Can anybody tell me why we don't have a Congress full of libertarians?

Question

If you read the Bill of Rights you'll see that everything they says fit in really well with the libertarian party's ideas. They want as little government interferance as possible and it's all abou the individual's rights.....What's wrong with that again?

I understand that there is no money, libertarians have a slim chance of gaining political power in congress (although resent elections show it getting closer and closer each election), and that we can't know exactly how to apply our founding fathers exact ideas to our world. But we can make a general philosophical assumption based on the Bill of rights that they vote. We can see that they implied the golden rule throughout the bill of rights. If we all lived by that mentality then i don't understand why we need to be governed so closely and led to such great evil. (such as war, materializtion, and complete revokation of human rights like jail) It seems if we could think more like our founding fathers and the golden rule, then we could me more empathetic and thus resulting in the progression of our life and all those around us. We could fix more problems and any one could imagine. I just think a more libertrarian gov. could fix a lot of of daily problems resulting in healthier indv

Answer 1

Hey, I like libertarians, but let's face it, for most of the US they're a little extreme.

I like the idea of small government and fewer taxes, fiscal responsibility and all that, and I think we need some mainstream politicians to pick up some libertarian ideas and run with them. They also want to take us back to the beginning of the industrialization of America, pre-New Deal. We can't go back there! We can't go back to no minimum wage, monopolies out of control, and no education unless for those who can afford it (no public schools in a libertarian world!). Did you ever read "The Jungle"?

In a world of increased globalization, where our economy is tied with the economies of so many other countries, and where are culture is entwined with som many other cultures, we can't have an isolationist government, as the libertarians want. We learned that after WWII.

Again, I love libertarians. They are the party of small government, ending the drug war, letting gays marry. I love that! They are also a little (a lot?) outdated, which is ultimately why they don't get voted into congress.

Answer 2

The bill of rights is only a small part of our nation's "rules." Every major supreme court case has the ability to change how we interpret our constitution. When the "meaning" of our constitution changes, laws tend to change also.Congress, then has to vote according to the precedents set. Agreeing with the new interpretation or disagreeing with it, on issues that are brought before the house and senate then provides for varying opinions and hence different beliefs of republicans, democrats etc. For example, everyone has a right to property, but the definition of property has changed. Now we think of property as things you posses, but 150 years ago slaves were property ie Dredd Scott. Pro-slavery libertarians would have voted differently than pro-freedom libertarians, even though both would have been voting based on the actual law, as a libertarian would have. 150 years ago it wasn't illegal to own slaves, so what would the correct vote be for a libertarian? That is an extreme example, but the law changes and the interpretation of the law changes. There can be no true libertarian because we can't know exactly what the writers meant or how it is to be applied to our world today.

Answer 3

Unfortunately the Libertarians don't really stand for that much.

They lack organization and simply are not in a position to take a leadership role in the U.S. Congress--and that is essential to becoming a majority party.

Truthfully, on basic issues there is little difference between the two major parties, and that seems to be what the American voters prefer.

The last minority party to achieve major party status was the Republican Party, which took over when the Whigs sort of fell apart. It still remains a more Conservative party than the Democrats, however on major issues does not differ much.

Answer 4

Not that you want to hear it but because the system is producing an ever greater quantity of sheep, who learn in their 12 to 20 yrs of school: to obey and that force by consensus is justifiable. People have become afraid to be free, they prefer the "safety of the flock". little do they know they are not sheep but lemmings.

Answer 5

Because they call themselves republicans now.

Answer 6

Nothing wrong with that.

Answer 7

There's no money in it.