attempts to employ eminent
domain to municipalize sports teams or to try to force them to stay
in their present location.
Where property, including land, has been taken from its
rightful owners by the government or private action in violation
of individual rights, we favor restitution to the rightful owners.
Specifically, we call for the return of lands taken from Americans
of Japanese ancestry during World War II.
12. PROTECTION OF PRIVACY
The individual’s privacy, property, and right to speak or not
to speak should not be infringed by the government. The govern-
ment should not use electronic or other means of covert surveil-
lance of an individual’s actions or private property without the
consent of the owner or occupant Correspondence, bank and
other financial transactions and records, doctors’ and lawyers’
communications, employment records, and the like should not be
open to review by government without the consent of all parties
involved in those actions. So long as the National Census and all
federal, state, and other government agencies’ compilations of
data on an individual continue to exist, they should be conducted
only with the consent of the persons from whom the data is sought.
We oppose the issuance by the government of an identity
card, to be required for any purpose, such as employment, voting,
or border crossing.
13. GOVERNMENT SECRECY
We condemn the government’s use of secret classifications
to keep from the public information that it should have. We favor
substituting a system in which no individual may be convicted for
violating government secrecy classifications unless the govern-
ment discharges its burden of proving that the publication:
a. violated the right of privacy of those who have been
coerced into revealing confidential or proprietary informa-
tion to government agents, or
b. disclosed defensive military plans so as to materially
impair the capabilities to respond to attack.
It should always be a defense to such prosecution that
information divulged shows that the government has violated the
law.
14. INTERNAL SECURITY AND CIVIL LIBERTIES
We call for the abolition of all federal secret police agencies.
In particular, we seek the abolition of the Central Intelligence
Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and we call for
a return to the American tradition of local law enforcement. We
support Congressional investigation of criminal activities of the
CIA and FBI and of wrongdoing by other governmental agencies.
We support the abolition of the subpoena power as used by
Congressional committees against individuals or firms. We hail
the abolition of the House Internal Security Committee and call
for the destruction of its files on private individuals and groups.
We also call for the abolition of the Senate Subcommittee on
Internal Security.
15. THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS
Maintaining our belief in the inviolability of the right to keep
and bear arms, we oppose all laws at any level of government
restricting the ownership, manufacture, transfer, or sale of fire-
arms or ammunition. We oppose all laws requiring registration of
firearms or ammunition. We also oppose any government efforts
to ban or restrict the use of tear gas, “mace,” or other self-
protection devices. We further oppose all attempts to ban weapons
or ammunition on the grounds that they are risky or unsafe.
We support repeal of the National Firearms Act of 1935 and
the Federal Gun Control Act of 1968, and we demand the
immediate abolition of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and
Firearms.
We favor the repeal of laws banning the concealment of
weapons or prohibiting pocket weapons. We also oppose the
banning of inexpensive handguns (“Saturday night specials").
16. CONSCRIPTION AND THE MILITARY
Recognizing that registration is the first step toward full
conscription, we oppose all attempts at compulsory registration of
any person and all schemes for automatic registration through
government invasions of the privacy of school, motor vehicle, or
other records. We call for the abolition of the still—functioning
elements of the Selective Service System, believing that impress-
ment of individuals into the armed forces is involuntary servitude.
We call for the destruction of all files in computer-readable or
hard-copy form compiled by the Selective Service System. We
also oppose any form of national service, such as a compulsory
youth labor program.
We oppose adding women to the pool of those eligible for and
subject to the draft, not because we think that as a rule women are
unfit for combat, but because we believe that this step enlarges the
number of people subjected to government tyranny.
We support the immediate and unconditional exoneration of
all who have been accused or convicted of draft evasion, desertion
from the military, and other acts of resistance to such transgres-
sions as imperialistic wars and aggressive acts of the military.
Members of the military should have the same right to quit their
jobs as other persons.
We call for the end of the Defense Department practice of
discharging armed forces personnel for homosexual conduct. We
further call for retraction of all less-than-honorable discharges
previously assigned for such reasons and deletion of such infor-
mation from military personnel files.
We recommend the repeal of the Uniform Code of Military
Justice and the recognition and equal protection of the rights of
armed forces members. This will thereby promote morale, dig-
nity, and a sense of justice within the military.
