What Do You Believe?  

If you'e like a most of us you're a Republican or Democrat because that's what your parents taught you to be or that's what you're friends are.  And some of you undoubtedly still believe in the noble ideals upon which our two primary parties were founded, and from which they have devolved.  But haven't you ever wondered if maybe, deep down, you were a Libertarian?  'Cause you're tolerant, right?  ...Live and let live?  Or maybe you're really a Greenie?  I mean who doesn't want to save the planet?  And the Constitution Party?  They've gotta be legit with Constitution right there in the name, right?  

Let's pretend for a blissful moment that the Democrat and Republican parties didn't exist and we had to look elsewhere for our daily dose of corruption, corporatism, socialism, globalism, greed, and prejudice.  Where would we go?  Well, there are dozens of minor political parties out there, but only the Libertarian, Green, and Constitution parties have managed to register even a blip on the political radar.  And while tens of millions of us may "belong" to one of these three minor parties ideologically, we don't vote for them.  Only the Librtarians and Greens have ever received more than 1% of the popular vote in a Presidential election, and they've done that just twice each.  Their best showings ever were the Green Party's 2.74% in 2000 and the Libertarian Party's 3.28% in 2016.    

The point is, if they remain divided and intransigent, these parties will never pose a threat to Republicans or Democrats.  But with the pragmatists, the realists from each of these parties united, and joined by their counterparts in the Tea Party Movement, and the more than one hundred million of us who were willing to swallow Bernie's socialism or Donald's populism in order to blow up a malignant duopoly...?  Now that's an alternative!  That's a true third party!  

It is our sincere hope that this site will mark the beginning of a national movement comprised of Independents, Tea Party members, dissatisfied Republicans and Democrats, and all the unwashed brains within these minor parties, toward consensus, conciliation, and ultimately consolidation.  If you'd like to see where you stand politically, with no elephants  or donkeys telling you what to do (We like to combine their scientific names Elephas maximus and Equus asinus into the hybrid and very fitting "Maximus asinus"), then read the preambles of the Libertarian, Green, and Constitution parties below and let us know where you come down.  Below each preamble you'll find our take on what each of these parties could do to improve their dismal numbers, but don't be surprised if they don't take our advice.  We will however take yours.  Tell us where you stand and what issues are most important to you by visiting our "Take Action" page where you can Contact Us, Donate, and Join The Party.

party_of_principle_logo-2.png

PREAMBLE

As Libertarians, we seek a world of liberty; a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives and no one is forced to sacrifice his or her values for the benefit of others.

We believe that respect for individual rights is the essential precondition for a free and prosperous world, that force and fraud must be banished from human relationships, and that only through freedom can peace and prosperity be realized.

Consequently, we defend each person’s right to engage in any activity that is peaceful and honest, and welcome the diversity that freedom brings. The world we seek to build is one where individuals are free to follow their own dreams in their own ways, without interference from government or any authoritarian power.

In the following pages we have set forth our basic principles and enumerated various policy stands derived from those principles.

These specific policies are not our goal, however. Our goal is nothing more nor less than a world set free in our lifetime, and it is to this end that we take these stands.

STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES

We, the members of the Libertarian Party, challenge the cult of the omnipotent state and defend the rights of the individual.

We hold that all individuals have the right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives, and have the right to live in whatever manner they choose, so long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal right of others to live in whatever manner they choose.

Governments throughout history have regularly operated on the opposite principle, that the State has the right to dispose of the lives of individuals and the fruits of their labor. Even within the United States, all political parties other than our own grant to government the right to regulate the lives of individuals and seize the fruits of their labor without their consent.

We, on the contrary, deny the right of any government to do these things, and hold that where governments exist, they must not violate the rights of any individual: namely, (1) the right to life—accordingly we support the prohibition of the initiation of physical force against others; (2) the right to liberty of speech and action—accordingly we oppose all attempts by government to abridge the freedom of speech and press, as well as government censorship in any form; and (3) the right to property—accordingly we oppose all government interference with private property, such as confiscation, nationalization, and eminent domain, and support the prohibition of robbery, trespass, fraud, and misrepresentation.

Since governments, when instituted, must not violate individual rights, we oppose all interference by government in the areas of voluntary and contractual relations among individuals. People should not be forced to sacrifice their lives and property for the benefit of others. They should be left free by government to deal with one another as free traders; and the resultant economic system, the only one compatible with the protection of individual rights, is the free market.

 

 

 

Our Take:  The largest and most competitive of these minor parties is the Libertarian Party.  We agree with the vast majority of this party’s platform with two important exceptions…national defense and immigration.  The Libertarian Preamble states “we support the prohibition of the initiation of physical force against others.”  This policy of holding our fire until the bad guys shoot first is not just naive, but irresponsible and dangerous in a world where nine countries have nuclear weapons and psychopathic dictators are developing long-range missile systems that could unleash these weapons on American soil.  On immigration, the Libertarian Party platform states that “Economic freedom demands the unrestricted movement of human as well as financial capital across national borders.”  This sounds great and might have worked before Islamic terrorism went global, but today it’s just silly.

