PARTY OF LIBERTY
PRINCIPLES, POLICIES AND MEMBERSHIP
General principles
Individual liberty is the touchstone of a well-ordered society. Society exists to serve and protect individuals, their lives and liberties. By its very nature, the state is an instrument of coercion; hence, it has a built-in tendency to conflict with these goals. At the same time, the state is the most effective instrument of public order. Maintenance of public order is crucial to the meaningful exercise of individual liberty. The state is therefore a necessary evil. A well-ordered society will recognize both the necessity of and the dangers inherent in the state. It will use the state to achieve its goals, but limit its power - both by dividing the state against itself, and by limiting its scope to functions that are absolutely necessary. Power within the state must be distributed and decentralized as much as possible. Similarly, the state must be restricted to those functions that enable it to protect individuals' lives and liberties.
Individual liberty requires that individuals are recognized as fully autonomous moral agents. They must be free to choose how to live their lives. Neither society nor the state can determine what kind of life they should lead. Likewise, individuals must be free from domination by others. This means that the exercise of individual freedom must not encroach on the liberty of others. It also means that no individual or group of individuals can impose their own moral code on others. It means, finally, that non one can unfairly profit from the efforts of others, since that would be tantamount to exploitation and an infringement on the liberty of others. Hence, if individuals benefit from certain public goods (such as infrastructure, clean air, low crime and so on), they must contribute fairly to the provision of these goods. Likewise, redistribution of wealth is legitimate only if it serves clearly limited and justifiable ends; it cannot be an end in itself.
With freedom of choice comes responsibility. Individuals must be free to lead a life of their own choosing. By the same token, they are fully responsible for the outcome of their choices. It is not society's job - nor that of the state - to protect individuals from making bad choices, or from the consequences of bad choices. State and society do not exist to take care of individuals; most individuals are fully capable to take care of themselves. Only those that are not have a legitimate claim to compassion and support from the community. That compassion and support must be rendered with the aim of aiding individuals become self-supporting as quickly as possible.
What, then, is the role of the state? It's role is to
defend individual liberty from external aggression
defend individual liberty from internal aggression (crime)
defend individual liberty from encroachments by others
defend individual liberty from dictates by others
defend individual liberty from exploitation by others
defend individual liberty from the state itself
Policies
Social rights
Individuals must be free to live a lifestyle of their choice. Individual freedom of choice must not be abridged. For example, sexual orientation is an individual matter, not subject to public diktat. Likewise, religious choices are an individual matter; neither the state nor society must pressure individuals to accept or profess a particular faith, or any faith at all. Similarly, neither state nor society must unduly infringe on an individual's control over their own bodies and reproduction. The PL supports a strong bill of rights in order to ensure that neither state nor society infringe on individual liberties.
Drugs
All drugs should be decriminalized. Individuals should be provided with all information necessary to make informed choices. If they decide to use drugs, this is their own responsibility - as are the consequences.
Federalism
The state must be limited and divided against itself. It must be decentralized as far as possible. In other words, power to the provinces. Ideally, the PL would like to see the federal government limited to matters of defense, justice, and international trade. Most other issues should be devolved to the provinces.
Economy and trade
A free market is the most effective - and the only just - system for the production and distribution of wealth. The only role the state should play in the economy is to guarantee the proper functioning of the free market. This concerns state policies in the domestic market as well as state policies on international trade: free trade is essential for a free market economy - existing trade barriers must hence be removed.
Welfare
The purpose of welfare is to prevent individuals from starving and to allow them to reenter the labour market, not to subsidize them for doing nothing or to maintain their standard of living. Obviously, those who cannot contribute to society due to disabilities or other issues are a different case. The role of a public welfare system should therefore be the following:
- taking care of the various needs of the physically and mentally disabled
- providing food stamps for the very poor and housing assistance for those who cannot otherwise afford decent housing
- offering temporary (six months max) unemployment benefits, after which individuals will have to rely on social assistance; both unemployment benefits and social assistance should be provided at a flat rate (indexed to need based on family size), rather than as variable benefits based on past contributions or current income; individuals should be eligible for unemployment benefits only after they are no longer able to sustain themselves financially
- providing daycare for the poorest children (which will end after their parents have a stable income).
Environment
A functioning environment is necessary for the protection and meaningful exercise of individual lives and liberties. Environmental protection therefore must be a priority for Eutopia. Moreover, it is unacceptable for any individual to inflict environmental harm if others end up paying the price, since this amounts to exploitation and and infringement on others' liberty.
Foreign policy
We support reunification of the island of Eutopia, but not because we buy into some nebulous concept of "national unity" or "historical community." The last few decades have demonstrated quite clearly that, except in the minds of Anglo nationalists and conservatives, there is no such thing as *the* Eutopian nation. Eutopia always has been multinational, and the failure to recognize that fundamental fact is what led to the break-up of the island. Rather than chauvinism masquerading as patriotism, the reason we support reunification is that we believe unity to be to the mutual advantage of all three countries currently occupying this island. However, if we want to achieve reunification, we must first honestly accept that the secession of Tilapia and St. Esprit was legitimate. It was legitimate because no people must be forced to remain part of a state it no longer wishes to be governed by. The people of Tilapia and St. Esprit made a democratic choice to form separate countries, and if we truly cherish liberty, we must accept their choice.
Justice
Justice is one of the few areas where the state has a genuine role to play, by virtue of its character as an instrument of coercion. An effective justice system is a prerequisite for the possibility of meaningful individual choice. Such a system has been sorely lacking in Eutopia's recent past, and efforts must be made to achieve an effective rule of law in this country. At the same time, the state must not use measures to accomplish order and stability that are disproportionate, or that violate individual liberty and the right to life. We therefore do not support the death penalty. Any state is legitimate only insofar as it protects the lives and liberties of all its citizens. This includes citizens who have violated the law. Individuals who have committed crimes must obviously be held to account, but no individual or group of individuals - whether they call themselves "the people," "the state" or something else entirely - has the right to take someone else's life.
Defense
The only legitimate role for Eutopia's military is that of a defense force. It must never be used for the suppression of dissent or individual liberties at home. Likewise, it must not be used to violate the sovereignty of other countries and the liberties of their citizens. War, where it is an infringement on the rights and liberties of citizens of other countries, is always illegitimate.
Membership
Jeremiah Olson, party leader [jcolson]
William Wymond Jerome Vandelft [Melanchthon]
