Gear Diary Quickie: Leave it to the Libertarians!

This isn’t a political ad or statement or anything else inflammatory … just one of those images that stops you in your tracks.

In theory, I could be well suited as a (small ‘l’) libertarian – I’m a fiscal conservative and a social liberal. But as was shown years ago, that is pretty much the makeup of the majority of Americans who consider themselves ‘moderate’ and don’t strongly align with either major party (or the nut-jobs who front the (capital ‘L’) Libertarian Party).

Back in Massachusetts at one point several years ago I met the two folks who have gone on to lead The Center For Small Government in that state, Carla Howell and Michael Cloud. Their basic goals were to shrink government whenever and wherever they could. Remembering this is (the people’s republic of) Massachusetts, the Center isn’t touting some sort of total minimalist set of no government ideals, just trying to reduce the bloat and artificial overhead when and where possible while still providing services. More often than not, they have provided a watchdog look at overspending and bloat. So I have continued getting their periodic emails, as they are always positive and kindly worded – something refreshing in a political climate full of FUD and hate.

The thing I love about this infographic: if you listen to either political party you hear about how the other side is leading to the ruination of us all. That has been particularly true for the last two decades since any sense of civility in politics seems to have died. In the latest round, as the image indicates, the Republicans are differentiating the Obama budget as ‘socialist’ while theirs is ‘conservative’.

It is amazing to put the final Bush budget next to the two current proposals … to put them in context with the ‘good old days’ when we were merely spending ourselves into oblivion …