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05 Mar 2008 03:30 pm
A Pragmatic Libertarian
Pete Abel re-thinks small government:
Many of us have had a change of heart about government action when we encounter unexpected and otherwise insurmountable challenges. Consider the value that my friend, Dennis Sanders, found in Minnesota’s Medicaid program when he needed its assistance back in 1996. Or my experience, when I realized that had it not been for government action, our only child, who suffers from a severe case of Tourette Syndrome, might never have had access to the medications that help him lead a reasonably normal, productive life.
These cases and others suggest that “pure” libertarian conservatives
are comprised of those who have not yet hit the brick wall of
non-solutions; have not yet needed (nor had an opportunity to
appreciate) just how valuable government “interference” can sometimes
be.
On the other hand, despite the groups and individuals who have been
helped by government action, I’m not ready to label myself a
progressive. For every example of government doing good, there are
multiple examples of government wasting precious resources and
implementing counterproductive programs – failures that have been
thoroughly documented by the likes of Barry Goldwater in 1960, Philip
Howard in 1994, and Paul Ormerod in 2005.
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