I too am a committed libertarian and have been since college. In multiple threads over the past week, TripleThreat has done a marvelous job articulating many of the things I believe in most strongly, so I’ll be brief.
To summarize my viewpoints: All humans are created equal in the eyes of the Lord, and are endowed with inalienable rights that include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Just governments are granted by their citizens the primary obligation to protect liberty from internal and external harm. They possess no more authority than that, for any other actions (regulation, wealth redistribution, social engineering) require the diminution of rights to achieve their ends. In other words, just governments do not have the authority to take away rights, either as an end or a means to an end. Democracy is not the same thing as liberty. In fact, a constitution and government balance of power are required to prevent the tyranny of the democratic majority (or non-democratic minority) from destroying the rights of minorities. A libertarian government is best not just due to morality (per above), but also promotes general welfare better than any other system. Argument goes as articulated by Adam Smith, i.e., individuals using their free will to optimize for themselves will, through societal mechanisms that reflect supply/demand/value, also optimize for society as a whole.
The foundation for these beliefs comes from the European Enlightenment philosophers John Locke, David Hume, Adam Smith, etc., and their American descendents Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, etc. Our system of government was originally created by libertarians attempting to implement the philosophy of the European Enlightenment, and I believe in what they did. They are my heroes.
For me, nearly all issues of government domestic policy have a clear libertarian answer, i.e. the one that protects inalienable rights and one that doesn’t. The biggest violation of those rights in contemporary America is taxation. Remember that before WWI, total taxation and government expenditures were well below 10%. Today, as a resident of California, I pay close to 45% on marginal income. As a result, roughly 25 of the 55 hours I work every week are done at my expense in the equivalence of involuntary servitude. I detest current levels of taxation and will simply stop working here if they get much higher. All other libertarian issues today pale in comparison since none involve such a major portion of my waking life.
IMO, drugs are an unfortunate lightening rod for libertarian critics. Yes, I believe they should be legalized. No, I’m not certain that society would be “better off” from a welfare perspective if they were. I’ve never taken drugs and never will, but I do believe others should have the right to make a different choice than I do. That said, this is such a small issue relative to others, like taxation, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of commerce, etc. I wish that most debates about libertarianism would focus on these bigger issues.
I’m saddened by how little of the political dialogue these days is grounded in a discussion of liberty and our system’s original reason for existence: to protect it. Our country is fortunately anchored by the best Constitution ever written, but it seems at times as if someone cut the rope, and we drift rudderless in a storm. I think the Republican party does far more to protect liberty than the Democractic, but neither will pay much lip service to what matters most in the upcoming political year.
All I ask of government is to protect my freedom, and I’ll take of the rest.