Right Livelihood

My quest in recent years has included the search for a philosophy of society. I am looking for an approach to political issues which accommodates my personal goals and values, and is consistent with the creation of a good society. At the current time, the label which best fits is conservative libertarian. A libertarian in my view is someone who values freedom as central to social organization, and the state as subordinate to the conscience and choices of the individual. It is libertarianism offered not as an excuse for greedy self-fulfillment, but rather out of a genuine belief that the individual mind is the best implementer of action.

A modern society is vast in both population and social complexity. People in a modern society vary in their religions, their economic situations, and in their personal priorities. Those who embrace government-centered approaches to politics appear to believe that a diverse, advanced society can be best orchestrated by a distant state, accountable to the populace once every four or five years. I advocate instead for a market-based system, where service providers are constantly interacting with and having to accommodate public preference.

The conservative portion of my current political philosophy incorporates my overall approach to social and defense issues. As a libertarian, I do not believe in the state forcing others to live by a rigid code, be that code religious or ideological, left-wing or right. However, as an individual, I tend to agree more with traditional or pragmatic approaches to matters of family policy and foreign affairs. My conservative approach to such issues is motivated by a cautious cynicism about human nature, and an open-mindedness to positions deemed politically incorrect.

Religious belief seems little more than myth and superstition, so my views are not determined by an adherence to theology. Nor am I uncritical of the military-industrial complex, and the corrupting effects of corporate power. Still, when viewing issues like war or Third World poverty, I less often see instances of an empire versus the oppressed, and more often find self-interest and self-delusion spread well around.

In the intolerant climate of modern liberalism, my words will be chosen carefully. Yet I expect this blog will give both reader and writer some new insights into the political world.