About my social liberalism

Tart cards in phone box.

My economic politics are quite libertarian; Mises, Rothbard and Hayek. Minarchist is the closest you will get to it in one word. The belief that everything the state does it does badly, so the smaller the state the better. This spills over into my social politics, which are very liberal (UK liberal means something completely different to USA liberal and to UK Liberal with a big L). I have already written an article here saying that all recreational drugs should be legalised, the state has no business whatsoever telling me what I can put into my body. I have also written here on penal reform, in the belief that most people who are in jail should not be there. On immigration I believe in a free flow of human capital, so long as social cohesion is not harmed. This social liberalism spills over into other areas:

  • The state should not be involved in education except in the issuing of vouchers for parents to spend as they wish and the banning of all religious teaching from schools. The state should have nothing to do with syllabus, exams, grading, school reports, selection procedures, anything. Let parents and children get on with it, they know far better than the state.
  • Euthanasia. This should be legal. A person’s life belongs to that person, not to any religion or to the state. So they should be able to do what they want with that life. Many people have reached the stages where their lives are utterly futile or incredibly painful, they should be able to exit if they want to. Obviously safeguards would be needed to protect mentally ill and depressed people. Also to protect from relatives trying to speed up the reading of the will. But Switzerland can manage it and so should we.
  • Prostitution. This should be legal. The police cannot stop the world’s oldest profession. A quick look at Adultwork shows that prostitution is thriving. So why the oppression by the state? We should copy New Zealand and their Prostitution Reform Act 2003. Feminists will approve, because what business is it of the state to tell a woman what she can do with her body? Legalising brings many advantages, making it easier to collect taxes, prevent disease and control crimes such as trafficking, exploitation and underage sex. All round the advantages are so great that the current system looks very stupid.
  • Marriage. Once again this should be no business whatsoever of the state. If three people want to get married let them get on with it. Or four even. We really need to get away from this ancient religious way of controlling people. It is comforting that a Conservative government introduced same sex marriage in Great Britain.
  • Taxes. These should be the absolute minimum and should not be on earning, so no corporation tax and no income tax. Instead all tax should be on spending. Taxing a dead person’s estate should be stopped, it is pernicious and prevents the accumulation of wealth in society. People should not be punished for working and for saving. They should be able to earn as much as they want without state interference.
  • A free press. We really need to remove virtually all of the restrictions on the press. Let them get on with it. People have brains and can work things out for themselves. Already we know to take articles in some daily British papers with a big pinch of salt. We should get rid of libel laws and be more like the USA, but with out the dreadful DMCA. Also people should be free to use pejorative language. The state tries to create thought crimes as if Brave New World is an instruction manual. We need to reverse this.
  • All political correctness, multiculturalism and diversity must go. These are horrendous forces within our society that need removing.  The Race Relations Act of 1976 and the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 need repealing as with any other legislation based on these utterly discredited socialist dogmas. The state has interfered far too much in our social behavior.
  • Republicanism. It is utterly morally wrong that a family can have so much power, privilege and entitlement purely as an accident of birth. It is utterly wrong that our head of state in a democracy should be decided in the royal bedroom. I have nothing against the Windsors, just the amoral and archaic institution. Also the House of Lords needs replacing with something far more democratic and the Lords Spiritual need removing immediately.
  • Break up and privatise the BBC. It has half of the total UK news reach, which is vastly too much for a state institution. It runs its own political agenda and believes in public service broadcasting, which is another way of describing social conditioning.  It has a pervasive and pernicious effect on just about everything in British society. A far more fragmented and privately owned news media would be better for everyone.

That is enough for now. You must be getting the message. Free the individual from the state. Allow people to make their own choices and decisions in life.

 

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