I want a lot of things Libertarians want. I want an end to US occupation and foreign wars. I want permissive social liberalism, including an end to the war on drugs. I want *practical* business and economic policies that allow maximum independence without jeopardizing individual rights.
I also happen to want participatory government. An adult can't participate if they're not educated; nor can they if they're ill; nor can they if they are shut out from having a meaningful voice.
Maybe I should clarify. I think that participatory government should be fair. That means that expenditures on things like education and health care are legitimate. It means that preventing any single group from dominating public discourse is a necessary curtailment of liberty.
If the government is functioning, it should be organizing the town hall, running it fairly, and preventing any kind of systematic exclusion. Exclusion from education, health care, and the ability to contribute meaningfully to dialogue, are all exclusion from participation. Preventing such systematic exclusion requires redistribution of some wealth (taxes) and curtailment of some liberties (i.e. no restrictively loud use of PA systems and microphones allowed).
If that's anathema to libertarianism, in the practical details surrounding inclusion, then I guess we disagree on what, exactly, the 'blessings of liberty' and the 'general welfare' are. Government limited to its stated constitutional purposes is still government that provides the means for meaningful participation to all citizens.
It is really just not okay to say we want participatory government, but that it's every man for himself, and if you can't find the means to participate, too bad! I don't accept that model.
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