17. IMMIGRATION
We hold that human rights should not be denied or abridged
on the basis of nationality. We condemn massive roundups of
Hispanic Americans and others by the federal government in its
hunt for individuals not possessing required government docu-
ments. We strongly oppose all measures that would punish
employers who hire undocumented workers. Such measures
repress free enterprise, harass workers, and systematically dis-
courage employers from hiring Hispanics.
Undocumented non-citizens should not be denied the funda-
mental freedom to labor and to move about unmolested Further-
more, immigration must not be restricted for reasons of race,
religion, political creed, age, or sexual preference.
We therefore call for the elimination of all restrictions on
immigration, the abolition of the Immigration and Naturalization
Service and the Border Patrol. and a declaration of full amnesty for
all people who have entered the country illegally. We oppose
government welfare payments to non-citizens just as we oppose
government welfare payments to all other persons.
Because we support the right of workers to cross borders
without harassment, we oppose all government-mandated “tem-
porary worker” plans. Specifically, we condemn attempts to
revive the Bracero Program as government imposition of second-
class status on Mexican-bom workers.
We welcome all refugees to our shores and condemn the
efforts of U.S. officials to create a new “Berlin Wall” which would
keep them captive. We condemn the U.S. government’ s policy of
barring those refugees from our shores and preventing Americans
from assisting their passage to help them escape tyranny or
improve their economic prospects.
I8. DISCRIMINATION
Individual rights should not be denied, abridged, or enhanced
at the expense of other people's rights, on the basis of sex, wealth,
race, color, creed, age, national origin, personal habits, political
preference, or sexual orientation by the laws at any level of
government. Protective labor laws, Selective Service laws, and
other laws that violate rights selectively should be repealed
entirely rather than being extended to all groups.
Discrimination imposed by the government has brought
disruption in normal relationships of people, set neighbor against
neighbor, created gross injustices, and diminished human poten-
tial. Anti—discrimination enforced by the government is the re-
verse side of the coin,and will for the same reasons create the same
problems. Consequently, we oppose any government attempts to
regulate private discrimination, including discrimination in
employment, housing, and privately owned so-called public
accommodations. The right to trade includes the right not to trade
— for any reasons whatsoever.
19. WOMEN’S RIGHTS
We hold that individual rights should not be denied or
abridged on the basis of sex. We call for repeal of all laws
discriminating against women, such as protective labor laws and
marriage or divorce laws which deny the full rights of men and
women. We oppose all laws likely to impose restrictions on free
choice and private property or to widen tyranny through reverse
discrimination.
Recognizing that each person must be the sole and absolute
owner of his or her own body, we support the right of women to
make a personal choice regarding the termination of pregnancy.
We oppose the undermining of the right via laws requiring
consent of the pregnant woman’s parents, consent of the prospec-
tive father, waiting periods, or compulsory provision of indoctri-
nation on medical risks or fetal development. However, we also
oppose all tax funding for abortions. It is particularly harsh to
force someone who believes that abortion is murder to pay for
another’s abortion. We also condemn state-mandated abortions.
20. CHILDREN ’S RIGHTS
Children are human beings and, as such, have all the rights of
human beings.
We oppose all laws that empower government officials to
seize children and make them “wards of the state” or, by means of
child labor laws and compulsory education, to infringe on their
freedom to work or learn as they choose. We oppose all legally
created or sanctioned discrimination against (or in favor of)
children, just as we oppose government discrimination directed at
any other artificially defined sub-category of human beings.
Specifically we oppose ordinances that outlaw adults-only apart-
ment housing.
We also support the repeal of all laws establishing any
category of crimes applicable to children for which adults would
not be similarly vulnerable, such as curfew, smoking, and alco-
holic beverage laws, and other status offenses. Similarly, we favor
the repeal of “stubborn child” laws and laws establishing the
category of “persons in need of supervision.” We call for an end
to the practice in many states of jailing children not accused of any
crime. We seek the repeal of all “children's codes” or statutes
which abridge due process protections for young people. We
further favor the abolition of the juvenile court system, so that
juveniles will be held fully responsible for their crimes.
