Organization: University of Maine System
Date: Wednesday, 8 Apr 1992 22:40:50 EDT
From: Nicholas C. Hester <IA80024@MAINE.MAINE.EDU>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.politics
Subject: 1992 Libertarian Platform part 3


------------------------------- Begin Part Three ------------------------------


                          III. DOMESTIC ILLS

Current problems in  such areas  as  energy,  pollution,  health  care
delivery, decaying  cities,  and  poverty  are  not  solved,  but  are
primarily  caused,  by  government.   The  welfare  state,  supposedly
designed to aid the poor, is in reality a growing and parasitic burden
on all productive  people, and injures, rather than benefits, the poor
themselves.


1. ENERGY

We oppose all  government control of  energy pricing, allocation,  and
production, such as  that imposed by  the Department of Energy,  state
public utility commissions,  and  state  pro-rationing  agencies.   We
oppose all government  subsidies for energy research, development, and
operation.

We oppose all  direct and indirect  government  participation  in  the
nuclear energy industry, including subsidies, research and development
funds, guaranteed loans, waste disposal subsidies, and federal uranium
enrichment facilities.  The  Nuclear Regulatory Commission  should  be
abolished;  full  liability  --  not  government  agencies  --  should
regulate nuclear power.   The Price-Anderson Act,  through  which  the
government  limits  liability  for  nuclear  accidents  and  furnishes
partial payment at  taxpayer expense,  should  be  repealed.   Nuclear
energy should be  denationalized and the industry's assets transferred
to the private  sector.  Any nuclear power industry must meet the test
of a free market.

We oppose any restriction on the use of alternative fuels.

We support abolition  of the Department of Energy and the abolition of
its component  agencies,  without  their  transfer  elsewhere  in  the
government.  We oppose  the creation  of  any  emergency  mobilization
agency in the  energy field, which  would wield dictatorial powers  in
order to override  normal legal processes.   We oppose all  government
conservation  schemes  through   the  use  of  taxes,  subsidies,  and
regulation, as well  as the dictated conversion of utilities and other
industries to coal  or any other  fuel.  We oppose any attempt to give
the federal government  a monopoly over  the importation of oil, or to
develop a subsidized  government energy corporation  whose  privileged
status would be used as a yardstick for condemning private enterprise.
 We oppose the  "strategic storage" program,  any  attempt  to  compel
national self-sufficiency in  oil, any extension  of cargo  preference
law to imports,  and any attempt  to raise oil tariffs  or impose  oil
import quotas.  We oppose all efforts to nationalize energy companies,
or force them  to plow back revenues solely into energy production and
the discovery of  energy sources,  or  prohibit  them  from  acquiring
companies in non-energy  fields.  We also  oppose all efforts to break
up vertically and  horizontally integrated energy  companies or  force
them to divest their pipelines.

We consider all  attempts to impose  an operational or standby program
of gasoline rationing to be unworkable, unnecessary, and tyrannical.

We favor the  creation of a  free market in oil  by  instituting  full
property rights in  underground oil and  by the repeal of  all federal
and state controls  over price and  output in the petroleum  industry.
All government-owned energy resources should be turned over to private
ownership.

2. POLLUTION

Pollution of other  people's property is  a  violation  of  individual
rights. Present legal  principles, particularly the  unjust and  false
concept of "public  property," block privatisation  of the use of  the
environment and hence  block resolution of controversies over resource
use.  We support the development of an objective legal system defining
property rights to  air and water.   We call for a modification of the
laws governing such  torts as trespass  and nuisance to cover  damages
done by  air,  water,  radiation,  and  noise  pollution.   We  oppose
legislative  proposals  to   exempt  persons  who  claim  damage  from
radiation from having  to prove such  damage was  in  fact  caused  by
radiation.  Strict liability,  not government agencies  and  arbitrary
government standards, should  regulate pollution.  We therefore demand
the abolition of  the Environmental Protection Agency.  We also oppose
government-mandated smoking and  non-smoking areas in  privately owned
businesses.

Toxic waste disposal problems have been created by government policies
that separate liability  from property.  Rather  than making taxpayers
pay for toxic  waste clean-ups, individual  property owners, or in the
case of corporations,  the responsible managers  and employees, should
be held strictly  liable for material  damage done by their  property.
Claiming that one  has abandoned a  piece of property does not absolve
one of the  responsibility for actions  one has  set  in  motion.   We
condemn the EPA's  Superfund whose taxing  powers are used to penalize
all chemical firms, regardless of their conduct.  Such clean-ups are a
subsidy of irresponsible companies at the expense of responsible ones.

