Temporarily Libertarian

Recently I joined the Libertarian party long enough to sign a petition attempting to add the Libertarian candidate to the upcoming Congressional elections. In a few weeks, assuming I remember to fill out the paper work, I will resume my lonely status as an independent.

To be perfectly honest, I have always regarded Libertarians as a little crazy. This inspite of the fact that I actually agree, in a general sense, with their laisse faire approach to government and personal responsibility. Even so, I think their policies ultimately require a faith in the capacity of humankind to restrain itself, a religion whose orthodoxy I consider suspect.

One may fairly ask, then, why I would sponsor this particular candidate. The answer is really quite simple, but yet not entirely what would be expected. It is true that I believe in the importance of choices. I think people should be allowed the widest range of options, and with the documented advantage incumbents already have in the political process, it falls to us as ordinary citizens to keep things honest. Thus, I would likely have done the same thing for any prospective candidate who had asked, so long as I was not actually opposed to their positions.

However, more than a dedication towards some vague notion of the value of choices, the fact is I am at heart a contrarian. Nothing bothers me more than that something, anything, should pass without opposition. Whether this is a virtue or a vice has yet to be completely figured out, yet I cannot deny this deep and abiding opposition to certainty.