Whenever parents or other guardians are unable or unwilling
to care for their children, those guardians have the right to seek
other persons who are willing to assume guardianship, and chil-
dren have the right to seek other guardians who place a higher
value on their lives. Accordingly, we oppose all laws that impede
these processes, notably those restricting private adoption serv-
ices or those forcing children to remain in the custody of their
parents against their will.
Children should always have the right to establish their
maturity by assuming administration and protection of their own
rights, ending dependency upon their parents or other guardians
and assuming all the responsibilities of adulthood.
21. AMERICAN INDIAN RIGHTS
The major factors underlying the unconscionable plight of
America's Indians may be summarized as follows: (1) the unre-
solved complexity of dual national citizenship; (2) the attrition of
reservation lands and abridgement of Indian rights to remaining
properties; (3) the subjugation of individual Indians to the Bureau
of Indian Affairs and tribal governmental authority; and (4)
various federal commitments to provide the tribes with health,
education, and welfare benefits “forever” in exchange for expro-
priated lands.
We favor the following remedies, respectively: (1) individual
Indians should be free to select their citizenship, if any, and tribes
should be allowed to choose their level of autonomy, up to
absolute sovereignty; (2) Indians should have their just property
rights restored; including rights of easement, access, hunting and
fishing; (3) the Bureau of Indian Affairs should be abolished and
tribal members allowed to decide the extent and nature of their
government, if any; and (4) negotiations should be undertaken to
exchange various otherwise unclaimed and unowned federal
properties for any and all remaining governmental obligations to
the tribes.
We further advocate holding fully liable those responsible for
any and all damages which have resulted from authorization of, or
engagement in, resource development on reservation lands, in-
cluding damages done by careless disposal of uranium tailings
and other mineral wastes.
TRADE AND THE ECONOMY
Because each person has the right to offer goods and services
to others on the free market, and because government interference
can only harm such free activity, we oppose all intervention by
government into the area of economics. The only proper role of
existing governments in the economic realm is to protect property
rights, adjudicate disputes, and provide a legal framework in
which voluntary trade is protected.
Efforts to forcibly redistribute wealth or forcibly manage
trade are intolerable. Government manipulation of the economy
creates an entrenched privileged class — those with access to tax
money —— and an exploited class — those who are net taxpayers.
1. THE ECONOMY
Government intervention in the economy imperils both the
personal freedom and the material prosperity of every American.
We therefore support the following specific immediate reforms:
a. drastic reduction of both taxes and government spending;
b. an end to deficit budgets;
c. a halt to inflationary monetary policies;
d. the removal of all governmental impediments to free
trade; and
e. the repeal of all controls on wages, prices, rents, profits,
production, and interest rates.
2. TAXATION
Since we believe that all persons are entitled to keep the fruits
of their labor, we oppose all government activity that consists of
the forcible collection of money or goods from individuals in
violation of their individual rights. Specifically, we:
a. recognize the right of any individual to challenge the
payment of taxes on moral, religious, legal, or constitu-
tional grounds;
b. oppose all personal and corporate income taxation, in-
cluding capital gains taxes;
c. support the repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment, and
oppose any increase in existing tax rates and the imposition
of any new taxes;
d. support the eventual repeal of all taxation; and
e. support a declaration of unconditional amnesty for all
those individuals who have been convicted of, or who now
stand accused of, tax resistance.
As an interim measure, all criminal and civil sanctions
against tax evasion should be terminated immediately.
We oppose as involuntary servitude any legal requirements
forcing employers or business owners to serve as tax collectors for
federal, state, or local tax agencies.
In the current fiscal crisis of states and municipalities, default
is preferable to raising taxes or perpetual refinancing of growing
public debt.
3. INFLATION AND DEPRESSION
We recognize that government control over money and
banking is the primary cause of inflation and depression. Indi-
viduals engaged in voluntary exchange should be free to use as
money any mutually agreeable commodity or item, such as gold
coins denominated by units of weight. We therefore call for the
repeal of all legal tender laws and of all compulsory governmental
units of account. We support the right to private ownership of and
contracts for gold. We favor the elimination of all government fiat
money and all government minted coins. All restrictions upon the
private minting of coins should be abolished so that minting will
be open to the competition of the free market.
