Reformatted 2004 Platform

(As part of my re-formatting of the '04 platform, I abandoned the so-called Atlanta format, and I added a number to each sentence of
the original 2004 platform (all 551 of them, give or take) and carried over the numbers or "cites" to this re-formatted '04 platform. That
way, to find where the '04 platform it said "such and such," you can note the site number and find it in the 2004 platform. The subject headings from the 2004 platform have also been deleted, and I have provided the replacement headings.)

I. GENERAL PRINCIPLES

function of government, protection of rights, fraud and misrepresentation, enforcement of laws, cause of harms
The only justified function of government is the protection of the lives, rights and property of its citizens. 016 Free markets should operate unhindered by government regulation, while government should punish fraud, theft, misrepresentation, and contractual breach without exception. 012, 248 Current problems in such areas as energy, pollution, health care delivery, decaying cities, and poverty are not solved, but are primarily caused, by government. 302

civil order, individual rights, non-initiation of force
No conflict exists between civil order and individual rights. 001 Both concepts are based on the same fundamental principle: that no individual, group, or government may initiate force against any other individual, group, or government. 002

personal responsibility, freedom to make decisions, individual choice and consequences, acceptance of others choices, acceptance not approval, repeal of laws
Personal responsibility is discouraged by government denying individuals the opportunity to exercise it and the denial of freedom fosters irresponsibility. 003 Libertarian policies will promote a society where people are free to make and learn from their own decisions. 009 Individuals should be free to make choices for themselves. 004 We believe people must accept personal responsibility for the consequences of their actions. 008 We must accept the right of others to choose for themselves if we are to have the same right. 006 Our support of an individual's right to make choices in life does not mean that we necessarily approve or disapprove of those choices. 007 We support the repeal all laws that presume government knows better than the individual how to run that person's life. 010

II. THE ECONOMY

free market, intervention, role of government, creation of privileged class, economic controls
We believe that each person has the right to offer goods and services to others on the free market. 214 We oppose all intervention by government into the area of economics and free market should be allowed to function unhindered by government. 215, 222 The only proper role of existing governments in the economic realm is to protect property rights, adjudicate disputes, and provide a legal framework in which voluntary trade is protected. 216, 223 Individuals voluntarily trading in free markets should be the only determining factor in the value of goods and services. 521 Government manipulation of the economy creates an entrenched privileged class — those with access to tax money — and an exploited class — those who are net taxpayers. 218, 226 To ensure the economic freedom and enhance the economic well-being of Americans, we support the and the repeal of all controls on wages, prices, rents, profits, production and interest rates, and the elimination of all government impediments to free trade; 224. 224

fruits of labor, redistribution of wealth
We believe that all individuals have the right to dispose of the fruits of their labor as they see fit and that government has no right to take such wealth. 219 All persons are entitled to keep the fruits of their labor. 227 Efforts to forcibly redistribute wealth or forcibly manage trade are intolerable. 217 Government intervention in the economy imperils both the personal freedom and the material prosperity of every American. 221

taxation, income tax, forcible collection, “fair, simple, neutral,” challenges, Sixteenth Amendment, increases, repeal of all taxation, amnesty, tax collection, deductions, credits, exemptions, tax evasion
We call for the repeal of the income tax, the abolishment of the Internal Revenue Service and all federal programs and services not required under the US Constitution. 225 Government activity should not include the forcible collection of money or goods from individuals in violation of their individual rights. 228 No tax can ever be fair, simple or neutral to the free market. 229 We support the right of any individual to challenge the payment of taxes on moral, religious, legal or constitutional grounds. 230 We oppose all personal and corporate income taxation, including capital gains taxes. 230 We support the repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment. 230 We support the repeal of federal inheritance taxes. 417 We oppose as involuntary servitude any legal requirements forcing employers or business owners to serve as tax collectors for federal, state, or local tax agencies. 231 We oppose any new taxes and we oppose any and all increases in the rate of taxation or categories of taxpayers, including the elimination of deductions, exemptions or credits in the spurious name of "fairness," "simplicity," or alleged "neutrality to the free market." 230, 232 We support a declaration of unconditional amnesty for all those individuals who have been convicted of, or who now stand accused of, tax resistance. 230 As we support the repeal of all taxation, all criminal and civil sanctions against tax evasion should be terminated immediately. 230, 233

budget and debt, debt and assets, constitutional amendment, default, inflation, taxing and spending , deficit budgets
To ensure the economic freedom and enhance the economic well-being of Americans, we support dramatic reductions in both taxes and government spending and an end to deficit budgets. 224 Government debt forces individuals to assume debt that they did not choose to incur, distorts capital markets and rates, and ruins the economy. 254 Government must not incur debt, nor should it be allowed to hold assets, for these are debts incumbent on and assets taken away from the individuals of this country. 255 We support the drive for a constitutional amendment requiring the national government to balance its budget, and also support similar amendments to require balanced state budgets. 256 To be effective, a balanced budget amendment should provide that neither Congress nor the President be permitted to override this requirement, that all off-budget items are included in the budget, that the budget is balanced exclusively by cutting expenditures, and not by raising taxes, and that no exception be made for periods of national emergency. 257 Governments facing fiscal crises should always default in preference to raising taxes, as default is preferable to raising taxes or perpetual refinancing of growing public debt. 234, 258 The Federal Reserve must be forbidden to acquire any additional government securities, thereby helping to eliminate the inflationary aspect of the deficit. 259 At a minimum, the level of government should be frozen. 260

money and banking, inflation and depression, monetary policy, gold and commodities, legal tender, units of account, fiat money, private minting of coins, free market banking, prevention of fraud, interest rates, the Fed, FDIC, repeal of banking laws, independent treasury, money supply, interim measures
To ensure the economic freedom and enhance the economic well-being of Americans, we support the halt of inflationary monetary policies. 224 Government control over money and banking is the primary cause of inflation and depression. 235 Government fiscal and monetary measures that artificially foster business expansion guarantee an eventual increase in unemployment rather than curtailing it. 368 Individuals engaged in voluntary exchange should be free to use as money any mutually agreeable commodity or item, such as gold coins denominated by units of weight, and we support the right to private ownership of and contracts for gold. 237, 236 We call for the repeal of all legal tender laws and of all compulsory governmental units of account, as well as the elimination of all government fiat money and all government minted coins. 238 All restrictions upon the private minting of coins must be abolished, so that minting will be open to the competition of the free market. We favor free-market banking, with unrestricted competition among banks and depository institutions of all types. 239 Our opposition encompasses all controls on the rate of interest. The federal government's involvement in international currency markets undermines the stability of the dollar, artificially inflates and deflates the currency and undermines the free market.520 242 The only further necessary check upon monetary inflation is the consistent application of the general protection against fraud to the minting and banking industries. 240 We call for the abolition of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Banking System, and all similar national and state interventions affecting banking and credit. 241 We also call for the abolition of the Federal Home Loan Bank System, the Resolution Trust Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, the National Credit Union Central Liquidity Facility, and all similar national and state interventions affecting savings and loan associations, credit unions, and other depository institutions. 243 To complete the separation of bank and state, we favor the Jacksonian independent treasury system, in which all government funds are held by the government itself and not deposited in any private banks. 244 Pending its abolition, the Federal Reserve System, in order to halt inflation, must immediately cease its expansion of the quantity of money. 245 As interim measures we support the lifting of all restrictions on branch banking, the repeal of all state usury laws, the removal of all remaining restrictions on the interest paid for deposits, the elimination of laws setting margin requirements on purchases and sales of securities, the revocation, of all other selective credit controls, the abolition of Federal Reserve control over the reserves of non-member banks and other depository institutions, the lifting of the prohibition of domestic deposits denominated in foreign currencies. 246

financial and capital markets, regulation, theft and breach, SEC, Blue Sky laws, commodity markets, index futures, insider trading
Government regulation of capital markets inhibits investment and creates marketplace advantage for those with political access through exemptions to laws against fraud and breach of contract. We call for the abolition of all regulation of financial and capital markets. 249 What should be punished is the theft of information or breach of contract to hold information in confidence, not trading on the basis of valuable knowledge. 250 We call for the abolition of the Securities and Exchange Commission, of state "Blue Sky" laws which repress small and risky capital ventures, and all federal regulation of commodity markets. 251 We oppose any attempts to ban or regulate investing in stock-market index futures or new financial instruments which may emerge in the future. 252 We call for repeal of all laws based on the muddled concept of insider trading, we support the right of third parties to make stock purchase tender offers to stockholders over the opposition of entrenched management, and we oppose all laws restricting such offers. 253