3. CONSUMER PROTECTION

We   support   strong   and   effective   laws   against   fraud   and
misrepresentation.  However, we oppose paternalistic regulations which
dictate to consumers, impose prices, define standards for products, or
otherwise  restrict  risk-taking   and   free   choice.    We   oppose
governmental promotion or imposition of the metric system.

We  oppose  all  so-called  "consumer  protection"  legislation  which
infringes upon voluntary  trade, and call  for the  abolition  of  the
Consumer Product Safety  Commission.  We advocate  the repeal  of  all
laws banning or  restricting the advertising  of prices, products,  or
services.  We specifically  oppose laws requiring an individual to buy
or use so-called "self-protection" equipment such as safety belts, air
bags, or crash helmets.

We advocate the  abolition of  the  Federal  Aviation  Administration,
which has  jeopardized  airline  safety  by  arrogating  to  itself  a
monopoly of safety regulation and enforcement.

We advocate the  abolition of the  Food and  Drug  Administration  and
particularly  its   policies   of   mandating   specific   nutritional
requirements  and  denying   the  right  of   manufacturers  to   make
non-fraudulent claims concerning  their products.  We  advocate an end
to compulsory fluoridation  of water supplies.  We specifically oppose
government regulation of  the price, potency,  or quantity able to  be
produced or purchased  of drugs or other consumer goods.  There should
be   no   laws   regarding   what   substances   (nicotine,   alcohol,
hallucinogens, narcotics,  Laetrile,  artificial  sweeteners,  vitamin
supplements, or other "drugs") a person may ingest or otherwise use.

4. EDUCATION

We  advocate  the   complete  separation  of   education  and   State.
Government  schools  lead   to  the  indoctrination  of  children  and
interfere with the  free choice of individuals.  Government ownership,
operation, regulation, and  subsidy of schools  and colleges should be
ended. We call  for  the  repeal  of  the  guarantees  of  tax-funded,
government-provided  education,  which   are  found  in   most   state
constitutions.

As an interim  measure to encourage  the growth of private schools and
variety in education, including home schooling, we support tax credits
for  tuition  and   other  expenditures  related  to  an  individual's
education.  We likewise  favor tax credits  for child care and  oppose
nationalization of the  child-care  industry.   We  oppose  denial  of
tax-exempt  status  to  schools  because  of  those  schools'  private
policies on hiring,  admissions, and student  deportment.  We  support
the repeal of  all taxes on the income or property of private schools,
whether for profit or non-profit.

We condemn compulsory  education laws, which spawn prison-like schools
with many of  the problems associated with prisons, and we call for an
immediate repeal of such laws.

Until  government  involvement  in  education  is  ended,  we  support
elimination, within the  governmental school system,  of forced busing
and corporal punishment.   We further support  immediate reduction  of
tax support for  schools, and removal  of the burden of  school  taxes
from those not responsible for the education of children.

5. POPULATION

Recognizing that the  American people are  not a  collective  national
resource, we oppose all coercive measures for population control.

We oppose government  actions that either compel or prohibit abortion,
sterilization, or any  other forms of birth control.  Specifically, we
condemn the  vicious  practice  of  forced  sterilization  of  welfare
recipients  or  of   mentally  retarded  or   "genetically  defective"
individuals.

We regard the  tragedies caused by  unplanned, unwanted pregnancies to
be aggravated, if  not created, by  government policies of censorship,
restriction, regulation, and  prohibition.  Therefore, we call for the
repeal of all  laws that restrict  anyone,  including  children,  from
engaging in voluntary  exchanges of goods,  services,  or  information
regarding human sexuality,  reproduction, birth  control,  or  related
medical or biological technologies.

We equally oppose  government laws  and  policies  that  restrict  the
opportunity to choose alternatives to abortion.

We support an  end to all  subsidies for childbearing built  into  our
present  laws,  including   welfare  plans  and   the   provision   of
tax-supported services for  children.   We  urge  the  elimination  of
special tax burdens  on single people  and  couples  with  few  or  no
children.

6. TRANSPORTATION

Government  interference  in   transportation  is   characterized   by
monopolistic  restriction,  corruption  and  gross  inefficiency.   We
therefore  call  for   the  dissolution  of  all  government  agencies
concerned   with   transportation,   including   the   Department   of
Transportation,  the  Interstate   Commerce  Commission,  the  Federal
Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board, the
Coast Guard, and  the Federal Maritime Commission, and the transfer of
their legitimate functions  to competitive private  firms.  We  demand
the return of America's railroad system to private ownership.  We call
for the privatization of airports, air traffic control systems, public
roads,  and   the   national   highway   system.    We   condemn   the
re-cartelization  of  commercial  aviation  by  the  Federal  Aviation
Administration via  rationing  of  take-off  and  landing  rights  and
controlling scheduling in the name of "safety."