We favor free-market banking. We call for the abolition of
the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corpora-
tion, the National Banking System, and all similar national and
state interventions affecting banking and credit. Our opposition
encompasses all controls on the rate of interest. We also call for
the abolition of the Federal Home Loan Bank System, the Federal
Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, the National Credit
Union Administration, the National Credit Union Central Liquid-
ity Facility, and all similar national and state interventions affect-
ing savings and loan associations, credit unions, and other deposi-
tory institutions. There should be unrestricted competition among
banks and depository institutions of all types.
To complete the separation of bank and State, we favor the
Jacksonian independent treasury system, in which all government
funds are held by the government itself and not deposited in any
private banks. The only further necessary check upon monetary
inflation is the consistent application of the general protection
against fraud to the minting and banking industries.
Pending its abolition, the Federal Reserve System, in order to
halt rampant inflation, must immediately cease its expansion of
the quantity of money. As interim measures, we further support:
a. the lifting of all restrictions on branch banking;
b. the repeal of all state usury laws;
c. the removal of all remaining restrictions on the interest
paid for deposits;
d. the elimination of margin requirements on stock pur-
chases;
e. the revocation of all other selective credit controls;
f. the abolition of Federal Reserve control over the reserves
of non-member banks and other depository institutions;
and
g. the lifting of the prohibition of domestic deposits de-
nominated in foreign currencies.
4. FINANCE AND CAPITAL INVESTMENT
We call for the abolition of all regulation of financial and
capital markets. Specifically, we demand the abolition of the
tyrannical Securities and Exchange Commission, of state “Blue
Sky” laws which repress small and risky capital ventures, and of
all federal regulation of commodity markets. We oppose any
attempts to ban or regulate such innovative financial devices as
investing in stock-market index futures.
We call for repeal of all laws based on the muddled concept
of insider trading. What should be punished is the theft of
information or breach of contract to hold information in confi-
dence, not trading on the basis of valuable knowledge. We support
the right of third parties to make stock purchase tender offers to
stockholders over the opposition of entrenched management, and
oppose all laws restricting such offers.
5. GOVERNMENT DEBT
We support the drive for a constitutional amendment requir-
ing the national government to balance its budget, and also
support similar amendments to require balanced state budgets. To
be effective, a balanced budget amendment should provide:
a. that neither Congress nor the President be permitted to
over-ride this requirement;
b. that all off-budget items are included in the budget;
c. that the budget is balanced exclusively by cutting expen-
ditures, and not by raising taxes; and
d. that no exception be made for periods of national emer-
gency.
The Federal Reserve should be forbidden to acquire any
additional government securities, thereby helping to eliminate the
inflationary aspect of the deficit. Governments facing fiscal crises
should always default in preference to raising taxes. At a mini-
mum, the level of government should be frozen.
6. MONOPOLIES
We condemn all coercive monopolies. We recognize that
government is the source of monopoly, through its grants of legal
privilege to special interests in the economy. In order to abolish
monopolies, we advocate a strict separation of business and State.
“Anti-trust” laws do not prevent monopoly, but foster it by
limiting competition. We therefore call for the repeal of all “anti-
trust” laws, including the Robinson-Patman Act which restricts
price discounts, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, and the Clayton
Anti-Trust Act. We further call for the abolition of the Federal
Trade Commission and the anti-trust division of the Department
of Justice.
We defend the right of individuals to form corporations,
cooperatives, and other types of companies based on voluntary
association. Laws of incorporation should not include grants of
monopoly privilege. In particular, we oppose special limits on the
liability of corporations for damages caused in noncontractual
transactions. We also oppose state or federal limits on the size of
private companies and on the right of companies to merge. We
further oppose efforts, in the name of social responsibility, or any
other reason, to expand federal chartering of corporations into a
pretext for government control of business.
7. SUBSIDIES
In order to achieve a free economy in which government
victimizes no one for the benefit of any other, we oppose all
government subsidies to business, labor, education, agriculture,
science, broadcasting, the arts, sports, or any other special inter-
est. In particular, we condemn any effort to forge an alliance
between government and business under the guise of “reindustri-
alization” or “industrial policy.” The unrestricted competition of
the free market is the best way to foster prosperity. We therefore
oppose any resumption of the Reconstruction Finance Corpora-
tion, or any similar plan that would force the taxpayer to subsidize
or sustain any enterprise.
