lvc@cbscc.UUCP (Larry Cipriani) (12/10/84)
Here's the first half of the LP platform. Enough people have asked
me for parts of it that I'm going to repost it. The second half is
the next article (well, at least on this machine).
Larry Cipriani
cbscc!cbsch!lvc
1984 Platform of the Libertarian Party
The Party of Principle
Adopted in Convention, New York City, September 1-4, 1983
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 relationships, 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 derived from those principles.
The 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, challenge the cult of the omnipotent
state and defend the rights of individuals.
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 that our own grant to government 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 government to do these things, and
hold that where governments exist, they must not violate the rights of any
individual: namely, (1) the right to life -- accordingly we support prohibition
of the initiation of physical force against other; (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 interference
with private property, such as confiscation, nationalization, and eminent
domain, and support the prohibition of robbery, trespass, 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 government 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 routinely discouraged
by society routinely denying 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 community crime
control groups. We support institutional changed, consistent with full
respect for the rights of the accused, that would permit victims to
direct prosecution in criminal cases.
3. Victimless Crimes
Because only actions that infringe 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 medical prescription requirements for
the purchase of vitamins, drugs, and similar substances;
b. the repeal of all laws regarding consensual sexual relations, including
prostitution and solicitation, and the cessation of state oppression
and harassment of homosexual men and women, that they, at last, be
accorded their full rights as individuals;
c. the repeal of all laws regulating or prohibiting the possession, use,
sale, production, or distribution of sexually explicit material,
independent of "socially redeeming value" or compliance with
"community standards";
d. the repeal of all laws regulating or prohibiting gambling; and
e. 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".
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 restitution for the victim to the
fullest degree possible at the expense of the criminal or wrongdoer.
We according oppose all "no-fault" insurance laws, which deprive the
victim of the right to recover damages from those responsible in 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 disputes 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 of criminal cases 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 guiltless of violating such laws.
7. Sovereign Immunity
We favor an immediate end to the doctrine of "Sovereign Immunity" which
implies that the State can do no wrong and hold 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 hospitals;
b. an immediate end to the spending of tax money for any program of
psychiatric or psychological research or treatment;
c. and end to all involuntary treatments of prisoners by such means as
psychosurgery, drug therapy, and aversion therapy;
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 "diminished capacity"
which absolve the guilty of their responsibility.
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 individuals to dissent from the
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 freedoms 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 obscenity or commercial advertising.
We condemn securities regulations that deprive financial advisory newsletters
of freedom of the press. We further condemn indirect censorship through
government control of the postal system and regulation of cable transmissions.
We support repeal of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, which
classifies information as secret that should be available 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 the airwave frequencies, thus giving the
electronic media First Amendment parity with the other communication media.
Government regulation of broadcasting can no longer be tolerated. We
therefore urge repeal of the "fairness doctrine", the "equal time" rule, and
the "reasonable access" provision. 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
as banning advertising for cigarettes and sugar-coated breakfast foods
or regulating depiction 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 which they would no voluntarily contribute.
The implied threat of loss of license renewal broadcasters face, if they
refuse to show National Ad Council ads 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 end, as must FCC rules and regulations
that unjustly benefit established broadcasters.
Removal of all these regulations throughout the communications media would
open the way to untrammeled diversity and innovation. We shall not be
satisfied until the First Amendment is expanded to protect full,
unconditional freedom of communication.
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 religious 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 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 unconventional religious groups for the
beliefs or nonviolent activities 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 and the freedom of speech and 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 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 the Second
World War.
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 government should not use
electronic or other means of covert surveillance 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 are sought.
We oppose the issuance by the government of an identity card, to be required
for any purpose, such as for employment, voting, or border crossings.
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 government 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 information to government agents, or
b. disclosed defensive military plans so as to materially impair the
capability 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 of wrongdoing by other
government 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 firearms 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 non-firearm protective devices. We further oppose all attempts to ban
weapons or ammunition on the grounds that they are risky and 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 impressment of individuals into the armed forces in 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 governmental 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 transgressions 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 information from military personnel files.
We recomment the repeal of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the
recognition and equal protection of the rights of armed forces members.
This will promote thereby the morale, dignity, and sense of justice within
the military.
17. Unions and Collective Bargaining
We support the right of free persons to voluntarily establish, associate in,
or not associate in, labor union. An employer should have the right to
recognize, or refuse to recognize, a union as the collective bargaining
agent of some or all of his or her workers.
We oppose government interference in bargaining, such as compulsory arbitration
or imposing an obligation to bargain. Therefore we urge repeal of the
National Labor Relation Act, and all the state Right to Work Laws, which
prohibit employers from making voluntary contracts with unions. We oppose
all government back-to-work orders as imposing a form of forced labor.
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.
18. 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 other
by the federal government in its hunt for individuals not possessing
required government documents. We strongly oppose all measures that would
punish employers who hire undocumented workers. Such measures repress
enterprise, harass workers, and systematically discourage employers from
hiring Hispanics.
Undocumented non-citizes should not be denied the fundamental freedom
to labor and to move about unmolested. Furthermore, immigration must not
be restricted for reasons of race, religious or political creed, age,
or sexual preference.
We therefor 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 "temporary worker" plans. Specifically,
we condemn attempts to revive the Bracero Program as government imposition
of second-class status on Mexican-born workers.
We welcome all refugees to out shores and condemn the efforts of U.S.
officials to create a "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.
19. Discrimination
No individual rights should be denied or abridged by the laws of the United
States or any state or locality on account of sex, race, color, creed, age,
national origin, or sexual preference. 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 peoples, set neighbor against neighbor, created gross
injustices, and diminished human potential. Anti-discrimination enforced by
the government is the reverse side of the same coin and will for the same
reasons create the same problems. Consequently, we oppose any governmental
attempts to regulate private discrimination, including discrimination in
employment, housing, and privately owned so-called public accommodations. The
right to trade include the right not to trade -- for any reasons whatsoever.
20. 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 that
right via laws requiring consent of the pregnant woman's parents, consent
of the prospective father, waiting periods, or compulsory provision of
indoctrination 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.
21. 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 directed at any
other artificially defined sub-category of human beings. Specifically we
oppose ordinances that outlaw adults-only apartments.
We also support the repeal of all laws establishing any category of crimes
applicable to children for which adults would not be similarly answerable
such as curfew, smoking, and alcoholic 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" of 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 children 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
services 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
the administration and protection of their own rights, ending dependency upon
their parents or other guardians and assuming all the responsibilities
of adulthood.
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 con 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 of 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 constitutional grounds;
b. oppose all personal and corporate income taxation, including
capital gains taxes;
c. support 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 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 crises of states and localities, 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. Individuals 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 Corporation, 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 Liquidity Facility, and all similar national and state interventions
affecting savings and loan associations, credit unions, and other
depository 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
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 requirement on stock purchases;
e. the revocation of all selective credit controls;
f. the abolition of Federal Reserve control over the reserves of non-member
banks and of other depository institutions; and
g. the lifting of the prohibition on domestic deposits denominated in
foreign currencies.