monopoly, anti-trust laws, voluntary association, coercive monopolies, incorporation, liability of corporations, corporate size and mergers, federal charters, social responsibility, anti-trust laws
We recognize that government is the source of monopoly through its grants of legal privilege to special interests in the economy. 261 Anti-trust laws do not prevent monopoly, but foster it by limiting competition. 262 We defend the right of individuals to form corporations, cooperatives and other types of companies based on voluntary association. 263 We condemn all coercive monopolies and in order to abolish them, we advocate a strict separation of business and State. 264, 265 Laws of incorporation should not include grants of monopoly privilege. 266 In particular, we would eliminate special limits on the liability of corporations for damages caused in non-contractual transactions. 267 We also oppose state or federal limits on the size of private
companies and on the right of companies to merge. 268 We further oppose efforts, in the name of social responsibility or any other reason, to expand federal chartering of corporations into a pretext for government control of business. 269 We call for the repeal of all anti-trust laws, including the Robinson-Patman Act, which restricts price discounts, and the Sherman and Clayton Anti-Trust acts.270

property rights, development, trade regulation, repeal of laws
We oppose government control of resource use through eminent domain, zoning laws, building codes, rent control, regional planning, urban renewal, or purchase of development rights with tax money. 390 Such regulations and programs violate property rights, discriminate against minorities, create housing shortages, and tend to cause higher rents. 391 We further call for the abolition of both the Federal Trade Commission and the anti-trust division of the Department of Justice. 271 The unrestricted competition of the free market is the best way to foster prosperity. 272

subsidies,"reindustrialization," Federal Financing Bank, guarantees of private loans, government-sponsored enterprises
In order to achieve a free economy, in which government victimizes no one for the benefit of any other, we oppose all government subsidies to business, labor, education, agriculture, science, broadcasting, the arts, sports, or any other special interest. 273 We condemn any effort to forge an alliance between government and business under the guise of "reindustrialization" or "industrial policy." 274 Relief or exemption from taxation or from any other involuntary government intervention, however, should not be considered a subsidy. 275 We call for the abolition of the Federal Financing Bank, the most important national agency subsidizing special interests with government. 276 We also oppose all government guarantees of so-called private loans, as such guarantees transfer resources to special interests as effectively as actual government expenditures and, at the national level, exceed direct government loans in total amount. 277 Taxpayers must never bear the cost of default upon government-guaranteed loans. 278 All national, state and local government agencies whose primary function is to guarantee loans — including the Federal Housing Administration, the Rural Electrification Administration and the Small Business Administration — must be abolished or privatized. 279 The loans of government-sponsored enterprises, even when not guaranteed by the government, constitute another form of subsidy, and all such enterprises — the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, the Federal National Mortgage Association, the Farm Credit Administration, and the Student Loan Marketing Association — must either be abolished or completely privatized. 280 We oppose any resumption of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, or any similar plan that would force the taxpayer to subsidize or sustain any enterprise. 281

international trade, trade barriers, tariffs and quotas, repeal of laws, unilateral policy, free trade agreements, international currency markets, bailouts, farming and agriculture
Individuals trading with individuals in other nations, voluntarily, should be the sole source of regulation of international free markets. 283 All trade barriers are unnecessary and burdensome constraints. 284 We support the repeal all prohibitions on individuals or firms contributing or selling goods and services to any foreign country or organization, unless such provision constitutes a direct threat to the people of the United States. 519 Tariffs and quotas serve only to give special treatment to favored special interests and to diminish the welfare of consumers and other individuals, as do point-of-origin or content regulation, and these measures also reduce the scope of contracts and understanding among different peoples. 282 We support abolition of all trade barriers and all government-sponsored export- promotion programs, as well as the U.S. International Trade Commission and the U.S. Court of International Trade. 285 We affirm this as a unilateral policy, independent of the trade policies of other nations. 286 We advocate a complete and unilateral withdrawal of the United States from all international trade agreements, including the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). 287 The government involvement in international money markets along with the Federal Reserve System should cease, and private sector trading should be the only influence in the value of money. 522 The United States must withdraw from all international paper money and other inflationary credit schemes, and from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. 523 We strongly oppose any bailout of foreign governments or American banks by the United States, either by means of the International Monetary Fund or through any other governmental device. 524 Government embargoes on grain sales and other obstacles to free trade have frustrated the development of free and stable trade relationships between peoples of the world. 412

employment relations, unions, collective bargaining, arbitration, repeal of laws, back-to-work orders, plant closures, boycotts and strikes secondary boycotts, labor contracts
Government interference in the employer/employee relationship has imposed undue burdens on our economy, destroying the rights of both to contract in the free market. 292 We support all efforts to benefit workers, owners and management by keeping government out of this area. 299 We support the right of free persons to voluntarily establish, associate in, or not associate in, labor unions. An employer should have the right to recognize, or refuse to recognize, a union as the collective bargaining agent of some, or all, of its employees. 294 We oppose government interference in bargaining, such as compulsory arbitration or the imposition of an obligation to bargain. 295 We urge repeal of the National Labor Relations Act, and all state right-to-work laws which prohibit employers from making voluntary contracts with unions. 296 We oppose all government back-to-work orders as the imposition of a form of forced labor. 297 Government-mandated waiting periods for closure of factories or businesses hurt, rather than help, the wage-earner. 298 Boycotts or strikes do not justify the initiation of violence against other workers, employers, strike-breakers and innocent bystanders. 301 Workers and employers should have the right to organize secondary boycotts if they so choose. 300 Private contractual arrangements, including labor contracts, must be founded on mutual consent and agreement in a society that upholds freedom of association. 119

regulation of trades and occupations, repeal of laws, employment levels, minimum wage laws, "protective" labor legislation, safety, OSHA
No worker should be legally penalized for lack of certification, and no consumer should be legally restrained from hiring unlicensed individuals. 371 We seek the elimination of occupational licensure, which prevents human beings from working in whatever trade they wish. 372 We call for the abolition of all federal, state and local government agencies that restrict entry into any profession, such as education and law, or regulate its practice. 373 We call for the immediate cessation of governmental attempts to affect employment levels through monetary policy. 375 We support repeal of all laws that impede the ability of any person to find employment, such as minimum wage laws, so-called "protective" labor legislation for women and children, governmental restrictions on the establishment of private day-care centers, and the National Labor Relations Act. 376 The arbitrary and high-handed actions of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration invade property rights, raise costs and unjustly impose upon the business community. 419 This law denies the right to liberty and property to both employer and employee, and interferes in their private contractual relations. 420 Private sector consumer activism groups must be created to replace ineffective government agencies like OSHA, and we call for the repeal of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. 421, 422

utilities, garbage collection, fire protection, electricity, natural gas, cable television, telephone, and/or water, franchise privileges, rate regulation
We believe government involvement in the provision of utilities has weakened our free market and limited the development and availability of state of the art services. 288 The right to offer, on the market, such services as garbage collection, fire protection, electricity, natural gas, cable television, telephone, or water supplies should not be curtailed by law. 289 We advocate the termination of government-created franchise privileges and governmental monopolies for such services. 290 All rate regulation in industries providing these services should be abolished. 291

transportation, free market, strict liability, FAA, repeal of laws, privatization, Interstate Commerce Commission
The transportation industry should not be treated differently from any other industry, and should be governed by free markets and held to strict liability. 361 Government interference in transportation is characterized by monopolistic restriction, corruption and gross inefficiency. 359 We condemn the re-cartelization of commercial aviation by the Federal Aviation Administration via rationing of take-off and landing rights and controlling scheduling in the name of safety. 360 We call for the dissolution of all government agencies concerned with transportation — including the Department of Transportation, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board, the Coast Guard, and the Federal Maritime Commission — and the transfer of their legitimate functions to competitive private firms. 362 We demand the return of America's railroad system to private ownership. 363 We call for the privatization of airports, air traffic control systems, public roads and the national highway system. 364 As interim measures, we advocate an immediate end to government regulation of private transit organizations and to governmental favors to the transportation industry. 365 In particular, we support the immediate repeal of all laws restricting transit competition such as the granting of taxicab and bus monopolies and the prohibition of private jitney services. 366 We urge immediate deregulation of the trucking industry and the elimination of the Interstate Commerce Commission. 367, 417

postal service, civil service, rotation in office
In a free society, people should be able to choose whatever postal service meets their needs. 429 We propose the abolition of the government Postal Service, and ending abolition, we call for an end to the monopoly system and for the allowing of free competition in all aspects of postal service. 431 The present postal system, in addition to being inefficient, encourages government surveillance of private correspondence. 428 We also recognize that the Civil Service is inherently a system of concealed patronage, which entrenches a permanent and growing bureaucracy upon the land. 432 The concept of "career bureaucrat" is anathema to true liberty. 433 We promote the Jeffersonian concept of "citizen statesman" and would extend it to those performing "necessary public service" functions, as long as those are not being provided by the private sector. 434 We therefore recommend a return to the Jeffersonian principle of rotation in office. 435 We propose the abolition of the Civil Service system. 436

III. INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS

property, a “human right,” self-ownership, all rights linked, use, rights of others, takings, restitution, taxation, user fees, values and morals, risk, economic growth, eminent domain, smoking, taxation
All rights are inextricably linked with property rights. 106 Such rights as the freedom from involuntary servitude as well as the freedom of speech and the freedom of press are based on self-ownership. 107 Our bodies are our property every bit as much as is justly acquired land or material objects. 108 There is no conflict between property rights and human rights as property rights are the rights of humans with respect to property, and as such, are entitled to the same respect and protection as all other human rights. 104, 105 The owners of property have the full right to control, use, dispose of — or in any manner enjoy — their property without interference, until and unless the exercise of their control infringes the valid rights of others. 109 Where property, including land, has been taken from its rightful owners by the government or private action in violation of individual rights, we favor restitution to the rightful owners. 111 We support the repeal of property tax laws and would force government to fund property protection services with user fees. 112 We condemn current government efforts to regulate or ban the use of property in the name of aesthetic values, moral standards, because of cost-benefit estimates, and/or the promotion or restriction of economic growth. 100 We condemn attempts to employ eminent domain to municipalize sports teams or to try to force them to stay in their present location. 103 We specifically condemn all government interference in the operation of private businesses, such as restaurants and airlines, by either requiring or prohibiting designated smoking or non-smoking areas for their employees or their customers. 101 The taxation of privately owned real property actually makes the State the owner of all lands and forces individuals to rent their homes and places of business from the State. 102 We demand an end to the taxation of privately owned real property. 110

speech, dissent, unconditional right, bias, offensive speech, control opposed, full property rights, use of other’s property, airwaves, government funding
We defend the rights of individuals to unrestricted freedom of speech, freedom of the press and the right of individuals to dissent from government itself. 081 We recognize that full freedom of expression is possible only as part of a system of full property rights. 082 The freedom to use one's own voice; the freedom to hire a hall; the freedom to own a printing press, a broadcasting station, or a transmission cable; the freedom to host and publish information on the Internet; the freedom to wave or burn one's own flag; and similar property-based freedoms are precisely what constitute freedom of communication. 083 We recognize that freedom of communication does not extend to the use of other people's property to promote one's ideas without the voluntary consent of the owners. 084 We shall not be satisfied until the First Amendment is expanded to protect full, unconditional freedom of communication, and we oppose court orders gagging news coverage of criminal proceedings — the right to publish and broadcast must not be abridged merely for the convenience of the judicial system. 079 We deplore any efforts to impose thought control on the media, either by the use of anti-trust laws, or by any other government action in the name of stopping "bias."080 Language that is deemed offensive to certain groups is not a cause for legal action. 077 We oppose any abridgment of the freedom of speech through government censorship, regulation or control of communications media, including, but not limited to, laws concerning: Obscenity, including "pornography", as we hold this to be an abridgment of liberty of expression despite claims that it instigates rape or assault, or demeans and slanders women; reception and storage equipment, such as digital audio tape recorders and radar warning devices, and the manufacture of video terminals by telephone companies; Electronic bulletin boards, communications networks, and other interactive electronic media as we hold them to be the functional equivalent of speaking halls and printing presses in the age of electronic communications, and as such deserving of full freedom; Electronic newspapers, electronic "Yellow Pages", file libraries, websites, and other new information media, as these deserve full freedom; or commercial speech or advertising. We oppose speech codes at all schools that are primarily tax funded. 076 We would provide for free market ownership of airwave frequencies, deserving of full First Amendment protection. 085 We advocate the abolition of the Federal Communications Commission. 089 We oppose government ownership or subsidy of, or funding for, any communications organization. 086 Removal of all of these regulations and practices throughout the communications media would open the way to diversity and innovation. 087

privacy, social security number, records held, review without consent, law enforcement, surveillance, private encryption, screening, private employees, governmental, search and seizure, property of third parties, employees/contractors, search and seizure, random stops, census data, consent
Privacy protections have been eroded gradually over many years. 113 The individual's right to privacy, property, and right to speak or not to speak should not be infringed by the government. 116 The Social Security Number has become a universal ID number, causing rampant and massive identity theft. 114 We oppose the issuance by the government of an identity card, to be required for any purpose, such as employment, voting, or border crossing. 126 We further oppose the nearly universal requirement for use of the Social Security Number as a personal identification code, whether by government agencies or by intimidation of private companies by governments. 127 Government routinely keeps records on the bank accounts, travel plans, and spending habits of law-abiding civilians, for no other reason than they "might" commit a crime in the future. 115 Correspondence, bank and other financial transactions and records, doctors' and lawyers' communications, employment records, and the like should not be open to review by government without the consent of all parties involved in those actions. 118 We strongly oppose the government's burgeoning practice of invading newsrooms, or the premises of other innocent third parties, in the name of law enforcement. 078 The government should not use electronic or other means of covert surveillance of an individual's actions or private property without the consent of the owner or occupant. 117 We oppose all restrictions and regulations on the private development, sale, and use of encryption technology. 122 We specifically oppose any requirement for disclosure of encryption methods or keys, including the government's proposals for so-called "key escrow," which is truly government access to keys, and any requirement for use of government-specified devices or protocols. 123 We also oppose government classification of civilian research on encryption methods. 124 If a private employer screens prospective or current employees via questionnaires, polygraph tests, urine tests for drugs, blood tests for AIDS, or other means, this is a condition of that employer's labor contracts. 124 Such screening does not violate the rights of employees, who have the right to boycott such employers if they choose. 125 We oppose any screening by government or regulations requiring government contractors to impose any such screening. 120 We also oppose police roadblocks aimed at randomly, and without probable cause, testing drivers for intoxication and police practices to stop mass transit vehicles and search passengers without probable cause. 128 So long as the National Census and all federal, state, and other government agencies' compilations of data on an individual continue to exist, they should be conducted only with the consent of the persons from whom the data is sought. 129 We support the protections provided by the Fourth Amendment and oppose any government use of search warrants to examine or seize materials belonging to innocent third parties. 121

self defense, defense of individual rights, aid by others, government aggression , right to keep and bear arms, repeal of laws, ATF, self protection devices, safety, concealed weapons, assault weapons, prosecution
The only legitimate use of force is in defense of individual rights – life, liberty, and justly acquired property – against aggression, whether by force or fraud and this right inheres in the individual, who – with his or her consent – may be aided by any other individual or group. 062 The right of defense extends to defense against aggressive acts of government. 063 The Bill of Rights recognizes that an armed citizenry is essential to a free society. 147 We affirm the right to keep and bear arms. 148 Governments at all levels often violate their citizens' right of self defense with laws that restrict, limit or outright prohibit the ownership and use of firearms. 145 These "gun control" laws are often justified by the mistaken premise that they will lead to a reduction in the level of violence in our society. 146 We oppose all laws at any level of government restricting, regulating or requiring the ownership, manufacture, transfer or sale of firearms or ammunition. 149 We oppose all laws requiring registration of firearms or ammunition and we support the repeal of all gun control laws. 150 We demand the immediate abolition of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. 151 We oppose any government efforts to ban or restrict the use of tear gas, "mace" or other self-protection devices. 152 We further oppose all attempts to ban weapons or ammunition on the grounds that they are risky or unsafe. 153 We favor the repeal of laws banning the concealment of weapons or prohibiting pocket weapons. 154 We also oppose the banning of inexpensive handguns ("Saturday night specials") and semi-automatic or so-called assault weapons and their magazines or feeding devices. 155 We support an end to the prosecution of individuals for exercising their rights of self-defense. 050

religion, privacy taxation, children
We defend the rights of individuals to engage in (or abstain from) any religious activities that do not violate the rights of others. 092 We oppose government actions that either aid or attack any religion. 094 Government harassment or obstruction of religious groups for their beliefs or non-violent activities must end. 097 In order to defend freedom, we advocate a strict separation of church and State. 093 We condemn the attempts by parents or any others — via kidnappings or conservatorships — to force children to conform to any religious views. 096 Government routinely invades personal privacy rights based solely on individuals' religious beliefs. 090 Arbitrary tax structures are designed to give aid to certain religions, and deny it to others. 091 We oppose taxation of church property for the same reason that we oppose all taxation . 095 We call for an end to the harassment of churches by the Internal Revenue Service through threats to deny tax-exempt status to churches that refuse to disclose massive amounts of information about themselves. 098