We call for the abolition of the Federal Financing Bank, the
most important national agency subsidizing special interest with
government loans. We also oppose all government guarantees of
so-called private loans. Such guarantees transfer resources to
special interests as effectively as actual government expenditures
and, at the national level, exceed direct government loans in total
amount. Taxpayers must never bear the cost of default upon
government—guaranteed loans. All national, state, and local gov-
ernment agencies whose primary function is to guarantee loans,
including the Federal Housing Administration, the Rural Electri-
fication Administration, and the Small Business Administration,
should be abolished or privatized.
The loans of government-sponsored enterprises, even when
not guaranteed by the government, constitute another form of
subsidy. All such enterprises-— the Federal Home Loan Mortgage
Corporation, the Federal National Mortgage Association, the
Farm Credit Administration, and the Student Loan Marketing
Association — must either be abolished or completely privatized.
Relief or exemption from taxation or from any other involun-
tary government intervention, however, should not be considered
a subsidy.
8. TARIFFS AND QUOTAS
Like subsidies, tariffs and quotas serve only to give special
treatment to favored interests and to diminish the welfare of other
individuals. The measures also reduce the scope of contracts and
understanding among different peoples. We therefore support
abolition of all tariffs and quotas as well as the Tariff Commission
and the Customs Court.
9. PUBLIC UTILITIES
We advocate the tennination of government-created fran-
chise privileges and governmental monopolies for such services
as garbage collection, fire protection, electricity, natural gas,
telephone, or water supplies. Furthermore, all rate regulation in
these industries should be abolished. The right to offer such
services on the market should not be curtailed by law.
10. UNIONS AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
We support the right of free persons to voluntarily establish,
associate in, or not associate in, labor unions. An employer should
have the right to recognize, or refuse to recognize, a union as the
collective bargaining agent of some, or all, of its employees.
We oppose government interference in bargaining, such as
compulsory arbitration or the imposition of an obligation to
bargain. Therefore, we urge repeal of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act, and all state Right-to-Work Laws which prohibit
employers from making voluntary contracts with unions. We
oppose all government back-to-work orders as the imposition of
a form of forced labor.
Government-mandated waiting periods for closure of facto-
ries or businesses hurt, rather than help, the wage-earner. We
support all efforts to benefit workers, owners, and management by
keeping government out of this area.
Workers and employers should have the right to organize
secondary boycotts if they so choose. Nevertheless, boycotts or
strikes do not justify the initiation of violence against other
workers, employers, strike-breakers, and innocent bystanders.
DOMESTIC ILLS
Current problems in such areas as energy, pollution, health
care delivery, decaying cities, and poverty are not sol ved, but are
primarily caused, by government. The welfare state, supposedly
designed to aid the poor, is in reality a growing and parasitic
burden on all productive people, and injures, rather than benefits,
the poor themselves.
1. ENERGY
We oppose all government control of energy pricing, alloca-
tion, and production, such as that imposed by the Department of
Energy, state public utility commissions, and state pro-rationing
agencies. Thus, we call for the immediate decontrol of natural gas
prices. We also call for the immediate repeal, of the “windfall
profits tax,” which is really a graduated excise tax on the produc-
tion of crude oil, and which cripples the discovery and production
of oil. We oppose all government subsidies for energy research,
development,. and operation, including subsidies for solar en-
ergy. We call for the abolition of the Federal Synthetic Fuels
Corporation. We further oppose government subsidies for the
development of solar energy.
We oppose all direct and indirect government participation in
the nuclear energy industry, including subsidies, research and
development funds, guaranteed loans, waste disposal subsidies,
and federal uranium enrichment facilities. The Nuclear Regula-
tory Commission should be abolished; full liability — not govern-
ment agencies — should regulate nuclear power. The Price-
Anderson Act, through which the government limits liability for
nuclear accidents and furnishes partial payment at taxpayer ex-
pense, should be repealed. Nuclear energy should be denational-
ized and the industry’s assets transferred to the private sector. Any
nuclear power industry must meet the test of a free market.
