Ah, campaign season...

I try to not even pay attention to this crap, and I'm already tired of it. Seriously, when even some of the hardcore anti-political, small-l libertarians (and even some of the anarchists) jump gleefully onto the bandwagon of, as Wendy McElroy said "a man [Ron Paul] who seeks a position of raw political power over their lives", it's a little disturbing.

Really, I'm just a guy who wishes, with all my heart, to be left alone to live my life as my conscience dictates. That is my moral position. As far as the academics of anarchy, though, and the eloquent philosophy, I simply crib from rely on others... Pigmaei gigantum humeris impositi plusquam ipsi gigantes vident, as Mr. Newton put it.

So, in that spirit, my (first of many, probably) anti political post will be a compilation of quotes from some of my favorite giants (all emphasis mine).

Women are human beings, and consequently have all the natural rights than any human beings can have. They have just as good a right to make laws as men have, and no better; AND THAT IS JUST NO RIGHT AT ALL. No human being, nor any number of human beings, have any right to make laws, and compel other human beings to obey them. To say that they have is to say that they are the masters and owners of those of whom they require such obedience.

The only law that any human being can rightfully be compelled to obey is simply the law of justice. And justice is not a thing that is made, or that can be unmade, or altered, by any human authority.

-- Lysander Spooner, Against Woman Suffrage

This one I have hanging on the wall of my office. I read the second paragraph at least once a week; not because I have to remind myself of what I believe, but because I don't think anyone has ever laid down on paper the principles of natural law quite so elegantly as Spooner did, particularly in that second paragraph of Against Woman Suffrage, or in Natural Law. He is, in my ever so humble opinion, one of the most important philosophers in the history of the United States.

We must not forget the central point. Your dictator might be preferable to another dictator. There are obvious differences in degree. But we are concerned not only with the relative demerits of dictators, but with the possibility that one can be a dictator and a libertarian at the same time. Can libertarians actively support and promote a benign dictator, just because he might be the best dictator available? This is a peculiar situation indeed, and it would force libertarians to support the lesser of two evils.

In short, I would not call your candidate for dictator a libertarian, because the two are incompatible. I might call him a well-intentioned dictator, but he is no libertarian. And I would oppose him, because my principles leave me no option. There is no proviso in my stand against dictators that exempts those with good intentions.

--George H. Smith, Party Dialogue

A simple and direct explanation of the reasons for consistent libertarians to abstain from the political process.

When we place voting into the framework of politics, however, a major change occurs. When we express a preference politically, we do so precisely because we intend to bind others to our will. Political voting is the legal method we have adopted and extolled for obtaining monopolies of power. Political voting is nothing more than the assumption that might makes right.

--Robert LeFevre, Abstain from Beans

"Bind others to our will"... an action entirely diametric to the philosophical tenets of libertarianism: voluntary association, non-aggression, individual liberty. Abstain from Beans is another favorite of mine; it's a short, easy read and makes a strong case, especially evident in the paragraph quoted above, for philosophical consistency in libertarians.

I don't have any particular problem with libertarians who vote... hey, some of my best friends are minarchists, really. And I do hope Dr. Paul's campaign educates some people (won't be holding my breath, though). But I'm really sick of hearing about it. That is why, horrible, unpatriotic American that I am, I will be ignoring election news as much as possible. And I will abstain from beans.