As interim measures,  we  advocate  an  immediate  end  to  government
regulation of private transit organizations and to governmental favors
to  the  transportation  industry.   In  particular,  we  support  the
immediate repeal of  all laws restricting  transit competition such as
the granting of  taxicab and bus  monopolies and  the  prohibition  of
private jitney  services.   We  urge  immediate  deregulation  of  the
trucking industry.  Likewise,  we advocate  the  immediate  repeal  of
federally imposed speed limits.

7. POVERTY AND UNEMPLOYMENT

Government fiscal  and  monetary  measures  that  artificially  foster
business expansion guarantee  an  eventual  increase  in  unemployment
rather than curtailing  it.  We call  for the immediate  cessation  of
such  policies  as   well  as  any  governmental  attempts  to  affect
employment levels.

We support repeal of all laws that impede the ability of any person to
find employment, such  as minimum wage  laws,  so-called  "protective"
labor legislation for women and children, governmental restrictions on
the establishment of  private day-care centers, and the National Labor
Relations Act.   We  deplore  government-fostered  forced  retirement,
which robs the elderly of the right to work.

We seek the  elimination of  occupational  licensure,  which  prevents
human beings from  working in whatever  trade they wish.  We  call for
the abolition of  all federal, state,  and local  government  agencies
that restrict entry into any profession, such as education and law, or
regulate its practice.  No worker should be legally penalized for lack
of certification, and  no consumer should  be legally restrained  from
hiring unlicensed individuals.

We oppose all  government welfare, relief  projects, and "aid  to  the
poor"  programs.   All  these  government  programs  are  invasive  of
privacy, paternalistic, demeaning, and inefficient.  The proper source
of help for  such persons is  the voluntary efforts of  private groups
and individuals.

To speed the time when governmental programs are replaced by effective
private institutions we advocate dollar-for-dollar tax credits for all
charitable contributions.


8. HEALTH CARE

We  advocate  the   complete  separation  of   medicine   and   State.
Recognizing the individual's  right to self-medication,  we  seek  the
elimination of all government restrictions on the right of individuals
to pursue alternative  forms of health  care.  Individuals  should  be
free to contract  with practitioners of  their choice for  all  health
care  services.   We  oppose  any  government  infringement  upon  the
practitioner-patient  relationship  through   regulatory  agencies  or
contracted  review  organizations.    We  condemn  the   practice   of
criminally prosecuting  medical  practitioners  under  the  anti-trust
laws.

We oppose any  form of compulsory National Health Insurance, including
mandatory health insurance  benefits  required  of  employers  by  the
government.  We favor abolition of Medicare and Medicaid programs.  We
also oppose any  state or federal  area planning boards  whose  stated
purpose is to  consolidate health services or avoid their duplication.
We  support  the   removal  of  all  government  barriers  to  medical
advertising, including prohibition of publication of doctors' fees and
drug prices.  We  further support the  elimination of  laws  requiring
prescriptions for the dispensing of medicines and other health-related
items.

We condemn efforts  by government to  impose a  medical  orthodoxy  on
society.  We specifically  oppose  the  attempt  by  state  and  local
governments to deny  parents the right  to choose the option  of  home
births and to  discourage the development  of privately funded women's
clinics.  We call  for the  repeal  of  all  laws  that  restrict  the
practice of lay  midwifery or that  permit harassment of lay  midwives
and home birth  practitioners.  We also  call for the  repeal  of  all
medical licensing laws, which have raised medical costs while creating
a government-imposed monopoly of doctors and hospitals.

Since a person's  body is his  or her own property, we favor repeal of
the existing prohibition  on the commercial  sale and purchase of body
parts.

We favor the deregulation of the health insurance industry, and oppose
government-imposed limits on  its use of  genetic and other  screening
and testing methods.   We  oppose  laws  that  limit  the  freedom  of
contract  of  patients   and  health  care   professionals,  and  laws
regulating the supply  of legal aid  on a contingency fee  basis.   We
also oppose subsidy of malpractice insurance through public funds.  We
call for the  repeal of laws  forcing  health  care  professionals  to
render medical services in emergencies or other situations.