We support abolition of the Department of Energy and the
abolition of its component agencies, without their transfer else-
where in the government. We oppose the creation of any emer-
gency mobilization agency in the energy field, which would wield
dictatorial powers in order to override normal legal processes. We
oppose all government conservation schemes through the use of
taxes, subsidies, and regulation, as well as the dictated conversion
of utilities and other industries to coal or any other fuel. We
oppose any attempt to give the federal government a monopoly
over the importation of oil, or to develop a subsidized government
energy corporation whose privileged status would be used as a
yardstick for condemning private enterprise. We oppose the
“strategic storage” program, any attempt to compel national self-
sufficiency in oil, any extension of cargo preference law to
imports, and any attempt to raise oil tariffs or impose oil import
quotas. We oppose all efforts to nationalize energy companies, or
force them to plow back revenues solely into energy production
and the discovery of energy sources, or prohibit them from
acquiring companies in non-energy fields. We also oppose all
efforts to break up vertically and horizontally integrated energy
companies or force them to divest their pipelines.
We consider all attempts to impose an operational or standby
program of gasoline rationing as unworkable, unnecessary, and
tyrannical.
We favor the creation of a free market in oil by instituting full
property rights in underground oil and by the repeal of all federal
and state controls over price and output in the petroleum industry.
All government-owned energy resources should be turned over to
private ownership.
2. POLLUTION
Pollution of other people's property is a violation of individ-
ual rights. Present legal principles, particularly the unjust and
false concept of “public property,” permit continued degradation
of the environment and continued violations of individual rights.
We support the development of an objective legal system defmin g
property rights to air and water. We call for a modification of the
laws governing such torts as trespass and nuisance to cover
damages done by air, water, radiation, and noise pollution. We
oppose legislative proposals to exempt persons who claim dam-
age from radiation from having to prove such damage was in fact
caused by radiation. Strict liability, not government agencies and
arbitrary government standards, should regulate pollution. We
therefore demand the abolition of the Environmental Protection
Agency. We also oppose government-mandated smoking and
non-smoking areas in privately owned businesses.
Toxic waste disposal problems have been created by govern-
ment policies that separate liability from property. Rather than
making taxpayers pay for toxic waste clean-ups, individual prop-
erty owners, or in the case of corporations, the responsible
managers and employees, should be held strictly liable for mate-
rial damage done by their property. Claiming that one has aban-
doned a piece of property does not absolve one of the responsibil-
ity for actions one has set in motion. We condemn the EPA’s
Superfund whose taxing powers are used to penalize all chemical
firms, regardless of their conduct. Such clean-ups are a subsidy of
irresponsible companies at the expense of responsible ones.
3. CONSUMER PROTECTION
We support strong and effective laws against fraud and
misrepresentation. However, we oppose paternalistic regulations
which dictate to consumers, impose prices, define standards for
products, or otherwise restrict risk-taking and free choice. We
oppose governmental promotion or imposition of the metric
system.
We oppose all so-called “consumer protection” legislation
which infringes upon voluntary trade, and call for the abolition of
the Consumer Product Safety Commission. We advocate the
repeal of all laws banning or restricting the advertising of prices,
products, or services. We specifically oppose laws requiring an
individual to buy or use so-called “self-protection” equipment
such as safety belts, air bags, or crash helmets.
We advocate the abolition of the Federal Aviation Admini-
stration, which has jeopardized airline safety by arrogating to
itself a monopoly of safety regulation and enforcement.
We advocate the abolition of the Food and Drug Administra-
tion and particularly its policies of mandating specific nutritional
requirements and denying the right of manufacturers to make non-
fraudulent claims concerning their products. We advocate an end
to compulsory fluoridation of water supplies. We specifically
oppose government regulation of the price, potency, or quantity
able to be produced or purchased of drugs or other consumer
goods. There should be no laws regarding what substances (nico-
tine, alcohol, hallucinogens, narcotics, Laetrile, artificial sweet-
eners, vitamin supplements, orother “drugs”) a person may ingest
or otherwise use.
4. EDUCATION
We advocate the complete separation of education and State.
Government schools lead to the indoctrination of children and
interfere with the free choice of individuals. Government owner-
ship, operation, regulation, and subsidy of schools and colleges
should be ended.
As an interim measure to encourage the growth of private
schools and variety in education, we support tax credits for tuition
and other expenditures related to an individual‘s education. We
support the repeal of all taxes on the income or property of private
schools, whether for profit or non-profit.
