LPRC Positions Explained

The Statement of Principles

The following is what is known as the Statement of Principles (SoP) and the preamble of the Libertarian Party Radical Caucuses platform "We oppose the existence of any state as having a monopoly on the use of force but agree that governments, when they exist, can only legitimately do so to the extent that their membership is entered into voluntarily and without coercion, and any individual member reserves the right to withdraw from such voluntary association as their conscience dictates.

Until we reach that end, we support reducing, and not replacing, the size, scope and power of government at all levels and on all issues, and oppose increasing the size, scope and power of government at any level, for any purpose. While recognizing that change often takes the form of increments and transitions, the policies in the planks that follow are to be taken as quickly and efficiently as possible without interruption or delay."

The SoP is based around the core principle of libertarian ideology, the Non-Aggression Axiom (More commonly known as the Non-Aggression Principle or NAP). The NAP comes from the Classical Liberal tradition of self ownership. I will explain where the Non-Aggression Principle comes from in more detail here: Humans act, this is something that can be known A Priori, people implement means to achieve a desired end. The author is using time, capital (a computer) to achieve the end of having this piece be written Because humans act, and that action is needed for the advancement of human society, we must have a society that fosters human action. The only society that can do this is a society with property norms, without property norms conflict would ensue. The reason conflict would ensue is that, while means are scarce, desires are endless. Thus, without a system of property there would be constant, destructive, fighting over who ought to be able to use resources for their desired ends. The next justification necessary is how property comes into ownership. The libertarian stance on this is a variant on Lockean principles of ownership. When a person, who owns himself, comes to land that is un-owned he can mix his labor with the earth which brings the land into his ownership. From this we then extrapolate his right to trade on an unhampered market for other appropriated land.