The Libertarian political philosophy may best be understood by a reading of the 144 documents known as the Cato Letters. They were written by two Englishmen, John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon between 1720 and 1723.
These newspaper essays condemning tyranny and espousing freedom influenced American colonists in the New World, while angering the English monarch. In fact, the Cato Letters were first published anonymously to avoid the royals' retribution.
The letters, or essays, were prototypical 'Cato' who was Julius Caesar's main foe. Cato was a staunch believer in republican principles and he decried centralized power of government.
Many libertarians are registered Republicans, some of whom have been elected to office while being part of the GOP. Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) is an example. Former Congressman Bob Barr, who spearheaded President Clinton's impeachment, recently left the GOP and joined the Libertarian Party.
Before seeking public office as a Republican candidate, Rep. Paul ran for President of the United States on the Libertarian Party ticket. When called a conservative, he's quick to state he's a libertarian and departs from several conservative positions and actions.
Today, those who subscribe to the principles of the American Revolution -- individual liberty, limited government, the free market, and the rule of law -- call themselves by a variety of terms, including conservative, libertarian, classical liberal, and liberal.
However, "Libertarians" believe there are problems with all of those terms. To strict libertarians, the term "Conservative" smacks of an unwillingness to change, of a desire to preserve the status quo. Only in America do people seem to refer to free-market capitalism-- the most progressive, dynamic, and ever-changing system the world has ever known -- as conservative. Additionally, many contemporary American conservatives favor state intervention in some areas, most notably in trade and into our private lives.
"Classical liberal" is a bit closer to the mark, but the word "classical" connotes a backward-looking philosophy.
Finally, "Liberal" may well be the perfect word in most of the world -- the liberals in societies from China to Iran to South Africa to Argentina are supporters of human rights and free markets -- but its meaning has clearly been corrupted by contemporary American liberals.
If there is an organization that espouses the Libertarian philosophy, it is the Cato Institute.
The institute was founded in 1977 by Libertarian leader Edward H. Crane. It is a non-profit public policy research foundation headquartered in Washington, D.C. The Institute is named for Cato's Letters, a series of libertarian pamphlets that helped lay the philosophical foundation for the American Revolution.
The Cato Institute conducts research in a number of economic, political and social areas including budget and tax policy, national defense, criminal justice, education, social security, energy, terrorism and many others.
The Cato Institute seeks to broaden the parameters of public policy debate to allow consideration of the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets and peace. Toward that goal, the Institute strives to achieve greater involvement of the intelligent, concerned lay public in questions of policy and the proper role of government. While conservatives may not adhere to all of the libertarian philosophy, they will notice on some issues there is agreement.
To gain an understanding of the libertarian political-economic philosophy visit the Cato Institute's website: http://www.cato.org
Nathan Tabor is the Founder and CEO of TCVmedia.com and TheConservativeVoice.com. After just eighteen months, TheConservativeVoice.com gets over 250,000 unique visitors a month, 1.7 million page views and has over 150,000 email subscribers. The Conservative Voice has over 100 columnists and features up-to-the-minute news. He is heard daily on over 250 stations nationally with AConservativeMoment.com.
At 29, Nathan ran for Congress (NC5) in an eight way primary. He raised over $750,000 and received over 7,500 votes in the most expensive primary in American history. Nathan's supporters included Dick Armey, Ed Meese, Steve Moore, Art Laffer, Pat Robertson, Bob Jones III, Congressmen Robert Aderholt, Congressmen Trent Franks, Congressmen Jim Ryun, Beverly and Tim LaHaye, Mike Farris and many others. Dr. Jerry Falwell dubbed him the "young Jesse Helms."
Nathan received his BA in psychology from St. Andrews Presbyterian College and his MA in public policy from Regent University.
Nathan is married to Jordan and they have a baby girl, Abigail.