We condemn compulsory education laws, which spawn
prison-like schools with many of the problems associated with
prisons, and we call for an immediate repeal of such laws.
Until government involvement in education is ended, we
support elimination, within the governmental school system, of
forced busing and corporal punishment. We further support
immediate reduction of tax support for schools, and removal of the
burden of school taxes from those not responsible for the educa-
tion of children.
5. POPULATION
Recognizing that the American people are not a collective
national resource, we oppose all coercive measures for population
control.
We oppose government actions that either compel or prohibit
abortion, sterilization, or any other forms of birth control. Specifi-
cally, we condemn the vicious practice of forced sterilization of
welfare recipients or of mentally retarded or “genetically defec-
tive” individuals.
We regard the tragedies caused by unplanned, unwanted
pregnancies to be aggravated, if not created, by government
policies of censorship, restriction, regulation, and prohibition.
Therefore, we call for the repeal of all laws that restrict anyone,
including children, from engaging in voluntary exchanges of
goods, services, or information regarding human sexuality, repro-
duction, birth control, or related medical or biological technolo-
gres.
We equally oppose government laws and policies that restrict
the opportunity to choose alternatives to abortion.
We support an end to all subsidies for childbearing built into
our present laws, including welfare plans and the provision of tax-
supported services for children. We urge the elimination of
special tax burdens on single people and couples with few or no
children.
6. TRANSPORTATION
Government interference in transportation is characterized
by monopolistic restriction, corruption and gross inefficiency.
We therefore call for the dissolution of all government agencies
concerned with transportation, including the Department of
Transportation, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Fed-
eral Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety
Board, the Coast Guard, and the Federal Maritime Commission,
and the transfer of their legitimate functions to competitive private
firms. We demand the retum of America’s railroad system to
private ownership. We call for the privatization of airports, air
traffic control systems, public roads, and the national highway
system. We condemn the re-cartelization of commercial aviation
by the Federal Aviation Administration via rationing of take-off
and‘ landing rights and controlling scheduling in the name of
“safety.”
As interim measures, we advocate an immediate end to
government regulation of private transit organizations and to
governmental favors to the transportation industry. In particular,
we support the immediate repeal of all laws restricting transit
competition such as the granting of taxicab and bus monopolies
and the prohibition of private jitney services. We urge immediate
deregulation of the trucking industry. Likewise, we advocate the
immediate repeal of the federally imposed 55-mph speed limit.
7. POVERTY AND UNEMPLOYMENT
Government fiscal and monetary measures that artificially
foster business expansion guarantee an eventual increase in un-
employment rather than curtailing it. We call for the immediate
cessation of such policies as well as any governmental attempts to
affect employment levels.
We support repeal of all laws that impede the ability of any
person to find employment, such as minimum wage laws, so-
called “protective” labor legislation for women and children,
governmental restrictions on the establishment of private day-
care centers, and the National Labor Relations Act. We deplore
government-fostered forced retirement, which robs the elderly of
the right to work.
We seek the elimination of occupational licensure, which
prevents human beings from working in whatever trade they wish.
We call for the abolition of all federal, state, and local government
agencies that restrict entry into any profession, such as education
and law, or regulate its practice. No worker should be legally
penalized for lack of certification, and no consumer should be
legally restrained from hiring unlicensed individuals.
We oppose all government welfare, relief projects, and “aid
to the poor” programs. All these government programs are pri-
vacy-invading, paternalistic, demeaning, and inefficient. The
proper source of help for such persons is the voluntary efforts of
private groups and individuals.
To speed the time when governmental programs are replaced
by effective private institutions we advocate dollar-for-dollar tax
credits for all charitable contributions.
8. HEALTH CARE
We advocate the complete separation of medicine and State.
Recognizing the individual’s right to self-medication, we seek the
elimination of all government restrictions on the right of individu-
als to pursue alternative forms of health care. Individuals should
be free to contract with practitioners of their choice for all health
care services. We oppose government infringements of the prac-
titioner-patient relationship through regulatory agencies such as
the Professional Standards Review Organization.
