This is an unexpected endorsement of The Conscience of a Libertarian: Empowering the citizen revolution with God, guns, gambling & tax cuts by Wayne Allyn Root. Root was the 2008 Vice Presidential nominee for the Libertarian party on the ticket with Bob Barr.
I picked this book up on a trip to Utah last year, and I could not bring myself to read beyond chapter one. I experienced Root, at that time, to be out of touch with the economic reality for many Americans and I did not have faith that I would find myself anywhere in the pages of his book. I like books that help me find pieces of myself, which are undoubtedly scattered throughout a wide range of spiritual, political and fictional works from Austin's Pride and Prejudice to John Adams by McCullough. So Root's work collected dust on my nightstand for a year.
A friend posted something on Facebook about Ayn Rand, Russian writer and philosopher who wrote Atlas Shrugged and other contemporary works with cult followings. Rand was raised in socialism in the early 1900s, defected to America in the 1930's and despite exposure to America during the Great Depression, was a quick convert to capitalism and a champion of individual freedoms. A superficial study of Rand exposed her atheism (which repelled me to due my own struggles linking morality with freedom reclamation and preservation) yet implicated her in championing personal responsibility and the founding Mother of Libertarianism. I was intrigued, so rather than buy Atlas Shrugged, I visited my own nightstand and reopened Root's The Conscience of a Libertarian and began again.
Root is a scholar of Barry Goldwater, whose conservative principles I have yet to read, but if you are reading this, you might study them as well. Root is a self-described Bob Barr on steroids and this is reflected in his simple ideas of dismantling the federal government as we know it and encouraging toleration of state and local regulations.
Root brilliantly compares the American voter to an abusive housewife and is almost as relentless in his attack of the Obama administration as he is on his own former GOP party. He states a compelling case on why the two-party system is a failure in this nation and how the historical executive branch GOPs have expanded the federal government worse than many democrats. Regarding Obama's execution of promises made on the campaign trail, Root describes Obama as doing an adequate job of "rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic".
Root deftly explains how one can be a champion of personal freedom (which I interpret as the ultimate toleration and compassion) such as gays in the military, prostitution, pornography, gambling and STILL locally and personally reject any or all of these if that is local or personal moral obligation and will. We are reminded that these activities, (i.e. Prohibition) are going to occur anyway, and the state governments ought to generate revenue off of these activities rather than pillage the small business owner, middle income earner and property holder. As Thomas Jefferson once said, "A government big enough to give you everything you want is strong enough to take everything you have".
How religion and morality became interwoven with the GOP deserves further study and another post. I encourage anyone currently or formerly drawn to the GOP but feeling like an abuse victim whose spouse only seems to love them during voting season, to take a closer look at the Libertarian movement and Root's book. I am certain it will earn more accolades from me as I read further.
...It cannot be repeated too often that the Constitution is a limitation on government, not on private individuals-that it does not prescribe the conduct of private individuals, only the conduct of the government-that it is not a charter for government power, but a charter of the citizens' protection against the government. ~ Ayn Rand
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