I see that Adam Kokesh will run for President, presumably as some variety of “libertarian” candidate. Opinions on Kokesh’s positions are as numerous as cherry blossoms in a Potomac spring, and are not the subject here, though it did get me thinking about how a “libertarian” President might act.
Presupposing the highly improbable success of a “libertarian” (or anyone other than a government-approved) candidate, one might question how such a presumed activist would move to alter the face of government.
Given that POTUS would face an implacable and problematically united legislative opposition, one is drawn to the conclusion that POTUS would have to resort to executive orders/actions to achieve any changes. This is tantamount to imposition of individual power over the electorate — hardly a libertarian position.
The simple fact is that no one individual, be it POTUS, Senator, or Representative, can, acting alone, affect the momentum of government one iota … without assuming dictatorial powers. And that, dear readers, is as far from libertarianism as you can get. (Though not so far from the platforms of our two state parties.)
We have to face the fact that the game is rigged — and that’s the easy part. The hard part comes when we are forced to realize that any government, regardless of how it is tagged, will ultimately have to try to control a significant minority (at minimum) of its citizens. Once again, to state the obvious, not at all a libertarian position.
All of which leaves us with the “monster under the bed” question — what can we do about our little government problem? As I see it, the options are three:
- accept the status quo ante, and pray for a positive resolution
- engage in active revolution and pray for a positive resolution
- strive to inject liberty-minded ideas into the existing framework and pray for a positive resolution
Bottom line, it looks as if those promoting a libertarian revolution better revise their platform to include a healthy dose of entreaties for divine intervention. Yeah. That’ll happen.