From the Democratic Party debates, it’s not difficult to see that there really isn’t any difference in principle between any of the Democratic presidential candidates and, for that matter, between Republicans and Democrats.
Oh, yes, I know how the mainstream media is portraying the “big” differences between the Democrats and President Trump but that’s just because their mindsets are stuck in the statist paradigm. For a person whose mind is stuck in the statist paradigm, the various candidates within the paradigm appear to have monumental differences. But once a person breaks out of the statist paradigm, he realizes that the differences between the various Democratic and Republicans candidates are minor and really go to degree, not principle.
Consider healthcare. The Democrats favor Medicare for All. Trump and his fellow Republicans favor Medicare for Some.
Now, that’s obviously a big difference to the mainstream media because they are operating within the statist paradigm.
From a libertarian perspective, my reaction is, big deal. There is no difference in principle between Medicare for All and Medicare for Some. The only difference is in degree. The point is that they all support government involvement in healthcare because that’s a core feature of the statist paradigm, just like it is in Cuba.
Consider immigration controls. A Berlin Wall versus a Berlin Fence. Big deal. Well, okay, it is considered a big deal by the mainstream media because, again, they are operating within the statist paradigm. For that type of person, a Berlin Wall is very much different from a Berlin Fence.
We libertarians? Big deal. There is no difference in principle. Both Republicans and Democrats believe in a system of immigration controls, a system that is based on the socialist principle of central planning. Oh, yes, Trump and his cohorts say, “Let in less immigrants (or no immigrants)” while the Dems says, “Let in more immigrants.” But the operative word is “let.” They both believe that the government should be the central planner and that, given such a role, it should “let” in more or less immigrants.
Like I say, big deal. One of the amusing aspects of the immigration debate is that none of these people realize that their decades-long, ongoing, never-ending, perpetual immigration crisis is due to their system of immigration controls. That’s because it is a socialist system, and as anyone in Cuba, North Korea, and Venezuela can attest, socialism produces crises, mayhem, and a police state, just like what Republicans and Democrats have foisted upon us here in the United States with their system of immigration controls.
Consider Social Security, the crown jewel of America’s system of mandatory charity. Both Republicans and Democrats fight with each other as to who is going to better protect and preserve this gigantic socialist program, one that forcibly takes money from people to whom it belongs in order to give it to people to whom it does not belong. Never mind that young people — the people who are funding this welfare for seniors — are financially strapped, can’t make ends meet as it is, are unable to save any money, can’t afford to get married, and can’t afford to buy a house. That’s unimportant. What’s matters to the Republicans and Democrats, first and foremost, is the preservation of this socialist program. If young people have to be plundered and looted even more to cover the costs of the ever-increasing number of Baby Boomers who are retiring every day, so what? They should be thankful they live in a “free” society — one in which the IRS is forcing them to be good and caring.
The battle in the 2020 presidential race is over who is going to get to manage this statist paradigm To the mainstream media, that’s exciting. Just think, they write: We have a chance to get rid of Trump and have a Democrat running the welfare-warfare state. But everyone knows that regardless of who is running this crooked, corrupt, and immoral system, nothing fundamental is going to change, at least not with respect to genuine freedom.
What we need in this country is not better people in public office but rather a complete change of paradigms — the replacement of the statist paradigm with the libertarian paradigm. That would mean no more mandatory charity, no more drug war, no more government planning or control of economic activity (i.e., free enterprise), no more trade wars and tariffs, no more immigration controls, no more sanctions and embargoes, no more assassinations, no more indefinite-detention-torture camps, no more public (i.e., government) schooling, no more national-security state, and no more foreign wars, foreign meddling, foreign aid, and foreign interventionism.
For those who want to continue with the mandatory charity, the mass incarceration, the socialist envy and covetousness, and the forever wars, assassinations, torture, invasions, occupations, coups, support of dictators, sanctions, trade wars, embargoes, and other dark-side practices, you can support any Republican or Democratic candidate. It makes no difference which one you choose.
For those who want to restore liberty, peace, prosperity, harmony, voluntary charity, morality, and a limited-government republic to our land, there is but one paradigm that will accomplish that: libertarianism.