reproductive rights, state funding and mandates, unwanted pregnancy, national collective, population control, sterilization, exchange of goods, services, education, alternatives to abortion
Recognizing that abortion is a very sensitive issue and that people, including libertarians, can hold good-faith views on both sides, we believe the government should be kept out of the question. 183 We condemn state-funded and state-mandated abortions. 184 It is particularly harsh to force someone who believes that abortion is murder to pay for another's abortion. 185 It is the right and obligation of the pregnant woman, not the state, to decide the desirability or appropriateness of prenatal testing, Caesarean births, fetal surgery, voluntary surrogacy arrangements and/or home births. 187 We regard the tragedies caused by unplanned, unwanted pregnancies to be aggravated, if not created, by government policies of censorship, restriction, regulation and prohibition. 350 The American people are not a collective national resource, and we oppose all coercive measures for population control. 351, 352 We oppose government actions that either compel or prohibit abortion, sterilization or any other forms of birth control. 353 We condemn the vicious practice of forced sterilization of welfare recipients or of mentally retarded or "genetically defective" individuals. 354 We call for the repeal of all laws that restrict anyone, including children, from engaging in voluntary exchanges of goods, services or information regarding human sexuality, reproduction, birth control or related medical or biological technologies. 355 We equally oppose government laws and policies that restrict the opportunity to choose alternatives to abortion. 356

parenting, families, morals, standards, and beliefs, child abuse, ending dependency, adoption, child labor laws, compulsory education laws, curfews, jailing,"children's codes," subsidies, cohabitation
Government involvement in traditional parenting responsibilities has weakened families and replaced family-taught morals with government-taught morals. 190 Families and households are private institutions, which should be free from government intrusion and interference. 191 Parents, or other guardians, have the right to raise their children according to their own standards and beliefs, without interference by government — unless they are abusing the children. 192 Because parents have these rights, a child may not be able to fully exercise his or her rights in the context of family life, yet children always have the right to establish their maturity by assuming administration and protection of their own rights, ending dependency upon their parents or other guardians, and assuming all responsibilities of adulthood. 193 A child is a human being and, as such, deserves to be treated justly. 194 Parents have no right to abandon or recklessly endanger their children. 195 Whenever they are unable or unwilling to raise their children, they have the obligation to find other person(s) willing to assume guardianship. 196 We recognize that the determination of child abuse can be very difficult. 197 Only local courts should be empowered to remove a child from his or her home, with the consent of the community. 198 This is not meant to preclude appropriate action when a child is in immediate physical danger. 199 We would repeal all laws that impede these processes, notably those restricting private adoption services and we call for the repeal of all laws restricting trans-racial adoption. 200 We oppose laws infringing on children's rights to work or learn, such as child labor laws and compulsory education laws. 201 We also oppose the use of curfews based on age. 202 We call for an end to the practice in many states of jailing children not accused of any crime. 203 We call for repeal of all "children's codes" or statutes which abridge due process protections for young people. 204 We support an end to all subsidies for childbearing built into our present laws, including welfare plans and the provision of tax-supported services for children. 357 We urge the elimination of special tax burdens on single people and couples with few or no children. 358 We support the change of rape laws so that cohabitation will no longer be a defense against a charge of rape. 053

consumer protection, free market, consumer demand, informed choices, dissemination of information, consumer choices, regulation of safety and prices, consumer-driven certification, repeal of laws, seat belts or crash helmets, CPSC, FAA, FDA
Government consumer protection regulation restricts the competition of the free market and replaces the individual's right to make independent choices with government-determined, "one size fits all" standards. 331 Consumer demand rather than legislative mandate should drive consumer safety and protection. 332 We encourage private sector dissemination of information to help consumers make informed decisions on products and services. 011 While we support strong and effective laws against fraud and misrepresentation, we oppose paternalistic regulations, which dictate to consumers, impose prices, define standards for products, or otherwise restrict risk-taking and free choice. 333 We encourage consumer activism that would boycott and economically sanction those businesses that adversely affect human health and/or damage the environment, passing costs on to the general public. 334 We look to independent entities such as Underwriters Laboratories, Consumer Reports and other testing organizations as models for grassroots consumer-driven certification. 335 We support the ending governmental interference in consumer affairs by eliminating the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Food and Drug Administration and other ineffective governmental organizations. 336 We call for the repeal laws mandating use of safety equipment such as seat belts or crash helmets, which can be more effectively driven by consumer action in the marketplace. 337

voting and elections, voluntary support, fairness, ballot access, gerrymandering, alternate candidates, accountability, pre-printed tickets, control of parties, repeal of laws, tax subsidies, “none of the above,” instant runoff voting
Electoral systems matter. 437 Elections at all levels should be in the control of those who wish to participate in or support them voluntarily. 441 As private voluntary groups, political parties should be allowed to establish their own rules for nomination procedures, primaries and conventions. 442 No state has an interest to protect in this area except for the fair and efficient conduct of elections. 443 We propose electoral systems that are more representative of the electorate at the federal, state and local levels. 444 There should be no state or federal restriction of ballot access. 445 Many state legislatures have established gerrymandered districts and prohibitively restrictive laws that effectively exclude alternative candidates and parties from their rightful places on election ballots. 438 Such laws wrongfully deny ballot access to political candidates and groups, and further deny the voters their right to consider all legitimate alternatives. 439 Various laws enable the federal and state governments to control the elections of their own administrators and beneficiaries, thereby further reducing accountability to citizens. 440 Voters should be able to submit their own choices including the option of using "tickets" or cards printed by candidates or political parties. 446 We support the end of government control of political parties, consistent with First Amendment rights to freedom of association and freedom of expression. 447 We urge repeal of the Federal Election Campaign Act and the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, which suppress voluntary support of candidates and parties. 448 Primary elections should be returned to political party convention rather than being a taxpayer subsidized public event. 449 We would add the alternative "none of the above" to all ballots. 450 In the event that "none of the above" receives a plurality of votes in any election, either the elective office for that term should remain unfilled and unfunded, or there shall be a new election in which none of the losing candidates shall be eligible. 451 In order to grant voters a full range of choice in federal, state and local elections, we propose proportional voting systems with multi-member districts for legislative elections and instant runoff voting (IRV) for single winner elections. 452 To avoid fraud and manipulation, electronic voting systems must use a voter verified paper ballot as the ballot of count, recount, audit and record. 453

IV. EQUALITY

discrimination by governments, anti-discrimination laws, trade and mutual consent, repeal of laws, sexual discrimination, property rights, sexuality and gender, repeal of laws
Discrimination imposed by government has caused a multitude of problems and anti-discrimination laws create the same problems. 177, 178 Individual rights should not be denied, abridged or enhanced at the expense of other people's rights by laws at any level of government based on sex, wealth, race, color, creed, age, national origin, personal habits, political preference or sexual orientation. 179 While the right to trade includes the right not to trade — for any reasons whatsoever, the right of association includes the right not to associate, for exercise of this right depends upon mutual consent. 180 While we do not advocate private discrimination, we do not support any laws which attempt to limit or ban it. 181 We support repealing any laws imposing discrimination by government, rather than extending them to all individuals. 182 We hold that individual rights should not be denied or abridged on the basis of sex. 186 We call for repeal of all laws discriminating against women, such as protective labor laws and marriage or divorce laws which deny the full rights of men and women.189 We oppose all laws likely to impose restrictions on free choice and private property or to widen tyranny through reverse discrimination. 188 The government has presumed to decide acceptability over sexual practices in personal relationships, imposing a particular code of moral and social values and displacing personal choice in such matters. 205 Adults have the right to private choice in consensual sexual activity. 206 We advocate an end to all government attempts to dictate, prohibit, control or encourage any private lifestyle, living arrangement or contractual relationship. 207 We would repeal existing laws and policies intended to condemn, affirm, encourage or deny sexual lifestyles, or any set of attitudes about such lifestyles. 208

