Libertarianism

Libertarianism is a political philosophy emphasizing liberty and property. A libertarian believes in eliminating most laws concerning moral behavior, including laws against abortion, drug use, same-sex marriage, anticompetitive conduct, trade, and limits on immigration; and in enforcing laws concerning private use of private property. Libertarians tend to attracted to the logical simplicity of the ideas.

There are more libertarians than members of the Libertarian Party. Libertarians tend to use the word "libertarian" (small "l") to refer to the philosophy, and "Libertarian" (capital "L") to refer to the party.

Libertarianism is not the same as conservatism, although some conservatives have adoped libertarian financial rhetoric. Libertarians tend to view liberalism as a philosophy advocating less government interference in private morality and more government control of business, and view conservatism as a philosophy advocating more government interference in private morality and less government control of business, while they view libertarianism as advocating less government control, period. Neither the Democrat nor the Republican parties are particularly well aligned with libertarian thought. The Republican party, in particular, although adopting libertarian rhetoric of small government in the Reagan years, has been active in destroying liberty in the United States, implementing big government policies antithetical to the libertarian ideals. As an example, libertarians are in general opposed to the Patriot act, which increases government power and removes protections on the liberty and privacy of Americans in the interests of enhancing security, while conservatives in general support the Patriot act, since security is seen as being more important than personal liberty and privacy.

While all libertarians agree in general on the principles of the desirability of maximizing individual liberty and avoiding excessive government intereference with the operation of the free market, individual libertarians have opinions that differ wildly within these general principles.

The novelist Ayn Rand advocated a philosophy of Objectivism, embodying some libertarian thought, although differing from libertarianism in many ways. Some of her novels, such as Atlas Shrugged, have become icons of the libertarian movement.