Libertarianism would create a very different America for all of us

My closest friend is a big believer in Libertarianism.

He's one of those people who thinks government is in itself a bad thing and should be kept as small as possible to limit its interference in people's lives.

"As Libertarians, we seek a world of liberty; a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives and no one is forced to sacrifice his or her values for the benefit of others."

Despite the typo ...

That's the opening sentence of the Libertarian Party platform, a platform for a form of government that has never existed anywhere in the modern world.

That's the catch. Libertarianism is the government equivalent of Dungeons & Dragons, a fantasyland in which everyone treats everyone else with respect and they all act in their own best interests.

You'll have to forgive my theft from Hemingway in responding to someone gushing about how great a Libertarian country would be.

"Isn't it pretty to think so?"

Anytime you get outside the mainstream of political systems, you find systems that to work have to be populated by like-minded people who behave morally.

In a pure Libertarian society, anything that could be done privately instead of by government would be left to the private sector. People would pay only for the services they needed. If they didn't have children, they wouldn't pay for the schools.

If Libertarianism were really to be tried as a form of government, it would almost have to be a place in which a new society was starting from scratch.

Otherwise, the financial differences between the citizens would only grow without a government to regulate commerce.

Most of the proposals made by conservatives would further reduce the role of the government and the amount of taxes people would pay.

And of course, the government would be reduced most in the areas where help is provided to people who really need it.

In fact, the hardcore types like Rep. Paul Ryan would like to eliminate practically everything the federal government does outside of national defense.

The strangest part of it all is that so many of the anti-government types are also conservative Christians. The same people who despise Darwin's theory of evolution seem to have fallen in love with Social Darwinism.

Survival of the fittest.

I have never understood why so many people think that sort of thing is the way America should be.

I certainly don't.