Though the United States is suffering from bipartisan disagreement on every level of government, one candidate has risen up with a notably unconventional style that doesn’t align with Republicans or Democrats. His name is Nickolas Wildstar, and he wants to return the power of the political class to where it belongs: with the people.

Wildstar is running for Governor of California as a Libertarian. In an exclusive interview with PanAm Post, which has been lightly edited, he explained what changes he wants to implement if he wins office.

The Fight for Liberty

The term “liberal” has been increasingly tied to “progressives” on the left. Far from promoting liberty, leftists have actually normalized censorship and government intervention.

“Thankfully, the root word of liberal is ‘liber,’ meaning free, which is also in Libertarian — the political party that I am running as a candidate for,” Wildstar explained. “The party’s slogan is ‘Minimize Government, Maximize Freedom.'”

Because the progressive movement is popular among college students, Wildstar said he plans to target policies related to the high cost of tuition. While politicians have often looked to subsidies from the state as a solution, Wildstar said that competition in the market can lower prices more effectively and provide more options than regulation.

“Making this correlation clearly and distinctly should clear up any illogical misunderstandings propagated by crony capitalist politicians,” he said.

Wildstar said he rejects the notion put forward by the mainstream media that socialist ideas like this are “cool.”

“Where does this money to pay for everything come from?” he asked of Senator Bernie Sanders and the Democratic Socialists of America. Wildstar said he wants to deconstruct this concept of state control over the free market. The stronger the tie, the greater the government intervention, and the greater the intervention, the closer the country comes to authoritarianism.

Hispanic voters

A shift toward authoritarianism has characterized many countries in Latin America — whether it be Venezuela, Cuba or several nations in Central America — so Wildstar recognizes that his base of support in a state like California, which is heavily Latino, will appreciate his policies. He said he intends to engage with the Latino community, and many others.

“No matter what your ethnicity or citizenship status may be, California will be a place that any ambitious, hard working individual seeking to make a better life for themselves can come to and call home,” he said.

War on taxes

The best way to seek a better life, according to the Libertarian philosophy, is to live and let live. That includes respecting private property. Wildstar said the current tax code is extremely confusing and persecutes individuals for doing something that should be voluntary.

“Making sure the people of California have the financial freedom to increase their own personal wealth will increase the state’s value,” he said. “Not the amount of taxes it collects in revenue. I’m certain that this message will not fall on any deaf ears, since our state has the most tax-burdened citizens.”

Wildstar said he intends to cut spending by 25 percent during his first year in office, to reduce income and property taxes to zero percent and to flatten the sales tax to seven percent.

End the war on drugs

For now, California decides what people do with both their money and their bodies, and that’s why Wildstar is proposing an extension to the principle of self-ownership.

“America’s drug policy is built on dictatorial practices that hurt the victims more than the drugs that they are choosing to use. Adults should be left to make their own decisions and take responsibility for the results of them.”

He claimed that decriminalization would reduce crime, reduce the money spent on imprisoning non-violent offenders and increase the quality of products purchased by customers. This, in turn, would create jobs and a new source of revenue for the state.

As proof, he cited the success Portugal has had in decriminalizing drugs, which has reduced their use while increasing economic growth.

To reduce violence and crime, Wildstar said it’s fundamental to cut down on government actions imposed by force, such as of tax collection.

“As the first Libertarian governor, establishing a sentiment of respecting one’s liberty will be the moral premise for my defense,” he said. “The fruit of one’s labor is their property and it is no other’s right to lay claim to it.”

Services like education and healthcare, which are run by the state, give citizens no other option than those imposed by a monopoly. Wildstar wants to open them up to free market options. Consumers would benefit not only from the cost reduction, but also from the reduction in debt that results from funding them.

Further Decentralization

Wildstar intends to implement mass decentralization, limiting the amount of state regulatory agencies to around 50. He said it should make the government more manageable, less intrusive and cut down on spending.

The candidate also mentioned how debt and lack of other resources has led to the homelessness of nearly 120,000 Californians. While the local government collects millions of dollars to address the problem, it persists nonetheless. Meanwhile, private projects that did build homes have been destroyed by the government.

Wildstar said he wants the people of California to be self-sustainable through what he calls Earthships: homes made of recyclable materials that are designed to reduce waste. The project would not only cut public spending, but also allow citizens to have their own source of solar power, reusable water filtration systems and sustainable food production facilities.

He also intends to decentralize the state’s banks.

“Whether it be digital assets or precious metals, consumers should be able to buy whatever products they want using whatever monetary source available,” Wildstar said, in reference to the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

By decentralizing banking, California may even create a cryptocurrency of its own that residents could use to “maintain finances to govern the state without the need for collecting taxes from the public.”

While his ideas may seem radical to some, Wildstar thinks the residents of California are ready for significant change that challenges the left-right structure of American politics.

Transparency, he said, is his “weapon against the career politicians who do backroom deals to keep their job.”

He said he intends to be the “no-nonsense leader that the people of California have been wanting and in need of for a very long time.”