We recognize that  AIDS is a  dread disease of  epidemic  proportions.
But governmental proposals  to  combat  it  present  an  unprecedented
threat to individual  liberty and often  encourage the spread  of  the
disease.  We oppose  all government-mandated  AIDS  testing.   We  are
opposed to FDA restrictions which make it difficult for individuals to
secure  treatment  for   this  disease.   We   also   call   for   the
decriminalization of hypodermic  syringes,  especially  since  sharing
needles is now  a major means  of transmission  of  the  disease.   We
oppose government-mandated contact tracing and state intervention into
the private medical records of individuals.  We are opposed to efforts
by the government,  especially the postal  service,  to  restrict  the
dissemination of AIDS  education material.  We  support the rights  of
all individuals to  freedom of association  including the right not to
associate.

We condemn attempts  at the federal,  state, or local level to cripple
the advance of  science by governmental  restriction of research.   We
oppose subsidies to,  or restrictions of,  medical education.  We call
for an end  to government policies compelling individuals to submit to
medical experiments, treatment,  and testing.  We  condemn  compulsory
hospitalization, compulsory vaccination,  and compulsory fluoridation.
As interim measures,  we advocate dollar-for-dollar tax credits to any
individual or group  providing health care  services to the  needy  or
paying for such  services.  Tax credits  should also be made available
for private grants to medical education and medical research.

Because all individuals should have full responsibility and control of
their own lives,  we support the right of terminally or hopelessly ill
persons to end  their lives.  We  support the freedom  to  use  living
wills and durable  medical powers of  attorney  in  which  individuals
declare the manner  in which they are to be treated and the procedures
for disposal of  their remains.  In  the absence of such wills and the
ability for the  individual to choose (e.g. coma) the matter should be
decided by such  person or persons  as the individual may have clearly
preferred, with whatever  guidance they may  desire.  In keeping  with
the principle of non-coercion, no individual shall be forced to either
continue or terminate  life sustaining  care.   This  right  does  not
entitle individuals to force medical professionals or others to assist
them in ending their lives or in continuing life support.


9. RESOURCE USE

Resource management is  properly the responsibility  and right of  the
legitimate owners of  land, water, and  other natural  resources.   We
oppose government control  of resource  use  through  eminent  domain,
zoning laws, building  codes, rent control,  regional planning,  urban
renewal, or purchase  of development  rights  with  tax  money.   Such
regulations and programs violate property rights, discriminate against
minorities, create housing shortages, and tend to cause higher rents.

We advocate the  establishment of an  efficient  and  just  system  of
private water rights,  applied to all  bodies of  water,  surface  and
underground.  Such a  system should be  built upon a doctrine of first
claim and  use.   The  allocation  of  water  should  be  governed  by
unrestricted  competition  and  unregulated  prices.   All  government
restrictions upon private use or voluntary transfer of water rights or
similar despotic controls  can only  aggravate  the  misallocation  of
water.

We also advocate  the privatization of government and quasi-government
water supply systems.   The construction of  government dams and other
water projects should  cease, and existing  government water  projects
should be transferred to private ownership.  We favor the abolition of
the Bureau of  Reclamation and the  Army Corps of Engineers'  civilian
functions.  We also  favor the abolition  of all local water districts
and their power to tax.  Only the complete separation of water and the
State will prevent future water crises.

We call for  the  homesteading  or  other  just  transfer  to  private
ownership of federally  held lands.  We  oppose any use  of  executive
orders invoking the  Antiquities Act to  set aside public  lands.   We
call for the  abolition of the  Bureau of Land Management and the U.S.
Forest Service.  Forced  surface-mining of privately homesteaded lands
in which the  government has reserved  surface mining rights to itself
is a violation of the rights of the present landholders.  We recognize
the legitimacy of  resource planning by  means of  private,  voluntary
covenants.  We oppose  creation of new  government parks or wilderness
and recreation areas.   Such parks and areas that already exist should
be  transferred  to   non-government  ownership.   Pending  such  just
transfer, their operating  costs should be borne by their users rather
than by taxpayers.


10. AGRICULTURE

America's free market  in agriculture, the  system that feeds much  of
the  world,  has   been  plowed  under   by  government  intervention.
Government  subsidies,  regulation,  and  taxes  have  encouraged  the
centralization of agricultural  business.  Government export  policies
hold  American  farmers   hostage  to  the  political  whims  of  both
Republican and Democratic  administrations.  Government  embargoes  on
grain sales and  other obstacles to  free trade  have  frustrated  the
development of free  and stable trade relationships between peoples of
the world.

