Discussing the upcoming election with a friend, I am asked which
presidential candidate I intend to vote for. When I reply that I
will be voting for Michael Badnarik, the Libertarian candidate, I
get a look of bewilderment from my friend along with an
“isn’t that just wasting your vote?”
Sadly, the myth of third parties being trash cans for votes has
propagated itself even into the minds of UCLA students.
Part of the reason third parties ““ especially the
Libertarian Party ““ are seen in such a negative light is that
they are generally misunderstood. Libertarians believe in the
sovereignty of the individual in nearly all matters. Essentially,
you are free to run your life however you see fit as long as you
let others do the same.
This philosophy applies not only to personal matters, but also
to economic ones. In a libertarian society, the government has as
little say over businesses as it does over the lives of its
citizens. The market forces associated with a free-enterprise
system are left to efficiently allocate resources and meet consumer
demand.
Current government spending is out of control. The U.S. debt of
about $7.5 trillion amounts to more than $25,000 per citizen! Over
$321 billion was spent on interest payments in the first three
quarters of 2004 alone. A constitutional amendment requiring a
balanced budget (except in extreme emergency) is the only way to
ensure America’s financial stability. When government
spending is slashed, large tax cuts will be due back to the people
to spend on their families and their own well-being rather than on
congressmen’s pet projects.
Concerning security, Libertarians realize eternal vigilance is
not only necessary against those who plan for a repeat of 9/11 but
also against those who would take away our freedoms for the false
promise of greater security. The national government’s most
important job is to protect citizens from foreign enemies, but this
doesn’t need to come at the expense of civil liberties.
Freedom and security are not irreconcilable ends.
Many of the world’s most dangerous terrorist regimes would
have much less power were it not for previous intervention from the
United States. For years during and after the Cold War, the United
States gave money and weapons to the Taliban ““ essentially
putting into power the very group that would later help murder
3,000 U.S. citizens ““ simply because the Taliban opposed the
Soviet Union at one time.
Saddam Hussein also received money and weapons from the United
States because he opposed Iran, another American enemy. We must end
this dangerous foreign intervention and aid to pseudo-allies; we
must instead use America’s military and tax dollars only to
defend America, rather than to meddle in international
politics.
At home, workers should be allowed to invest in their retirement
in the way that works best for them rather than being forced to
fund a Social Security system that yields low returns. By
dismantling the current mandatory form of Social Security over
time, workers will be able to invest in tax-free retirement
accounts instead.
To fix the high costs of health care, it is often proposed (and
is up for a vote as Proposition 72) that employers be required to
provide health coverage to their employees. Though that sounds
nice, it drastically increases the cost of hiring an employee.
When employee costs go up, so do employee layoffs. Though
employers should be able to offer health coverage as part of a
salary if they so choose, the market should be left to price it for
the rest of the country. Getting government out of the health care
business and lowering government regulation would let the market
lower the cost of providing health care.
But even if you agree with Libertarians, isn’t your
third-party vote still wasted?
Believers in the myth of the wasted third-party vote fail to
realize the impact of the electoral college ““ an impact that
should have been made clear after “Indecision 2000.”
The president is not elected directly by the people, but instead by
the electoral college, with each state getting a certain number of
votes.
For instance, since California’s 55 electoral votes will
certainly go to Sen. John Kerry, it could be said that any
Californian who votes for a candidate other than Kerry is
essentially “wasting his vote.”
Regardless of what state you live in, the only truly wasted
votes are the ones that are made against the voter’s
conscience or are cast without enough information.
Whenever a third-party candidate gets a vote, his credibility
and the credibility of his party are increased. Giving credibility
to a party that supports your beliefs never “wastes”
your vote. On the contrary, it uses it in the best possible
way.
Hurst is a first-year chemical engineering student.