Dear Editor,
The Libertarian party is the third-largest party in the American political spectrum, but it is largely misunderstood and the target for many attacks on its ideology. Liberty is defined as “the state of being free within a society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one’s way of life, behavior, or political views.” Liberty, this is the basis for the Libertarian party: individual, personal liberty.
Allow me to dispel a few misconceptions and inaccuracies perpetuated a recent diatribe against libertarianism. This is nothing new to those who have spent time learning the pragmatic principles of libertarianism from many people whom you will never read in your college career: people like Murray Rothbard, Ludwig von Mises and Lysander Spooner, all men who worked to encourage people to expand their thinking and understand that there is a difference between imposed authority and voluntary authority.
In the recent DM opinion piece, it was said, “A large government with oversight, regulation and responsibility is preferable to a weak, powerless one…,” in other words, “Obey the government.”
By this logic, Anne Frank and her family were troublemakers; Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a rabble rouser; and Harvey Milk was nothing more than a pervert. These people may not have flown the banner of libertarianism, but they all believed in liberty and individual freedom. They all believed that the government does not have the authority to tell them how they should live their lives nor does the government have the authority to create different classes of citizens. We encourage you to seek out the truth, on all things, so that you are basing your beliefs off of facts.
Aaron Barksdale
Chairman, Libertarian Party of Mississippi