The agricultural problems  facing America  today  are  not  insoluble,
however.  Government policies  can be reversed.  Farmers and consumers
alike should be  free from the meddling and counterproductive measures
of the federal  government -- free  to grow, sell, and  buy what  they
want, in the  quantity they want,  when they want.  Five  steps can be
taken immediately:

a.  abolition of the Department of Agriculture

b.  elimination of  all  government  farm  programs,  including  price
supports,  direct  subsidies,   and  all  regulation  on  agricultural
production;

c.  deregulation of  the transportation industry  and abolition of the
Interstate Commerce Commission;

d.  repeal of federal inheritance taxes; and

e.  ending government  involvement in agricultural  pest  control.   A
policy of pest  control whereby private  individuals  or  corporations
bear full responsibility  for damages they  inflict on their neighbors
should be implemented.

11. OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ACT (OSHA)

We call for  the repeal of  the Occupational Safety  and  Health  Act.
This law denies the right to liberty and property to both employer and
employee, and it  interferes in their  private contractual  relations.
OSHA's arbitrary and high-handed actions invade property rights, raise
costs, and are an injustice imposed on business.



12. SOCIAL SECURITY

We favor  the  repeal  of  the  fraudulent,  virtually  bankrupt,  and
increasingly oppressive Social  Security system.  Pending that repeal,
participation in Social Security should be made voluntary.  Victims of
the Social  Security  tax  should  have  a  claim  against  government
property.  We note  that members of  the U.S.  Congress,  and  certain
federal, state, and local government employees, have been accorded the
privileges of non-participation, one which is not accorded the working
men and women of America.

13. POSTAL SERVICE

We propose the  abolition  of  the  government  Postal  Service.   The
present  system,  in   addition  to  being   inefficient,   encourages
government surveillance of private correspondence.  Pending abolition,
we call for  an end to  the monopoly  system  and  for  allowing  free
competition in all aspects of postal service.

14. CIVIL SERVICE

We propose the abolition of the Civil Service system, which entrenches
a permanent and  growing bureaucracy upon the land.  We recognize that
the Civil Service  is inherently a  system of concealed patronage.  We
therefore recommend return  to the Jeffersonian  principle of rotation
in office.

15. ELECTION LAWS

We call for  an  end  to  government  control  of  political  parties,
consistent with First  Amendment rights to  freedom of association and
freedom of expression.  As private voluntary groups, political parties
should  be  allowed  to  establish  their  own  rules  for  nomination
procedures, primaries, and conventions.

We urge repeal  of the Federal  Election Campaign Act which suppresses
voluntary support of  candidates and  parties,  compels  taxpayers  to
subsidize politicians and  political views which  many do not wish  to
support, invades the  privacy of American  citizens, and protects  the
Republican and Democratic  parties  from  competition.   This  law  is
particularly dangerous as it enables the federal government to control
the elections of  its own administrators  and  beneficiaries,  thereby
further reducing its accountability to the citizens.


Elections at all  levels should be in the control of those who wish to
participate in or  support them voluntarily.  We therefore call for an
end to any  tax-financed subsidies to  candidates or parties  and  the
repeal of all  laws which restrict  voluntary  financing  of  election
campaigns.

Many state legislatures  have  established  prohibitively  restrictive
laws which in  effect exclude alternative  candidates and parties from
their rightful place  on election ballots.   Such laws wrongfully deny
ballot access to  political candidates and groups and further deny the
voters their right  to consider all  legitimate alternatives.  We hold
that no state  has an interest  to protect in this area except for the
fair and efficient conduct of elections.

The Australian ballot system, introduced into the United States in the
late nineteenth century,  is an abridgement  of freedom of  expression
and of voting  rights.  Under it,  the names  of  all  the  officially
approved candidates are  printed  in  a  single  government  sponsored
format and the  voter indicates his  or her choice by marking it or by
writing in an  approved but  unlisted  candidate's  name.   We  should
return to the  previous electoral system  where there was no  official
ballot or candidate approval at all, and therefore no state or federal
restriction of access to a "single ballot."  Instead, voters submitted
their own choices  and had the  option of  using  "tickets"  or  cards
printed by candidates or political parties.

In order to grant voters a full range of choice in federal, state, and
local elections, we  propose the addition  of the alternative "None of
the above is  acceptable" to all  ballots.  We further propose that in
the event that  "none of the above is acceptable" receives a plurality
of votes in  any election, the  elective office for that  term  should
remain unfilled and unfunded.

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