V. HEALTH CARE

health care, free market, regulation, insurance
We favor restoring and reviving a free market health care system. 386 Recent decades have witnessed growing government involvement in the health care system. 379 That involvement has led to bureaucratic top-down management, rapidly escalating prices, costly regulations, the criminalization of the practice of medicine and a host of other problems. 380 None of these problems were prevalent prior to the time when government began to increase its involvement. 381 We believe that government involvement is the principal cause of many of the problems we face in the health care system today. 382 The high cost of health insurance is largely due to government's excessive regulation of the industry. 383 We recognize the right of individuals free from government interference and its harmful side effects to determine the level of insurance they want, the level of care they want, the care providers they want, the medicines and treatments they will use and all other aspects of their medical care. 384 Government's role in any kind of insurance should only be to enforce contracts when necessary, not to dictate to insurance companies and consumers which kinds of insurance contracts they may voluntarily agree upon. 385 We advocate a complete separation of medicine from the State. We support an end to government-provided health insurance and health care. 387 Both of these functions can be more effectively provided in the private sector. 388

drugs and medicine, right to choose, rights of others, drug abuse, education and assistance, social involvement, privacy, forced medication, involuntary commitment, children, elderly, the head-injured, diminished capacity, tax funded research and treatment, subsidies, research, privacy
Individuals should have the right to use drugs, whether for medical or recreational purposes, without fear of legal reprisals, but must be held legally responsible for the consequences of their actions only if they violate others' rights. 031 Popular education and assistance groups are a better approach than prohibition, and we support the activities of private organizations as the best way to move forward on the issue. 033 Social involvement by individuals is essential to address the problem of substance misuse and abuse. 032 We are against the invasion of people's homes and privacy by health officials or law enforcement to either require or deny drug taking. 073 Individuals are forcibly medicated or denied medication, not based on medical need, but based rather on a social agenda as enforced by government. 067 Medication must be voluntary. 068 We oppose the involuntary commitment of any person to or involuntary treatment in a mental institution. 069 We strongly condemn Involuntary Outpatient Commitment (IOC), where the patient is ordered to accept treatment, or else be committed to a mental institution and forcibly treated. 070 We oppose government pressure requiring parents to obtain counseling or psychiatric drugs for their children. 071 We also oppose forced treatment for the elderly, the head-injured, or those with diminished capacity. 072 We advocate an end to the spending of tax money for any program of psychiatric, psychological, or behavioral research or treatment. 074 We oppose any government restriction or funding of medical or scientific research. 389 We oppose government regulations that require employers to provide health insurance coverage for employees, which often encourages unnecessary intrusions by employers into the privacy of their employees. 130

VI. EDUCATION

free market, regulation, subsidy, indoctrination, compulsory education laws, tax funding, busing, corporal punishment, tax credits, tax-exempt status, private schools
Education, like any other service, is best provided by the free market, achieving greater quality and efficiency with more diversity of choice. 340 We advocate the complete separation of education and State. 341 Government ownership, operation, regulation, and subsidy of schools and colleges should be ended. 342 Government schools lead to the indoctrination of children and interfere with the free choice of individuals. 338 Compulsory education laws spawn prison-like schools with many of the problems associated with prisons. 339 We call for the repeal of the guarantees of tax-funded, government-provided education, which are found in most state constitutions. 343 Until government involvement in education is ended, we support elimination, within the governmental school system, of forced busing and corporal punishment. 344 We further support immediate reduction of tax support for schools, and removal of the burden of school taxes from those not responsible for the education of children. 345 As an interim measure to encourage the growth of private schools and variety in education, including home schooling, we support tax credits for tuition and other expenditures related to an individual's education. 346 We likewise favor tax credits for child care and oppose nationalization of the child-care industry. 347 We oppose denial of tax-exempt status to schools because of those schools' private policies on hiring, admissions and student deportment. 348 We support the repeal of all taxes on the income or property of private schools, whether profit or non-profit. 349

VII. POVERTY, WELFARE, AND RETIREMENT

poverty and charity, impact of programs, privacy, voluntary efforts
The welfare state, supposedly designed to aid the poor, is in reality a growing and parasitic burden on all productive people, and injures, rather than benefits, the poor themselves. 303 Government programs are inefficient, paternalistic, demeaning and invasive of privacy. 369 The proper source of help for the poor is the voluntary efforts of private groups and individuals. 370 We oppose government-enforced charity such as welfare programs and subsidies, but we heartily applaud those individuals and private charitable organizations that help the needy and contribute to a wide array of worthwhile causes through voluntary activities. 220 We oppose all government welfare, relief projects and "aid to the poor" programs. 374

retirement, tax credits, charitable contributions, social security, private voluntary system
We deplore government-fostered forced retirement, which robs the elderly of the right to work. 377 In a free society, retirement planning is the responsibility of the individual, not the government. 425 To speed the time when governmental programs are replaced by effective private institutions we advocate dollar-for-dollar tax credits for all charitable contributions. 378 Social Security is a bankrupt, immoral pyramid-scheme that has trillions of dollars of unfunded liabilities and yields below average returns for those trapped in it. 423 Any financial advisor who suggested investing in a program like this would go to jail, but the members of Congress get off scot-free. 424 We favor replacing the current fraudulent, virtually bankrupt, government sponsored Social Security system with a private voluntary system. 426 Pending that replacement, participation in Social Security should be made voluntary, and victims of the Social Security tax should also have a claim against government property. 427

VIII. CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

violation of rights, protection of rights, crime, private security
The continuing high level of violent crime — and the government's demonstrated inability to deal with it — threatens the lives, happiness and belongings of Americans. 013 Governmental violations of rights undermine people's sense of justice with regard to crime. 014 The appropriate way to suppress crime is through consistent and impartial enforcement of laws that protect individual rights. 017 We applaud the trend toward private protection services and voluntary community crime control. 018

restitution, deterrence, pardon and threats inducing same
The present system of criminal law is based almost solely on punishment with little concern for the victim. 047 The purpose of a justice system is to provide restitution to those suffering a loss at the expense of those who caused that loss. 048 We support restitution for the victim to the fullest degree possible at the expense of the criminal or wrongdoer, and we would end all "no-fault" insurance laws, which deprive the victim of the right to recover damages from those responsible in the case of injury. 050, 051 In the case of violent crimes, an additional purpose is to defend society from the continued threat of violence. 049 Full restitution must be made for all loss suffered by persons arrested, indicted, tried, imprisoned, or otherwise injured in the course of criminal proceedings against them that do not result in their conviction and when they are responsible, government police employees or agents must be liable for this restitution . 044 We support an affirmation of the right of the victim to pardon the criminal or wrongdoer, barring threats to the victim for this purpose. 050c, 052

war on drugs, criminal and civil penalties, repeal of laws, non-prosecution and pardon
The suffering that drug misuse has brought about is deplorable; however, drug prohibition causes more harm than drugs themselves. 029 The so-called "War on Drugs" is in reality a war against the American people, our Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and it is a grave threat to individual liberty, to domestic order and to peace in the world. 030 We support the repeal all laws establishing criminal or civil penalties for the use of drugs. 034 We would stop prosecuting accused non-violent drug offenders, and pardon those previously convicted. 037

definition of crime, rights of others, direct prosecution, encoding morality, repeal of laws, hate crimes
Only actions that infringe on the rights or damage the property of others can properly be termed crimes. 023 We support institutional changes, consistent with full respect for the rights of the accused, which would permit victims to direct the prosecution in criminal cases. 021 Activities which do not affect anyone but the actor have been criminalized by government on the basis of encoding a particular morality into law. 022 Victimless crime laws themselves violate individual rights and also breed genuine crime. 015 Laws pertaining to "victimless crimes" should be repealed, and we favor the repeal of all federal, state and local laws creating "crimes" without victims. 020, 024 We call for an end to "hate crime" laws that punish people for their thoughts and speech, distract us from real crimes, and foster resentment by giving some individuals special status under the law. 019

victimless crimes, laws to be repealed, executive pardon
We advocate: repeal of all laws prohibiting the production, sale, possession, or use of drugs, and of all medicinal prescription requirements for the purchase of vitamins, drugs, and similar substances; the repeal of all laws restricting or prohibiting the use or sale of alcohol, requiring health warning labels and signs, making bartenders or hosts responsible for the behavior of customers and guests, making liquor companies liable for birth defects, and making gambling houses liable for the losses of intoxicated gamblers; the repeal of all laws or policies authorizing stopping drivers without probable cause to test for alcohol or drug use; the repeal of all laws regarding consensual sexual relations, including prostitution and solicitation, and the cessation of state oppression and harassment of homosexual men and women, that they, at last, be accorded their full rights as individuals; the repeal of all laws regulating or prohibiting the possession, use, sale, production, or distribution of sexually explicit material, independent of "socially redeeming value" or compliance with "community standards"; the repeal of all laws regulating or prohibiting gambling; the repeal of anti-racketeering statutes such as the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), which punish peaceful behavior — including insider trading in securities, sale of sexually explicit material, and nonviolent anti-abortion protests — by freezing and/or seizing assets of the accused or convicted; and the repeal of all laws interfering with the right to commit suicide as infringements of the ultimate right of an individual to his or her own life. 025 We demand the use of executive pardon to free and exonerate all those presently incarcerated or ever convicted solely for the commission of these "crimes." 026

