By Karen Albrecht
Daily Bruin Reporter
SAN JOSE “”mdash; California Libertarians, including two
delegates from UCLA, held their annual state convention in the San
Jose Doubletree Hotel Feb. 16 through Feb. 19.
Alternate election procedures, public education and minimization
of taxes were among issues discussed in lectures throughout the
weekend. Also, new party officials were elected.
Libertarian Party opinions, including support for complete
legalization of drugs and guns, are considered by some to be
radical. However, the party members say they support a society
based on personal responsibility rather than government
intervention.
“The Libertarian Party is about responsibility,”
said Jim Turney, member and former chairman of the Libertarian
National Committee. “I don’t see how people can be
responsible if they don’t have authority over their own
lives, regardless of whether their decisions are right or
wrong.”
A surprisingly large percentage of the U.S. population has a
Libertarian mind-set, Turney said, but the party has not been able
to stake a major claim in government due to the current two-party
system and lack of proportional representation.
“People feel like they are throwing away their votes by
supporting small parties,” said Robert Latham, public affairs
director for the Independent Institute in Oakland, a think tank for
Libertarian ideas.
Minimalists in terms of government-supported institutions,
Libertarians are generally opposed to state-supported schools, such
as the UC system, according to James Elwood, executive vice
president of the International Society for Individual Liberty, the
international branch of Libertarians.
Ideally, he said, there would be a complete separation of school
and state, similar to that of church and state.
“The wealth is there for everyone to go to college if they
want to, in the form of scholarships and loans,” said Paul
Salvette, alternate delegate for Central Los Angeles and third-year
chemical engineering student at UCLA. “If we
aren’t paying as much in taxes to pay for public schooling,
we will have more money available to select and pay for the private
school of our choice.”
About 47 percent of the average American worker’s income
goes toward taxes, according to Mark Selzar, Southern vice chairman
of the California Libertarian Party. People have more control over
their lives if they are allowed to allocate their funds
independently, he said.
Latham offered instant-runoff voting as a viable solution by
allowing people to rank their choices for office. Had this method
been used in the 2000 presidential election, it is likely Al Gore
would have been elected president, he said.
While minimized taxes and reduced government intervention may be
attractive to potential Libertarians, legalization of drugs is
often perceived as a threat, Turney said.
Drug laws cause far more harm than the drugs themselves,
according to Turney. Illegality of drugs does not deter people
from obtaining the substances.
Instead, he said, the government should acknowledge the social
problem, legalize drugs, and more openly provide rehabilitation
centers for addicts.
“We must hold people responsible for their
decisions,” Turney said. Â “The police force should
focus on what people do to harm others, rather than on chasing
individuals for possession of narcotics.”
Rather than taking drastic steps in changing these laws,
incremented implementation is preferable to make sure new measures
are effective, Selzar said.