You Knew That” By Chuck McGlawn

Left means more government. Right means less government

All the information to verify the subtitle/statement is already in your knowledge base. All you have to do is to put the right pieces of your knowledge together. I think we all know that if the temperature variation on the planet Earth were only three degrees. Night or day, summer or winter, polar or equatorial the temperature only varies three degrees. Then no one would have bothered to invent a thermometer. You knew that. Additionally, if every woman on the planet were “drop dead gorgeous”, Hollywood would never have made the movie "10". You knew that. .And if it is as the "confused nicks" say that Communism and Socialism is authoritarianism on the left and Fascism is the authoritarianism on the right, no one would have ever concocted a left/right political spectrum in the first place, and David Nolan would have had nothing to come along and improve upon, You knew that.

Let us tap into that knowledge base of yours. Almost everyone knows that Communism and Socialism is on the left. In today’s vernacular it is a given. If you were one of the few that disagrees with that, any more reading of this article would be a waste of your time. However, if you are among the confused that call yourself a "left" libertarian, you need to continue.

Communism, Socialism, designated “Left” by Marx are systems where the government makes all the decisions for individuals and business. As they own or control the major means of production. That is they own/control the Land (the country) they own/control the labor (the people) and they own/control the capital (the money and everything needed to make more money). Nazism and Fascism so called by Hitler and Mussolini are the same, and have virtually the same powers. All of these systems are 100% government of the extreme left. You knew that. The West added Totalitarianism.

When 100% government is the extreme left end and let us makes it the starting point of a political spectrum, then 0% government or anarchy would be the exact opposite or the right end of that political spectrum. You knew that.

There are four names by which overlapping segments of the Libertarian movement identify themselves. You may not be able to recall any of the names on your own. But when I list them, you are going to say that, " I knew that." Three of the four are Miniarchist, anarco-capitalism and Anarchy. Please note each of these words contain the word "arch". Arch is the Greek word that means rule.

I’ll bet you know the meanings of the three names that Libertarians use to identify themselves. Miniarchist would be those Libertarians that believe in the least possible amount of government or rule. You knew that. Anarco-capitalist would be those Libertarians that believe government should have no say in the capitalist or free market system. You knew that. Lastly, the anarchy wing of libertarianism would be those that believe there should be no rule or no government at all. You knew that.

I am not going to remind you of the fourth name. You are going to have to think* of that one yourself. Perhaps if we did a little more thinking we would never swallow that the right is somehow fascist or authoritarian.
I want to take it one more step. If Government is the enemy of liberty or libertarian, then liberty or libertarian would be all about reducing government. I am going to say it. If total government is 100% government, and it is on the left. Then reductions of government are increases in liberty and a move away from the left towards what? Towards the right. You knew that. Now I am not suggesting that a move all the way to the right is my goal. At this stage of my understanding, I cannot completely embrace anarchy. Additionally, I do not think the American people could even think that a system of “no Government” is viable

Let’s tap a little deeper into your knowledge base. There are two very compelling reasons why we need to recapture and utilize the Left/Right Political Spectrum. The first is, candidate handlers and issue promoters are getting more and more adept at their craft. It becomes more and more difficult to cut through their spin to get to the real candidate or the real issue. Therefore, their tactics constantly take in the uninformed. Even the informed need a roadmap to direct them on their course. Just look around, the Liberty Movement is more split today then it has ever been in its history. The second reason to recapture the Left/Right (more government/less government) political spectrum is to use it as a roadmap. It is simple enough for all to understand. The direction signs leading to the goals that we desire are clear enough for anyone to understand regardless of the depths of their knowledge. The Left/Right Political Spectrum shortens the learning curve so that even the newly initiated advocate of Liberty can hit the ground running, You knew that
*Here is your Challenge: WHAT IS THE FOURTH WORD/PHRASE TO WHICH LIBERTARIANS REFER TO THEMSELVES THAT SAYS "RIGHT (or less government) AND LIBERTY ARE CONNECTED" Send your answers to Chuckest@aol.com