constitutional safeguards, search and seizure, forfeiture, instant punishment, denial of due process, seizure of property, excessive use of force
We oppose reduction of constitutional safeguards of the rights of the criminally accused. 041 We would repeal laws that infringe upon individual rights to be secure in our persons, homes, and property as protected by the Fourth Amendment. 035 We would stop the use of "anti-crime" measures such as profiling or civil asset forfeiture that reduce the standard of proof historically borne by government in prosecutions. 036 Instant-punishment policies deprive the accused of important checks on government power — juries and the judicial process. 038 Until such time as persons are proved guilty of crimes, they should be accorded full respect for their individual rights. 039 We oppose any concept that some individuals are by nature second-class citizens who only understand instant punishment and any claim that the police possess special insight into recognizing persons in need of punishment. 040 Cases must no longer be treated as "civil" strictly to avoid the due process protections of criminal law. 042 Government must no longer be allowed to seize property for criminal offenses, prior to civil or criminal proceedings, and we condemn the wholesale confiscation of property prior to conviction by the state that all too often accompanies police raids, searches, and prosecutions for victimless crimes. 027, 043 We recognize that, often, the Federal Government blackmails states which refuse to comply with these laws by withholding funds and we applaud those states which refuse to be so coerced. 028 Police officers must be prohibited from using excessive force on the disorderly or the criminally accused, handing out what they may consider to be instant punishments on the streets, or using preventive detention and no-knock laws. 045

peremptory challenge of judge, right to trial, juries, death penalty, insanity defense
The judicial system must be reformed to allow criminal defendants and civil parties to a court action a reasonable number of peremptory challenges to proposed judges, similar to their right under the present system to challenge a proposed juror. 046 The right to a trial by a citizen jury is an important check on the infringement of our rights by government and the current practice has seriously eroded that protection. 056 Juries should be composed of volunteers, not forced jurors. 057 The common-law right of juries, to judge not only the facts but also the justice of the law, should be recognized and encouraged. 058 End the practice in capital cases of excluding jurors who are opposed to the death penalty (referred to as "death qualification"), which denies capital defendants the right to a trial before a jury representative of community values. 060 We favor an end to the acceptance of criminal defenses based on "insanity" or "diminished capacity" which absolve the guilty of their responsibility. 075

IX. ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES

management, planning, regulation, subsidies, price controls, oil prices, emergency regulation, government ownership, subsidies and regulation, Department of Energy, self-sufficiency, tariffs and quotas
Resource management is properly the responsibility and right of the legitimate owners of land, water and other natural resources and we recognize the legitimacy of resource planning by means of private, voluntary covenants. 394 Government regulation of the energy industry has resulted in high prices, shortages, lack of competition, stunted exploration and development of alternative energy sources, and displaced responsibility for wrongdoing in the energy markets, while granting advantage in existing markets to those with political access. 304 We oppose all government subsidies for energy research, development, and operation. 312 We oppose all government control of energy pricing, allocation, and production, such as that imposed by the Department of Energy, state public utility commissions, and state pro-rationing agencies. 308 We favor the creation of a free market in oil by instituting full property rights in underground oil and by the repeal of all government controls over output in the petroleum industry. 305 We oppose the creation of any emergency mobilization agency in the energy field, which would wield dictatorial powers in order to override normal legal processes. 309 All government-owned energy resources should be turned over to private ownership.310 We support abolition of the Department of Energy and the abolition of its component agencies, without their transfer elsewhere in the government. 316 We oppose all government conservation schemes through the use of taxes, subsidies and regulation. 317 We oppose the "strategic storage" program, any attempt to compel national self-sufficiency in oil, any extension of cargo preference law to imports and any attempt to raise oil tariffs or impose oil import quotas. 318

nuclear energy, regulation free market nuclear energy, NRC, Price-Anderson Act, Department of Energy
Nuclear energy should be denationalized and the industry's assets transferred to the private sector. 311 Any nuclear power industry must meet the test of a free market; Full liability — not government agencies — should regulate nuclear power. 306, 307 We oppose all direct and indirect government participation in the nuclear energy industry, including subsidies, research and development funds, guaranteed loans, waste disposal subsidies, and federal uranium enrichment facilities. 313 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission should be abolished. 314 The Price-Anderson Act, through which the government limits liability for nuclear accidents and furnishes partial payment at taxpayer expense, should be repealed. 315

federal land, unowned resources, claims by fiat, objective standards, treaties and international agreements, Law of the Sea Treaty, space exploration, repeal of laws, mining, dams and water projects, Antiquities Act, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, parks or wilderness
We call for the homesteading or other just transfer to private ownership of federally held lands. 400 Individuals have the right to homestead unowned resources, both within the jurisdictions of national governments and within such unclaimed territory as the ocean, Antarctica and the volume of outer space. 526 We oppose any recognition of fiat claims by national governments or international bodies to unclaimed territory. 527 Governments and international groups claim the right to unowned resources that they have no jurisdiction over, imposing those claims against individuals by force. 525 We urge the development of objective international standards for recognizing homesteaded claims to private ownership of such forms of property as transportation lanes, broadcast bands, mineral rights, fishing rights and ocean farming rights. 528 All laws, treaties and international agreements that would prevent or restrict homesteading of unowned resources should be abolished. 529 We specifically hail the U.S. refusal to accept the proposed Law of the Sea Treaty because the treaty excluded private property principles, and we oppose any future ratification. 530 Government has historically asserted a monopoly on space exploration. 546 Voluntary, peaceful use of outer space should not be regulated by government. 547 We support all peaceful, private, voluntary attempts to explore, industrialize and colonize any extra-terrestrial resources. 549 We support the privatization of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 550 Forced surface-mining of privately homesteaded lands, in which the government has reserved surface mining rights for itself, is a violation of the rights of the present landholders. 393 The construction of government dams and other water projects should cease, and existing government water projects should be transferred to private ownership. 401 We oppose any use of executive orders invoking the Antiquities Act to set aside public lands. 404 We call for the abolition of the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. 405 We oppose creation of new government parks or wilderness and recreation areas. 406 Such parks and areas that already exist should be transferred to non-government ownership. 407 Pending such just transfer, their operating costs should be borne by their users rather than by taxpayers. 408

farming and agriculture subsidies, regulation and taxes, export policies, free market, Department of Agriculture, price supports, subsidies, pest control
America's free market in agriculture, the system that feeds much of the world, has been plowed under by government intervention. 409 Government subsidies, regulation and taxes have encouraged the centralization of agricultural business. 410 The agricultural problems facing America today are not insolvable, and government policies can be reversed. 416, 415 Government export policies hold American farmers hostage to the political whims of both Republican and Democratic administrations. 411 Farmers and consumers alike should be free from the meddling and counterproductive measures of the federal government — free to grow, sell and buy what they want, in the quantity they want, when they want. 413 Farmers, ranchers and all other purveyors of goods and services in the agricultural free market must operate unhindered by government regulation, while being policed by private sector consumer protection agencies for quality, and held strictly liable by government only against fraud and deception. 414 We support the abolition of the Department of Agriculture. 417 We support the elimination of all government farm programs, including price supports and we support the elimination of direct subsidies and all regulation on agricultural production. 417 We support the end to government involvement in agricultural pest control [and] we support a policy of pest control whereby private individuals or corporations bear full responsibility for damages they inflict on their neighbors should be implemented. 417 and 418

water rights, first claim and use, mis-allocation, privatization, repeal of laws
We advocate the establishment of an efficient and just system of private water rights applied to all bodies of water, surface and underground. 395 Such a system should be built upon a doctrine of first claim and use. 396 All government restrictions upon private use or voluntary transfer of water rights or similar despotic controls can only aggravate the mis-allocation of water. 392 The allocation of water should be governed by unrestricted competition and unregulated prices. 397 We also advocate the privatization of government and quasi-government water supply systems. 398 Only the complete separation of water and the State will prevent future water crises. 399 We favor the abolition of the Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Engineers' civilian functions. 402 We also favor the abolition of all local water districts and their power to tax. 403

X. ENVIRONMENT AND POLLUTION

individual rights, liability, abandonment, objective legal system, defining property rights, trespass and nuisance, radiation damage, repeal of laws, EPA, smoking regulations, toxic waste, clean-up, responsibility, public property, EPA, Superfund, taxpayer expense
Pollution of other people's property is a violation of individual rights. 323 Strict liability, not government agencies and arbitrary government standards, should regulate pollution. Claiming that one has abandoned a piece of property does not absolve one of the responsibility for actions one has set in motion. 324 We support the development of an objective legal system defining property rights to air and water. 325 We call for a modification of the laws governing such torts as trespass and nuisance to cover damages done by air, water, radiation, and noise pollution. 327 We oppose legislative proposals to exempt persons who claim damage from radiation from having to prove such damage was in fact caused by radiation. 378 We demand the abolition of the Environmental Protection Agency. 329 We also oppose government mandated smoking and non-smoking areas in privately owned businesses. 330 Rather than making taxpayers pay for toxic waste clean-ups, individual property owners, or in the case of corporations, the responsible managers and employees should be held strictly liable for material damage done by their property. 326 Present legal principles, particularly the unjust and false concept of "public property," block privatization of the use of the environment and hence block resolution of controversies over resource use. 320 Toxic waste disposal problems have been created by government policies that separate liability from property. 319 We condemn the EPA's Superfund whose taxing powers are used to penalize all chemical firms, regardless of their conduct. 321 Such clean-ups are a subsidy of irresponsible companies at the expense of responsible ones. 322

