Note: At least the end result of this starting effort was a platform approved by the Libertarian Party of Canada in 2008 (later posts develop it).

Towards a Just Society – Contents

Updated: September 10, 2006

Introduction
Libertarianism means Liberty and Justice
Discrimination
Freedom of Speech
Freedom of Assembly
Public Property
Freedom of the Media
Freedom of Association
Freedom of Contract
Property Rights
Land Use
Privacy
Right to Self-Protection
War

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Towards a Just Society – Canadian Liberty – Intro

Over the last couple of years, I have been involved with Libertarian Party activism in Canada. I ran as a candidate – as an ordinary citizen – for a provincial by-election and also for the 2006 federal election . In my efforts to communicate libertarian ideas – and also in my efforts to communicate with other libertarians and learn from libertarian writers and communicators – I have learned that basically the message of liberty and its implications is not understood well enough.

A libertarian is basically trying to tell people that their political world is upside down – and dangerously so. As human beings, our minds for one reason or another don’t function very rationally and we don’t come close enough to an accurate understanding of the world around us. We have our prejudices, authorities and biases and it is difficult for all of us to drop these biases and see reality and the consequences of our flawed beliefs.

So libertarianism – the philosophy which I’m going to present – is too much for people, even for libertarians. In other words, it’s too much work. Basically, what this means is that it will require a lot of time and effort by many more people in order for Canadians to properly understand what libertarianism is trying to say. So I’m going to keep adding my little contribution to this effort and I urge others to do the same in their own lives. I’m going to take the best of what I have learned from others and apply these principles in a practical concrete way to a very broad collection of topics. My hope is that when people read of a topic that they are interested in and a libertarian response to it, they will more easily start to understand and appreciate the nature of libertarian principles in general.

I also hope that this book will be of value to the Canadian freedom movement – left-wingers and right-wingers – who may at least consider adopting part of the libertarian framework of principles as they face these perilous times.

In this book (a work in progress), I want to present as many topics as possible that relate to the subject of political liberty – freedom – in Canada. Each chapter will be as short and concise as possible. The goals are the same for each topic:

1. Present certain facts about the current level of government intervention in Canada: legislation, restrictions, case examples. Federal, provincial, municipal.
2. Explain why the restriction or intervention is unjust from the point of view of my interpretation of libertarian philosophy, which means explaining libertarian philosophy. And emphasizing that these principles of freedom are essentially concerned with what is just or unjust.
3. Present my personal views about the topic fully and plainly.
4. Recommend a libertarian response to the topic that libertarians can consider sharing with the public in order to build up a resistance to the status quo.

As a guideline or map, I intend to organize many of the topics based on the Libertarian Party of Canada’s current Statement of Objectives.

And I hope that this collection of ideas will stir some debate and attract valuable input from Canadians who have special expertise or personal experiences they wish to share with others.

-Alan Mercer

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Canadian Liberty – Libertarianism means Liberty and Justice  
Sept. 10 ’06

Libertarian philosophy is about determining what is right and what is just in terms of how society is organized politically and legally.

Libertarians recognize that the use of force is only morally legitimate in the defense of a person’s life and justly acquired property. Libertarianism advocates a society that has basic laws that ban the initiation of force – murder, theft and fraud. In a libertarian society, there would be freedom from interference. An implicit agreement would exist that everyone could make their own choices and be left alone, thus requiring that nobody would be allowed to interfere coercively with the lives of others.

Most political parties and movements believe that society should be organized on the basis of force and threats. They work with the idea that government exists in order to manage literally everything or a large subset of everything and to force people to conform in arbitrary ways according to the wishes of other people – of large pressure groups or powerful interests.

Libertarians advocate a voluntary society which includes a “free market”. These terms are all confusing for people, because “free market”, “freedom” and “liberty”, have all been appropriated and corrupted by factions of the established political order who keep themselves as busy as possible killing and looting, and interfering with peoples’ lives and appropriating resources which do not rightfully belong to them.

Libertarianism does not advocate doing evil. It only advocates good. Yes, judge individuals by their actions – by how much they kill, steal and lie – by the injustice they practice. Libertarianism seeks a society where people cooperate to smother injustice.

Of course the problem is that many people don’t have a clue about how to define “injustice” or to talk about ethics. I think it’s true to say that there has been a lot of propaganda advocating moralities that justify State-sanctioned injustice and violence. Here’s a quick formula: don’t steal, don’t defraud, don’t kill. Easy, right? BUT then you begin to say, “but wait – the authorities need to be able to steal, defraud and kill because they’re special and they always have a good reason for stealing, distorting the truth and inflicting collateral damage”. When you catch yourself thinking that, then you’ve nailed the delusion that perpetuates the greatest evil in this world.

As long as we worship “authority” and foolishly believe in the innate goodness of those in power – of our government institutions, we are setting ourselves up for all the day to day oppression we don’t even want to acknowledge – but ultimately for more world wars, for more genocides, for fearful mass acts of violent obedience to “authority”. It would be better if we tried to correct our vision now and choose a different way.

You have heard of the term “Just Society”. However, the terms JUSTICE and ETHICS belong only among people who are prepared to reject the violence and threat of violence against innocent people that lies at the heart of how our society is governed. Those who advocate these controls are the ones perpetuating poverty, dependency and injustice. They believe in massively empowering governments – instruments of force – to do good – to achieve ends which they consider to be good! And I suppose they believe very foolishly that people will use these instruments only for good. Give it up already.

Interfering with trade, interfering with legitimate business and economic choices come from all points of the political spectrum – and this interference always includes the threat of violence, confiscation and imprisonment. And that is why it is wrong. The same judgment applies to attempts to regulate personal lifestyles by force.

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War   Sept. 12 ’06

Libertarian Context

From Libertarian Party of Canada Statement of Objectives, 1993

Defence & Foreign Policy
The principle of non-initiation of force should guide relationships among governments.

A Libertarian government would adopt a policy of non-intervention, abstaining totally from foreign quarrels and imperialist adventures.

Military Capability
We support the maintenance of a military establishment sufficient to defend Canada against foreign aggression.

Conscription
We oppose any effort to introduce conscription for military service or for any other purpose. Requiring individuals to serve against their will, no matter what the service or how lofty the motive, is a denial of their individual rights.

Military Alliances
We approve of military cooperation with other governments solely to protect the rights of Canadian citizens and residents.

…

The Moral Issues.
(*) As it is practiced, war is destructive to non-combatants, to individuals, men, women and children, their lives and property, those who were not engaged in any aggression against Canadians. Even combatants who are aggressed against or who are perceiving themselves as defenders of their homes and country are also being wronged, or at least some of them.

(*) It is morally justified to engage in defensive warfare to some degree. Even when engaging in defensive war, there are moral concerns about efforts at retaliation or defense that cause harm to the persons and property of individuals who were not involved in the aggression. If the Canadian government…

“Foreign War”
(*) Those of us who disagree with Canada’s involvement in a foreign war should not have to pay taxes towards that war.

(*) Justifications for war: the “other side” is “bad”. “We” are “good”. Because of some set of abstract ideals that “we” are supposed to hold, but the others [don’t]. “We” are “holy” and are building schools with money again taken from Canadian taxpayers.

“War Propaganda”

Imperialism
The Historical Context
The Present Context
Which countries? Which alliances?

Possible Policy 2006
We favor the withdrawal of Canadian forces from Afghanistan and other nations where they are currently stationed.

(Original Posts: Link, Contents, Intro, Body)