PREAMBLE

Never has our country faced as many challenges and crises as we do now. Levels of federal revenue are the lowest they have been since 1950 because of tax cuts and breaks for the very rich and for corporations. Government agencies charged with safeguarding public health and safety are operating with slashed budgets that paralyze their efforts. Jobs are being permanently relocated outside the country, while social and educational programs are being gutted. Our food, water, air, and soil are increasingly found to bear toxins and debilitating pollution. Every single level of government—local, county, state, and federal—is operating in the red, running up crushing amounts of debt. Many of our allies and former friends around the world are disgusted with our imperialist foreign policy, militarism, and arrogant corporate behavior. Realizing that our actions will be judged by future generations, we ask how we can draw on the best of our traditions, calling forth a spirit of ingenuity and citizen participation to achieve a free, democratic, just, and responsible society, one that actively responds to the crucial ecological challenges of our time, rather than denying them.

We submit a bold vision of our country's future, a Platform on which we stand:

  • Our Ten Key Values as a guide to a politics of vision and action,
  • A creative, pragmatic plan for a prospering sustainable economy, and
  • A call to restore and protect a healthy, diverse environment and to cultivate a sense of community at all levels, from the local to the planetary.

We propose a vision of our common good that is advanced through an independent politics free from the control of corporations and big money, and through a democratic structure and process that empowers and reaches across lines of division to bring together our combined strengths as a people.

We, the Green Party, see our political and economic progress, and our individual lives, within the context of an evolving, dynamic world.

As in nature, where adaptation and diversity provide key strategies through which life flourishes, a successful political strategy is one that is diverse, adaptable to changing needs, and strong and resilient in its core values:

  • Participatory Democracy, rooted in community practice at the grassroots level and informing every level, from the local to the international.
  • Social Justice and Equal Opportunity emphasizing personal and social responsibility, accountability, and an informing ethic of Nonviolence.
  • Ecological and Economic Sustainability, balancing the interests of a regulated market economy and community-based economics with effective care
  • for the Great Economy in which we are embedded: the ecosystems of the Earth.

The Green Party Platform seeks to identify the most crucial problems facing our country and offers ideas for responsible action to solve them. Looking to the future with hope and optimism, we believe we can truly correct the course of reckless, destructive governance that has allowed and encouraged the degradation of our ecological life-support systems, gutted our economy, and strained the social fabric to the point of causing material hardship for millions of Americans. Our common destiny brings us together across our nation and around the globe. We act in service to our children and the future generations of all our relations in the Earth community. We act in service to the future we are creating today.

Our Take:  The second minor party is the Green Party which is #1 in the category most important to many of its members…being cool.  But it is more widely seen as an anti-capitalist fringe party.  The sad truth is that the majority of Americans support the Green Party’s environmental goals, but its adoption of totally unrelated social justice issues has greatly diminished any chance of realizing those goals.  Also there is little excitement or momentum generated by Green leaders like Al Gore who got mega-rich tooling around the world in private jets preaching to us about our carbon footprint, while globe-farting more pollution than some third world nations.  And the Green Party’s position on defense, which calls on our government to “Declare a no-first-strike policy.” and to “Dismantle all nuclear warheads from their missiles.” is even more naive than the libertarians’.

Constitution-Party.gif

PREAMBLE

The Constitution Party gratefully acknowledges the blessing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as Creator, Preserver and Ruler of the Universe and of these United States. We hereby appeal to Him for mercy, aid, comfort, guidance and the protection of His Providence as we work to restore and preserve these United States.

This great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions but on a foundation of Christian principles and values. For this very reason peoples of all faiths have been and are afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.

The goal of the Constitution Party is to restore American jurisprudence to its Biblical foundations and to limit the federal government to its Constitutional boundaries.

The Constitution of the United States provides that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” The Constitution Party supports the original intent of this language. Therefore, the Constitution Party calls on all those who love liberty and value their inherent rights to join with us in the pursuit of these goals and in the restoration of these founding principles.

The U.S. Constitution established a Republic rooted in Biblical law, administered by representatives who are constitutionally elected by the citizens. In such a Republic all Life, Liberty and Property are protected because law rules.

We affirm the principles of inherent individual rights upon which these United States of America were founded:

  • That each individual is endowed by his Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are the rights to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness;
  • That the freedom to own, use, exchange, control, protect, and freely dispose of property is a natural, necessary and inseparable extension of the individual’s unalienable rights;
  • That the legitimate function of government is to secure these rights through the preservation of domestic tranquility, the maintenance of a strong national defense, and the promotion of equal justice for all;
  • That history makes clear that left unchecked, it is the nature of government to usurp the liberty of its citizens and eventually become a major violator of the people’s rights; and
  • That, therefore, it is essential to bind government with the chains of the Constitution and carefully divide and jealously limit government powers to those assigned by the consent of the governed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Take:  The third minor party in terms of size and influence is the Constitution Party.  Initially formed as the U.S. Taxpayers’ Party in 1991, this party has much in common with the Libertarian Party in that both emphasize adherence to the Constitution.  Ironically, the argument could be made that the Constitution Party is less constitutional than the Libertarian Party in terms of its criminalization of behaviors which are largely seen as victimless.  Also, the Christian yardstick by which the Constitution Party seems to measure much of its ideology seems exclusionary in today’s diverse society, and is arguably one of the reasons the party has not been more competitive.  For example the Constitution Party platform calls for banning abortion even in cases of rape and incest, a stance the vast majority of Americans view as extreme.