In a Libertarian world, the rich will get richer, the poor will get poorer, and the sick will go uncared for.

This is a line I’ve heard a lot, in various incarnations, from far too many people both inside and out of the media. The implication is Libertarians are selfish, only caring about themselves. That we don’t think people should be able to get ahead, improve their lives, or be healthy. It’s a gross misunderstanding of what Libertarians stand for, and it’s sadly the biggest myth about our platform.

In order to examine why this is so wrong, we first have to understand the foundation of the Libertarian platform: liberty. Wikipedia defines liberty as:

Generally, liberty is distinctly differentiated from freedom in that freedom is primarily, if not exclusively, the ability to do as one wills and what one has the power to do; whereas liberty concerns the absence of arbitrary restraints and takes into account the rights of all involved. As such, the exercise of liberty is subject to capability and limited by the rights of others.

In short, freedom is the right for one to do as they please without boundaries. Liberty is what provides the boundaries for freedom. They aren’t competing ideas, but instead complementary.

The entire Libertarian belief system is founded on the idea of, and protection of, our personal liberties. This means that while Libertarians are greatly concerned about their ability to do as they please, they are just as concerned about other’s ability to do as they please. And it’s actually not even so much of a concern as it is a deep seeded want and desire.

The very essence of Libertarianism is unselfish. We want for you just as much as we want for us. We want you to assert your liberties, to live how you want to live, to take care of yourself. We do not believe that any one person is beholden to the “greater good”. We instead believe that you’re beholden to yourself, and yourself alone.

Re-read that last paragraph. Spin on it and digest it because it’s a rather heavy statement. To take an example out of Penn Jillette’s book, imagine a young woman. She’s the smartest, most brightest math mind in the history of the world. Her brain alone would advance human civilization far more than any other mind ever has. Realizing this, we decide that we’re going to give her a free ride to any school she wants. She can go to Oxford, Stanford, MIT.. literally anywhere she wants.

But instead of pursuing school she decides that she’s going to have a child and work at McDonald’s. That would be a huge disservice to not only us individually, but to humanity as a whole. That would also be her right. In a Libertarian world, we’d applaud her for living her own life and not the life society says she should live. In a Libertarian world, we’d demand that the government place her individual desires over the desires of society.

Again, that statement is pretty heavy. We’re saying that the government has no right to force something on a single individual, even if that force is for the betterment of you and I. For Libertarians, when it comes to the government, the rights and liberty of the individual far outweigh the desires of other people. This is because of our fundamental belief in other people.

We wholly believe that only the individual knows what’s best for themselves, not some government bureaucrat. Even if that government bureaucrat is just following the way (some) people voted. Sure, some people will make mistakes with their choices….. and that’s fine. Humans are prone to error, we shouldn’t try to police that.

If the individual doesn’t know what’s best, they have to be able to explore all the options freely and without government oversight. Most people, including politicians, have a hard enough time making decisions about their own lives so why should we expect them to be able to make decisions about someone else’s life?

Again, to borrow from Penn Jillette — are you certain that you’ve lived a better life than Kurt Cobain? How about Mitch Hedberg? Prince? I know I’m not. Sure, they’ve lived in a way I wouldn’t want to live but is my life verifiably better than their’s was? That’s impossible for anybody to answer. Rather than stigmatize choices we disagree with, Libertarians believe we should respect, and even embrace, those choices.

Every unique individual has a different definition of “better”. Every single person will define a good life differently, a successful life differently. We as a society should not be in the business of determining what a good and/or successful life is for other people. Instead of trusting people with making decisions and choices for other people, we should trust people to make decisions and choices for themselves.

This belief extends farther than just personal choice, but also to the right to be free from force. This means that people have the right to be free from violence initiated by other people. But here’s the kicker: since our government is one of the people, people have the right to be free from the government.

Woah! That sounds pretty crazy, doesn’t it? Before you tune me out, let’s examine why Libertarians believe that statement to be true. First remember that the government is a government of the people. Politicians are nobody special. They’re just regular people who made the choice to be public servants.

Now realize that the government has a monopoly on force. They are the only people who are supposed to be able to use force against other people. In fact, the only way the government can compel another person is with the threat (and use) of force. Again, people have the right to be free from force.

When you ask the government to do something, you’re giving them permission to use force against other people. When you ask the government to collect taxes, you’re asking them to use a gun in order to take somebody’s money. And make no bones about it — if you don’t pay your taxes, somebody with a gun is eventually going to knock on your door. When you ask the government to pay for healthcare, you’re asking them to use the threat of violence in order to care for somebody else. When you demand the government build a library, you’re demanding they use a gun to make that happen.

Would you use a gun to build a library? I wouldn’t. How about to care for somebody else? Still nope. Would I use a gun to stop a murder, or a rape? Absolutely. Would I use a gun to protect our country? You bet.

Libertarians are staunchly against force, and thus naturally leery of government oversight. This isn’t to say we are opposed to the government in all cases, because we’re not. We just take a much more cautious approach to government. If we wouldn’t use a gun for something, we won’t ask the government to do so either.

Now, to circle all the way back around — all this works because we have a fundamental belief in people. We believe that people are naturally good people who will, by default, do good. We don’t need to force someone to care for another person because people naturally care for each other.

We also believe that people will naturally strive to be better, provided they have the ability to do so. We don’t believe the government should actively take from one (the rich) and give to another (the poor). Instead, we believe in getting the government out of the way so that people are free to excel in any way they deem fit. The government’s only role is to clear the playing field, not level it. The government has the responsibility of ensuring everybody has the same opportunities, not the same outcomes.

In a Libertarian world, the rich only get richer if they strive to get richer. The poor only get poorer if they decide to stay poor. This isn’t to say the poor won’t be cared for, or the homeless not taken care of. They will be because that’s what humans do, we care for our neighbors. Why threaten them with force when they’d do it anyways?

In a Libertarian world, the sick will never get sicker because people naturally care of other people. It is my opinion that anybody who believes we only care for one another because we’re forced to has taken a rather misanthropic view of the world.

give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime

This old adage embodies the essence of Libertarianism. Giving people the ability to be reliant on somebody else feels good. You’re helping them in the moment, after all. But that’s the problem, you’re helping them in the moment. You’ve not helped them be able to solve the next problem they face, but instead have taught them somebody else will solve it for them.

Instead of solving somebody’s problem, Libertarians believe in teaching them how to solve their own problems. We do a far greater service to humanity by teaching people to care for, and be responsible for, themselves.

Libertarians believe in making sure every person has the ability to help themselves because that has a much deeper, and longer lasting, impact on their life and the life of those around them.