by R. Lee Wrights
“Government is essentially the negation of liberty.”
- Ludwig von Mises
Earlier today Libertarian Party national chair candidate, and future presidential hopeful, Wayne Allyn Root posted an article on his own blog Root for America entitled, “Lessons Obama Should Have Learned From Watching the Super Bowl.” While the article is light-hearted and even entertaining for some I suppose, I came away from it asking myself, “When is Mr. Root going to learn his lesson about Libertarianism?”
In his missive Mr. Root says:
“Sports gambling (and all forms of online gaming) needs to be legalized. Our country is bankrupt. We need to use Nevada as a role model for the nation and legalize, regulate and tax “sin,” like any other business. Legalizing medical marijuana and online gaming has the potential to bring in $300 billion in new tax revenues. That could pay down government debts, or allow us to lower taxes for our hardworking American taxpayers.”
No matter how you look at things, this is Republican rhetoric not Libertarian philosophy. He calls for the government to “legalize,” which says the government has the right to tell us what we can and cannot do with our hard-earned cash. He says “regulate” and “tax” which again says government has a right to our money that we all work hard for. Why doesn’t he just come right out and say, “It is okay for the government to steal from us.”
Oh wait, he did say that! That is exactly what he is saying here! It hit me like a bolt of lightening and I could hardly believe my eyes, but that is what he is advocating. He is saying it is okay for the government to take our money, just like they are already doing for so many inappropriate things. It is little wonder he lost his last presidential bid for the LP nomination to a couple of late-comers to the race, even after he had campaigned hard for more than a year.
And people wonder why some folks question Mr. Root’s “Reagan Libertarianism.” If it talks like a Republican and walks like a Republican, it is probably a Republican. This is what America sees and is being told is Libertarianism. It is a lie.
Mr. Root is actually advocating a new government agency, possibly two, which will regulate and tax gambling and medical cannabis. While Libertarians everywhere are calling for less government, this man who wants to be the next national chair and our next presidential candidate actually advocates more government.
Surely Libertarians deserve better representation than this. One would think if a man is attempting to become the leader of a political party, he would at least have the decency to educate himself properly in that party’s philosophy. He should at least know what the majority of the members believe and advocate before he goes representing himself as one of them. Unfortunately, what Mr. Root has shown in his latest offering to the American public is how little he really knows about Libertarians and our philosophy.
Mr. Root would do well to remember something that Libertarians have known for a long, long time. Something even the third president of the United States knew and warned us about over two hundred years ago. More government equals less freedom. All day, every day, it never changes. This is the lesson Mr. Root has apparently yet to learn.
“The unfortunate natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and for government to gain ground.”
- Thomas Jefferson
R. Lee Wrights is a writer and political activist living in Texas. He is the co-founder and editor of the free speech online magazine Liberty For All. Contact Lee at rleewrights@gmail.com.
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