Conservatives Should Consider The Libertarian Party

Written by Jean Fritz


Continued from page 1

Because one ofrepparttar basic premises of libertarianism is that “I own myself”, personal responsibility is a large part ofrepparttar 125958 libertarian picture. The individual is free to make any informed choice they want, but they must also acceptrepparttar 125959 consequences of those choices. This means, of course, that tort lawyers would be out of business. If an individual chooses to smoke cigarettes or eat high-fat foods and develops heart problems at 40, they are not assigned victim status, or allowed to claim “disability” payments for injuries that are self-inflicted. Under current laws, drug addicts can receive SSD (Social Security Disability) because they chose to burn out their brain cells, and now can’t function. And we wonder why Social Security is going bankrupt?

Likewise, if an individual is upset aboutrepparttar 125960 plight ofrepparttar 125961 homeless,repparttar 125962 environment, orrepparttar 125963 drug problem inrepparttar 125964 neighborhood,repparttar 125965 libertarian answer is “Look inrepparttar 125966 mirror forrepparttar 125967 solution.” Local problems are to be solved on a local basis by people who understandrepparttar 125968 problems,repparttar 125969 people they are working with, and will be accountable for, and affected by,repparttar 125970 solutions they impose. This doesn’t happen withrepparttar 125971 current slurry of cookie-cutter fixes determined by policy-wonks in Washington. For those people who believe that “big business” needs to be regulated, remember that it wasrepparttar 125972 unholy alliance between “big business” and certain members of congress that allowedrepparttar 125973 so-called Robber Barons to reign duringrepparttar 125974 Gilded Era, and recently,repparttar 125975 actions of Senators Lieberman and Shays to defangrepparttar 125976 Accounting Oversight Board sowedrepparttar 125977 seeds forrepparttar 125978 criminal activities at Enron and WorldComm. The criminal behavior exhibited within business enterprises was ultimately brought to light byrepparttar 125979 media; government agencies then were forced to react.

The Libertarian ideal works within a sane and mature society, andrepparttar 125980 more conservatives work towardrepparttar 125981 establishment of one,repparttar 125982 better our country will become. Don’t think of a third party vote as a wasted vote; think of it as a grass-roots referendum for change.



Jean Fritz is a farmer, freelance writer, and observer of human nature. She can be reached via her website: http://continue.to/jmtpubs.


Recycling The Mentally Ill

Written by Virginia Bola, PsyD


Continued from page 1

It is now estimated thatrepparttar penal system isrepparttar 125957 largest provider of mental health services inrepparttar 125958 nation. Apart from those Institutions designed for those who have been legally determined to be "criminally insane,"repparttar 125959 system houses mentally ill individuals who may make up a third or more ofrepparttar 125960 total prison population.

Building more prisons and hiring more guards is politically positive: voters want to keep their communities clean and safe and willingly pay forrepparttar 125961 fight against crime. Whilerepparttar 125962 murderers and rapists are held up as examples of those who need to be contained at all costs,repparttar 125963 fact remains that a majority ofrepparttar 125964 enormous and growing prison population are serving their time for drug-related activities or victimless crimes.

The mentally ill have finally been fully recycled. They are still invisible but instead of vegetating in State Mental Wards, they are caught within a system which robs them of their dignity, provides less than optimal treatment, and costs far more torepparttar 125965 taxpayers than would well-organized and efficiently run hospitals and clinics.

This is progress?

Dr. Bola operated a rehabilitation company, developing innovative job search techniques for disabled workers, for 20 years. A licensed clinical psychologist, she directed vocational programs for the mentally ill, served as a Vocational Expert in administrative and civil court, and pioneered vocational testimony in Workers' Compensation. Author of The Wolf at the Door: An Unemployment Survival Manual, she can be found at: http://www.virginiabola.com


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