XI. NATIONALITY, IMMIGRATION AND SECESSION

employment and migration, deprivation of rights, grounds for limiting, citizenship and welfare enforcement, employers liability, repeal of laws, amnesty, refugees
Undocumented non-citizens should not be denied the fundamental freedom to labor and to move about unmolested. 170 We hold that human rights should not be denied or abridged on the basis of nationality. 169 Furthermore, immigration must not be restricted for reasons of race, religion, political creed, age or sexual preference. 171 We oppose government welfare and resettlement payments to non-citizens just as we oppose government welfare payments to all other persons. 172 We condemn massive roundups of Hispanic Americans and others by the federal government in its hunt for individuals not possessing required government documents. 173 We strongly oppose all measures that punish employers who hire undocumented workers. 174 Such measures repress free enterprise, harass workers, and systematically discourage employers from hiring Hispanics. 175 We call for the elimination of all restrictions on immigration, the abolition of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Border Patrol. 176 We call for the declaration of full amnesty for all people who have entered the country illegally. 176 We welcome all refugees to our country and condemn the efforts of U.S. officials to create a new "Berlin Wall" which would keep them captive. 167 We condemn the U.S. government's policy of barring those refugees from our country and preventing Americans from assisting their passage to help them escape tyranny or improve their economic prospects. 168

native Americans, rights usurped, citizenship, restoration of property rights, repeal of laws resolution of disputes
The rights of American Indians have been usurped over the years. 209 Individuals should be free to select their own citizenship, and tribes should be free to select the level of autonomy the tribe wishes. 210 Indians should have their property rights restored, including rights of easement, access, hunting, and fishing. 211 The Bureau of Indian Affairs should be abolished leaving tribal members to determine their own system of governance. 212 Negotiations should be undertaken to resolve all outstanding differences between the tribes and the government. 213

secession, political association, voluntary, political entities, private groups or individuals, government programs
As all political association must be voluntary, we recognize the right to political secession. 455 People are forced to be subject to governments and to participate in their programs, usually as providers of financial support, regardless of their wishes to the contrary. 454 Secession includes the right to secession by political entities, private groups or individuals and the exercise of this right, like the exercise of all other rights, does not remove legal and moral obligations not to violate the rights of others. 456 We support the right of political entities, private groups and individuals to renounce their affiliation with any government, and to be exempt from the obligations imposed by those governments, while in turn accepting no support from the government from which they seceded. 457 As a transition step, we support the right of political entities, private groups and individuals to renounce their participation in any government program, and to be exempt from the obligations imposed by that program, while in turn accepting no benefit from the program from which they seceded. 458

XII. MILITARY, NATIONAL SECURITY AND WAR

military service, draft, involuntary servitude, selective service, records, women, draft evasion, discontinuation of service, gender and identity, discharge, UCMJ
We oppose any form of national service, including conscription into the military, a compulsory youth labor program, or any other kind of coerced social program. 156 Impressment of individuals into the armed forces is involuntary servitude. 157 Recognizing that registration is the first step toward full conscription, we oppose all attempts at compulsory registration of any person and all schemes for automatic registration through government invasions of the privacy of school, motor vehicle, or other records. 158 We call for the abolition of the still-functioning elements of the Selective Service System. 159 We call for the destruction of all files in computer-readable or hard-copy form compiled by the Selective Service System. 160 We oppose adding women to the pool of those eligible for and subject to the draft, not because we think that as a rule women are unfit for combat, but because we believe that this step enlarges the number of people subjected to government tyranny. 161 We call for the immediate and unconditional exoneration of all who have been accused or convicted of draft evasion, desertion from the military in cases of conscription or fraud, and other acts of resistance to such transgressions as imperialistic wars and aggressive acts of the military. 162 Members of the military should have the same right to quit their jobs as other persons. 163 We call for the end of the Defense Department practice of discharging armed forces personnel for homosexual conduct. 164 We further call for retraction of all less-than-honorable discharges previously assigned for such reasons and deletion of such information from military personnel files. 165 We recommend the repeal of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the recognition and equal protection of the rights of armed forces members, as this will thereby promote morale, dignity, and a sense of justice within the military. 166

national security, individual rights, resist tyranny, government secrecy, relationship with its employers, punishment, citizen review board, denial of rights, habeas corpus, Bill of Rights, private security, oversight, individual awareness, DHS, subpoena power, HISC, CIA, NSA, and FBI
We oppose all violations of the right to private property, liberty of contract, and freedom of trade, especially those done in the name of national security. 099 We recognize the right of all people to resist tyranny and defend themselves and their rights. 480 We condemn the government's use of secret classifications to keep from the public information that it should have. 131 Government is the servant of the individuals who own this country; withholding information that the public has a right to know is dishonest, deceptive and a perversion of the proper relationship between government and its employers. 132 We favor substituting the present secrecy system with one in which no individual may be convicted for violating government secrecy classifications unless the government discharges its burden of proving that the publication either: Violated the right of privacy of those who have been coerced into revealing confidential or proprietary information to government agents; or Disclosed defensive military plans so as to materially impair the capabilities to respond to attack. It should always be a defense to such prosecution that information divulged shows that the government has violated the law. 133 Abolish the entrenched system of classification of information except for all matters that pass a private sector citizen review board and are determined as true national security. 134 Lacking appropriate citizen oversight, government bureaucracies have deprived citizens of their privacy, property, and freedom, under the pretense that such action is necessary to protect us from our enemies. 134 Such actions include the suspension of the right of habeas corpus during the Civil War, the internment of Japanese-American citizens during World War II, the Patriot Act and the classification of "enemy combatants" today. 135 The rights of due process, a speedy trial, legal counsel, trial by jury, the legal presumption of innocence until proven guilty, personal privacy, the freedoms of assembly, expression and religion; and other individual liberties and rights must not be denied on the basis of national security. 136 The Bill of Rights provides no exceptions for a time of war. 136 Wherever possible, private security agencies should replace public institutions. 138 Agencies, public or private, duly constituted to preserve the security of the nation must be subject to independent oversight, accountable to the citizenry whom they serve, and subject to the law, including full responsibility for any violations of individual rights. 139 Individual awareness of the requirements of security must be the ultimate supplement to any public protection. 140 We opposed the establishment of a new cabinet level Department of Homeland Security and now call for its elimination. 141 Abolish the subpoena power as used by Congressional committees against individuals or firms. 142 We oppose any efforts to revive the House Internal Security Committee (or its predecessor the House Committee on Un-American Activities), and call for the destruction of its files on private individuals and groups. 143 We also call for the abolition of the Senate Subcommittee on Internal Security. Intelligence and law enforcement agencies like the CIA, NSA, and FBI must be prevented from abusing individual rights or else be abolished. 144

military, proper role, weapons, nuclear weapons, treaties, orbiting defensive systems, conventional attack, war powers, Constitutional amendment, Presidential War Powers Act, states of emergency, secret commitments, satellites and space, troops abroad, Monroe Doctrine
Any U.S. military policy should have the objective of providing security for the lives, liberty and property of the American people in the U.S. against the risk of attack by a foreign power. 493 This objective should be achieved as inexpensively as possible and without undermining the liberties it is designed to protect. 494 U.S. weapons of indiscriminate mass destruction should be replaced with smaller weapons, aimed solely at military targets and not designed or targeted to kill millions of civilians. 495 We call for the replacement of nuclear war fighting policies with a policy of developing cost-effective defensive systems. 496 Accordingly, we oppose any future agreement which would prevent defensive systems on U.S. territory or in Earth orbit. 497 The potential use of nuclear weapons is the greatest threat to all the peoples of the world, not only Americans. 491 Thus, the objective should be to reduce the risk that a nuclear war might begin and its scope if it does. 492 If European countries want nuclear weapons on their soil, they should take full responsibility for them and pay the cost. 501 We call on the U.S. government to continue negotiations toward multi-lateral reduction of nuclear armaments, to the end that all such weapons will ultimately be eliminated, under such conditions of verification as to ensure multi-lateral security. 498 During arms reduction negotiations, and to enhance their progress, the U.S. should begin the retirement of some of its nuclear weapons as proof of its commitment. 499 Because the U.S. has many more thousands of nuclear weapons than are currently required, beginning the process of arms reduction would not jeopardize American security, and we call on the U.S. government to remove its nuclear weapons from Europe. 500 There is no current or foreseeable risk of any conventional military attack on the American people, particularly from long distances. 503 Recent Presidents have — on their own through declarations of "states of emergency" and with the assistance of Congress via the War Powers Act — expanded the role of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to assume the power to wage limited (and not so limited) war without the Constitutionally required explicit Declaration of War by Congress. 505 These wars often occur in secret, funded and/or operated by the CIA, NSA, and other agencies not directly accountable to the People. 506 The role of Commander-in-Chief, correctly understood, confers no additional authority on the President. 507 We favor a Constitutional amendment limiting the presidential role as Commander-in-Chief to its original meaning, namely that of the head of the armed forces in wartime. 508 We call for the reform of the Presidential War Powers Act to end the President's power to initiate military action, and for the abrogation of all Presidential declarations of "states of emergency." 509 There must be no further secret commitments and unilateral acts of military intervention by the Executive Branch. 510 Space related activity is not a proper function of any government except for the protection of the terrestrial borders of that nation and its people located within that territory. 548 We call for the withdrawal of all American military personnel stationed abroad, including the countries of NATO Europe, Japan, the Philippines, Central America and South Korea. 502 We call for the withdrawal of the U.S. from commitments to engage in war on behalf of other governments and for abandonment of doctrines supporting military intervention such as the Monroe Doctrine. 504 We support the cease of the creation and maintenance of U.S. bases and sites for the pre-positioning of military material in other countries. 544 We call for the end of the practice of stationing American military troops overseas, with no exceptions. 545