We condemn efforts by government to impose a medical
orthodoxy on society. We specifically oppose the attempt by state
and local governments to deny parents the right to choose the
option of home births and to discourage the development of
privately funded women's clinics. We call for the repeal of all
laws that restrict the practice of lay midwifery or that permit
harassment of lay midwives and home birth practitioners. We also
call for the repeal of all medical licensing laws, which have raised
medical costs while creating a government-imposed monopoly of
doctors and hospitals.
We oppose any form of compulsory National Health Insur-
ance. We favor abolition of Medicare and Medicaid programs. We
also oppose any state or federal area planning boards whose stated
purpose is to consolidate health services or avoid their duplica-
tion. We support the removal of all government barriers to
medical advertising, including prohibition of publication of doc-
tors’ fees and drug prices. We further support the elimination of
prescription requirements for the dispensing of medicines and
other health-related items.
We favor the deregulation of the health insurance industry.
We oppose laws that limit the freedom of contract of patients and
health care professionals, and laws regulating the supply of legal
aid on a contingency fee basis. We also oppose subsidy of
malpractice insurance through public funds. We call for the repeal
of laws forcing health care professionals to render medical serv-
ices in emergencies or other situations.
We recognize that AIDS is a dread disease of epidemic
proportions. But governmental proposals to combat it present an
unprecedented threat to individual liberty and often encourage the
spread of the disease. We oppose all government-mandated AIDS
testing. We are opposed to FDA restrictions which make it
difficult for individuals to secure treatment for this disease. We
also call for the decriminalization of hypodermic syringes, espe-
cially since sharing needles is now a major means of transmission
of the disease. We oppose government-mandated contact tracing
and state intervention into the private medical records of individu-
als. We are opposed to efforts by the government, especially the
postal service. to restrict the dissemination of AIDS education
material. We support the rights of all individuals to freedom of
association including the right not to associate.
We condemn attempts at the federal, state, or local level to
cripple the advance of science by governmental restriction of
research. We oppose subsidies to, or restrictions of, medical
education. We call for an end to government policies compelling
individuals to submit to medical experiments, treatment, and
testing. We condemn compulsory hospitalization, compulsory
vaccination, and compulsory fluoridation. As interim measures,
we advocate dollar-for-dollar tax credits to any individual or
group providing health care services to the needy or paying for
such services. Tax credits should also be made available for
private grants to medical education and medical research.
9. RESOURCE USE
Resource management is properly the responsibility and
right of the legitimate owners of land, water, and other natural
resources. We oppose government control of resource use
through eminent domain, zoning laws, building codes, rent con-
trol, regional planning, urban renewal, or purchase of develop-
ment rights with tax money. Such regulations and programs
violate property rights, discriminate against minorities, create
housing shortages, and tend to cause higher rents.
We advocate the establishment of an efficient and just system
of private water rights, applied to all bodies of water, surface and
underground. Such a system should be built upon a doctrine of
first claim and use. The allocation of water should be governed by
unrestricted competition and unregulated prices. All government
restrictions upon private use, voluntary transfer of water rights, or
of the similar despotic controls can only aggravate the misalloca-
tion of water.
We also advocate the privatization of government and quasi-
government water supply systems. The construction of govern-
ment dams and other water projects should cease, and existing
government water projects should be transferred to private own-
ership. We favor the abolition of the Bureau of Reclamation and
the Army Corps of Engineer's civilian functions. We also favor
the abolition of all local water districts and their power to tax. Only
the complete separation of water and the State will prevent future
water crises.
We call for the homesteading or other just transfer to private
ownership of federally held lands. We oppose any use of execu-
tive orders invoking the Antiquities Act to set aside public lands.
We call for the abolition of the Bureau of Land Management and
the U.S. Forest Service. Forced surface-mining of privately
homesteaded lands in which the government has reserved surface
mining rights to itself is a violation of the rights of the present
landholders. We recognize the legitimacy of resource planning by
means of private, voluntary covenants. We oppose creation of
new government parks or wilderness and recreation areas. Such
parks and areas that already exist should be transferred to non-
government ownership. Pending such just transfer, their operat-
ing costs should be borne by their users rather than by taxpayers.
10. AGRICULTURE
America's free market in agriculture, the system that feeds
much of the world, has been plowed under by government
intervention. Government subsidies, regulation , and taxes have
encouraged the centralization of agricultural busi