1. In your opinion, could you describe what it
means to be a libertarian?
The Libertarian philosophy is based on individual
rights and personal
responsibility. Rights are responsibilities are
different aspects of the
same concept, much like opposite sides of the same
coin. My right to keep
and bear arms requires that I assume the
responsibility of not injuring
anyone with my firearm. Being Libertarian also
means adhering to the
non-aggression principle in our everyday
lives. Libertarians do not
tolerate the initiation of force, however we do
support the use of force in
self defense. Libertarians strive to be an example
to those around us, and
we actively oppose the initiation of force by
others, helping to protect
those who are unable to protect themselves.
Protecting the rights of others
is a necessary step towards ensuring our own.
2. You have declared state-funded public school
systems to be
unconstitutional. How is this possible and what
plans do you have for
improving education for America's children?
The Department of Education is unconstitutional
simply because there is no
explicit reference to education in the
Constitution. Furthermore, the First
Amendment protects our freedom of expression which
implies a diversity of
ideas. When the state or federal government
controls the education of all
of our children, they have the dangerous and
illegitimate monopoly to
control and influence the thought process of our
citizens. The Department
of Health Education and Welfare was created in
1953 at a time when American
students placed number one in math and science
worldwide. Now, after fifty
years of government control of schools, we spend
ten times as much per
student, and American students now finish
twenty-first in math and science
compared to other countries. Even if the
Department of Education was
Constitutional (which it is not), the department
should be eliminated due
to incompetence.
My plans for improving America's education system
would be to privatize the
entire system, eliminating government control at
any level. Property taxes
would no longer be used to fund the education of
others. Each school would
operate as an independent business, and parents
would be allowed to send
their children to any school they choose. Parents
would naturally send
their children to the best school they could
afford, making those schools
very profitable and successful. Bad schools would
be forced to improve or
they would go out of business because they were
unable to operate at a
profit. Equally important is the fact that
competition between schools
would make education more affordable, allowing
children from poorer
families to have a better chance of improving
their lives.
I would also provide incentives for parents to
home school whenever
possible, not only raising academic standards, but
strengthening the bonds
that hold families together. The top three
children in the last national
spelling bee were home schooled, as were the first
place winner in the last
four competitions. Home schooled children clearly
have an advantage over
kids who are subjected to public school. As the
first true "education
president", I would offer to be a guest teacher
(for no cost) at schools
all across the nation. Children would realize that
it's "cool" to be smart.
3. The legalization of marijuana and other drugs,
you suggest, would
actually help make streets safer. As President,
how would you convince more
conservative Americans that such substances are
not a harmful element to
society?
It is my personal opinion (supported by volumes of
scientific data) that
cigarettes are harmful to your health, however it
is not my responsibility
to impose that opinion on those who choose to
smoke. It is also my opinion
that drugs are harmful to your health, however the
government has no
authority to impose the will of the majority on
individuals who choose to
use drugs. People have a right to smoke or ingest
anything they choose,
however they also assume the responsibility for
their actions. If they
injure themselves, they alone are responsible. If
they injure someone else
while under the influence of drugs, then society
should hold them
accountable, the same way we would hold someone
accountable if they were
not using drugs.
Most people fail to realize that the war on drugs
actually increases the
use of drugs in this country - exactly the
opposite of what it is intended
to do. It does this by creating a lucrative black
market that generates
huge profits for very little effort. In order to
reduce the use of drugs,
we have to reduce their availability. In order to
reduce their
availability we have to make drugs less
profitable. Legalizing (or
"decriminalizing") drugs would remove the huge
profit incentive for
smuggling drugs, and the availability of drugs
would decrease by many
factors of ten.
Libertarians are not in favor of drug use, however
we are adamantly opposed
to the abuse of government power and the flagrant
violation of individual rights that results from the war on drugs. A
fundamental principle of the
Constitution is the protection of private
property. The drug war as
created a policy known as "asset forfeiture",
meaning that government
agencies can confiscate property merely suspected
of being involved in a
drug crime. Those agencies can then sell that
property at ten percent of
its market value, keeping the money as
revenue. This policy promotes
government corruption by making it profitable to
confiscate property
without an indictment. Libertarians therefore
believe that the war against
drugs causes more damage than the drugs
themselves.