immunity, unjust laws, government as a party, government officials, "Sovereign Immunity"
The government has placed itself in a position of superiority above its citizens, has denied our rights under a policy of "compelling state interest" (thereby becoming the primary threat to our rights, rather than the protector of them), and has denied its citizens their right to sue their government for redress of grievances, claiming a position of sovereign immunity. 061 In all cases to which the government is a party, the judge should be required to inform the jurors of their common law right to judge the law, as well as the facts, and to acquit a criminal defendant, and to find against the government in a civil trial, whenever they deem the law unjust or oppressive. 059 Government must be returned to its proper role as protector of rights, and once again be made accountable for its actions to the individual citizen. 064 Individual elected officials and bureaucrats must be held accountable if their actions directly violate the rights of individual citizens. 065 We advocate an immediate end to the doctrine of "Sovereign Immunity" which ignores the primacy of the individual over the abstraction of the State, and holds that the State, contrary to the tradition of redress of grievances, may not be sued without its permission or held accountable for its actions under civil law. 066

XIII. FOREIGN RELATIONS

foreign policy, proper role, non-intervention, entangling alliances, imperial adventures, cost and size, negotiation, repeal of laws, Americans abroad, foreign investment, international travel, passports, visas, foreign laws, violations of individual rights by foreign nations, torture, violations of individual rights, unclean hands, resist tyranny, terrorism, world government, treaties, united nations, foreign aid, Export-Import Bank and the Commodity Credit Corporation, international commodity circles, colonial legacy, right to govern, expansion of territories, seized land, repeal of laws
American foreign policy should seek an America at peace with the world and the defense — against attack from abroad — of the lives, liberty, and property of the American people on American soil and the provision of such defense must respect the individual rights of people everywhere. 459 The principle of non-intervention should guide relationships between governments. 460 The United States government should return to the historic libertarian tradition of avoiding entangling alliances, abstaining totally from foreign quarrels and imperialist adventures, and recognizing the right to unrestricted trade, travel, and immigration. 461 Intervention by the government in Washington in the affairs of other nations is an attempt to impose our values on those nations by force. 462 The important principle in foreign policy should be the elimination of intervention by the United States government in the affairs of other nations. 463 We favor a drastic reduction in cost and size of our total diplomatic establishment. 464 We would negotiate with any foreign government without necessarily conceding moral legitimacy to that government. 465 We favor the repeal of the Logan Act, which prohibits private American citizens from engaging in diplomatic negotiations with foreign governments. 466 We recognize that foreign governments might violate the rights of Americans traveling, living or owning property abroad, just as those governments violate the rights of their own citizens. 467 Protection of the United States government to U.S. citizens when they or their property fall within the jurisdiction of a foreign government involves potential military intervention. 468 In particular, the protection of the foreign investments of U.S. citizens or businesses is an unjust tax-supported subsidy. 469 We condemn all such property-rights violations, whether the victims are U.S. citizens or not. 470 We call upon the United States government to adhere rigidly to the principle that all U.S. citizens travel, live and own property abroad at their own risk. 471 We look forward to an era in which American citizens and foreigners can travel anywhere in the world without a passport. 472 We aim to restore a world in which there are no passports, visas or other papers required to cross borders. 473 American embassies should inform our citizens that they are subject to the laws of foreign countries when they travel or invest in those countries. 474 Our government cannot insulate citizens from foreign laws when they travel abroad; our embassies cannot assume the responsibility of protecting citizens from the consequences of their own conduct while visiting nations outside the United States. 475 We condemn the violations of human rights in all nations around the world. 475 We particularly abhor the widespread and increasing use of torture for interrogation and punishment. 477 The violation of rights and liberty by other governments can never justify foreign intervention by the United States government. 478 Today, no government is innocent of violating human rights and liberty, and none can approach the issue with clean hands. 479 We recognize the right of all people to resist tyranny and defend themselves and their rights. 480 We condemn the use of force, and especially the use of terrorism, against the innocent, regardless of whether such acts are committed by governments or by political or revolutionary groups. 481 Only private individuals and organizations have any place speaking out on this issue. 482 We call upon all the world's governments to fully implement the principles and prescriptions contained in this platform and thereby usher in a new age of international harmony based upon the universal reign of liberty. 483 Until a global triumph for liberty has been achieved, we support both political and revolutionary actions by individuals and groups against governments that violate rights. 484 In keeping with our goal of peaceful international relations, we call upon the United States government to cease its hypocrisy and its sullying of the good name of human rights. 485 Participation in any form of world or international government threatens the sovereignty of the United States, its citizens and its Constitution. 486 The sovereignty of individual rights is preserved only by minimal government, and subservience to a world government is totalitarianism of a more severe form than to a national government. 487 We oppose U.S. government participation in any world or international government. We support withdrawal of the United States government from, and an end to its financial support for, the United Nations. 488 We oppose any treaty under which individual rights would be violated. 489 We oppose any U.S. policy designating the United Nations as policeman of the world, committing U.S. troops to wars at the discretion of the U.N., or placing U.S. troops under U.N. command. 490 The federal government has used foreign aid as a tool of influencing the policy of other sovereign nations under the guise of aiding needy people in those nations. 511 This forces American taxpayers to subsidize governments and policies of which they may not approve. 512 Individuals should not be coerced via taxes into funding a foreign nation or group. 513 All foreign aid should be voluntarily funded by individuals or private organizations. 514 We support the elimination of all tax-supported military, economic, technical and scientific aid to foreign governments or other organizations. 515 We call for the abolishment of government underwriting of arms sales. 516 We support the elimination of all federal agencies that make American taxpayers guarantors of export-related loans, such as the Export-Import Bank and the Commodity Credit Corporation. 517 We call for the end of the participation of the U.S. government in international commodity circles that restrict production, limit technological innovation and raise prices. 518 United States colonialism has left a legacy of property confiscation, economic manipulation and over-extended defense boundaries. 531 People have the right to govern themselves as they see fit, without fearing that a large nation will simply take control of them. 532 While the United States should be willing to accept expansion through other nations and territories petitioning for statehood, we must not coerce any nation or people into "unity" through military or economic action. 533 We favor immediate self-determination for all people living in colonial dependencies — such as American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands — to free these people from U.S. dominance, accompanied by the termination of subsidization of them at taxpayers' expense. 534 Foreign land seized by the U.S. government should be returned to its rightful owners. 535 Intervention in the affairs of other countries has provoked resentment and hatred of the United States among many groups and nations throughout the world. 536 In addition, legal barriers to private and personal aid (both military and economic) have fostered internal discord. 537 The United States should not inject itself into the internal matters of other nations, unless they have declared war upon or attacked the United States, or the U.S. is already in a constitutionally declared war with them. 538 We call for the end of the current U.S. government policy of foreign intervention, including military and economic aid, guarantees, and diplomatic meddling. 539 Individuals should be free to provide any aid they wish that does not directly threaten the United States. 539 Voluntary cooperation with any economic boycott should not be treated as a crime. 540 We support the end of all limitation of private foreign aid, both military and economic. 541 We call for the repeal of the Neutrality Act of 1794, and all other U.S. neutrality laws, which restrict the efforts of Americans to aid overseas organizations fighting to overthrow or change governments. 542 We support the end of the incorporation of foreign nations into the U.S. defense perimeter. 543

XIV. OMISSIONS

Our silence about any other particular government law, regulation, ordinance, directive, edict, control, regulatory agency, activity, or machination should not be construed to imply approval. 551

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