I Was a Card-Carrying Libertarian: Confessions of a Black Sheep Republican
I was an LP activitist in the period 1979 to 1990. I voted for Ron Paul in 1988. But two things turned me from a libertarian into a conservative:
1. I went back to complete my degree in History. The more I studied, the more apparent it was that the libertarian version of American history was fantasy. The Constitution provided for a limited federal government (and failed) but not a libertarian one. And power was left to the states, which were not necessarily limited in their powers, and were often fiercely antilibertarian. For example, see the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780, which directed the legislature to pass mandatory church attendance laws.
2. I was raising kids in the Bay Area, where for practical purposes, the libertarian social agenda (except about guns) is fully implemented. Police wave to 13 year olds smoking pot on the streets of Cotati. Parents supply beer and pot to their junior high age kids–and wonder why they end up messed up. There is no right or wrong, just what makes you happy. It is a heck of a place to raise kids.
There are strong practical arguments for laws that go beyond prohibiting force and fraud. What’s wrong with people having sex in the middle of the street? Why would you object to someone defecating in the middle of the street, as long as they clean up afterwards? I mean, where’s the force or fraud?
Civilization requires a bit more than just criminalizing force or fraud.