4. One of the issues of which you are most
passionate is gun control. You
have suggested that it is unconstitutional, and
was the sole reason why you
moved from California. As President, how would you
convince states with
strong gun control laws, like California, to
remove such legislation from
the books?
(Note: Gun control was my primary reason for
leaving California, but not the only reason.) In the Marbury .vs. Madison
decision of 1805, the
Supreme Court announced that "any law repugnant to
the Constitution is null
and void". Therefore 20,000+ gun laws in this
country are "repugnant to
the Constitution" because they pretend to place
limitations on a person's
right to defend themselves. At the same time that
police agencies deprive
us of the right to defend ourselves, they
simultaneously insist that they
are not capable of, and have no responsibility to,
protect us. If these
two assumptions are true, then individuals are
legally required to remain
innocent victims - thus negating the very purpose
of any organized government.
My first step would be to write an executive order
to all federal police
agencies (eg. ATF) announcing that the violation
of anyone's Second
Amendment rights would result in termination of
their position followed by
prosecution of the offense. I would extend this
threat as far as
permissible to state agencies, as well. I would
explain that while
citizens have a right to life, they also have a
personal responsibility to
protect that life by whatever means they feel is
appropriate. I would wear
and display my own handgun during every State of
the Union address,
demonstrating that gun ownership does not imply
criminal activity. Rights
cannot be granted by the government. The
government cannot limit the right
to keep and bear arms any more than it can limit a
person's right to
exercise their religion.
5. Of the following international issues, which
one do you think has not
received enough attention and what would you do if
elected to address it:
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, HIV/AIDS in Africa,
SARS, or international
terrorism?
International terrorism has probably received the
most attention, however
most of that attention has been misleading
propaganda. Since the
Libertarian philosophy advocates non-aggression on
an individual level, it
necessarily advocates non-aggression at a national
level as
well. Therefore, I would put an end to decades of
imperialistic empire
building and interference in the affairs of other
countries. That is
precisely what has led us into a situation where
most foreign governments
feel threatened by, or are openly hostile to, the
United States. The
solution to the problem is to follow the advice
that George Washington
expressed in his farewell address, which was to
establish economic ties
with all nations, and "entangling alliances" with
none. I would publicly
apologize to the rest of the world for our
interference in their lives, and
I would begin a rapid recall of our troops from
around the world. Other
countries will be less likely to attack us when we
are trading goods that
are necessary for their survival. The United
States would show no
favoritism to any country, including
Israel. Private citizens would be
free to donate as much money to these causes as
they want, but any taxes
collected by the United States would be spent
here. The billions (or
trillions) of dollars spent on foreign aid would
come to a halt. This will
undoubtedly create some negative press from those
countries that have
become dependent on the generosity of Congress,
however these complaints
are completely unjustified and would only be
temporary, anyway.
6. In order to give the readers of
PurePolitics.com a more intimate view of
the candidates running in the 2004 Presidential
election, we like to ask
one question whose subject matter is irrelevant to
the platform
issues. Michael Badnarik, what is your favorite
flavor of ice cream?
If I had to pick only one, it would be Ben and
Jerry's "Chunky Monkey" ice
cream. I love the banana ice cream filled with
huge chunks of chocolate and
walnuts. However, I like several other flavors,
too, which reflects my
multi-faceted personality. I think one of the
greatest characteristics of
the Americans - as evidenced by the wide range of
market choices we have -
is our diversity and willingness to try new
things. It just wouldn't be
America if we only had one choice of peanut
butter. (Why, then, do we
settle for one choice when it comes to government
schools?)
The Badnarik Campaign
P.O. Box 841
Buda, Texas
[Postal Zone 78610]
Website
Campaign Email Address:
Michael Badnarik badnarik@badnarik.org
Election
2004