Dallas Libertarian columnist: 'maximize freedom, minimize coercion'
Wednesday, September 16, 2009 at 5:39PM We came upon a column about America’s challenges with immigration and the border, and we were intrigued by the libertarian approach. Since the new healthcare proposal Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) summarized on Wednesday includes a mandate for individuals to carry health insurance, we thought it timely to interview someone whose politics revolve around the core ideal of freedom. Garry Reed writes the Dallas Libertarian column for The Examiner media brand. Reed describes himself as “a longtime freewheeling freelance libertarian opinionizer.” With characteristic humor, Reed says, “The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, River Cities Reader and several assorted sordid websites are among my victims.” Reed says for his writing, the goals are fun & freedom. We wanted to learn more about his politics and his person; Reed agreed to a Q&A.
Garry Reed writes the Dallas Libertarian column for The Examiner.Q: In a recent column, you mentioned a maxim about libertarians: "[T]rying to get libertarians to agree on anything is like herding cats." But if someone asked you to define libertarianism in one sentence, what would you say?
A: I can do this one in only four words, "maximize freedom, minimize coercion." I know most conservative libertarians will say you're not a true libertarian unless you embrace much more than that, like laissez-faire capitalism and small government and minimal taxes, and left libertarians insist that the ultimate goal must be the withering away of the state leading to anarcho-capitalism. But I just want freedom and I don't much care about choosing a sub-position under that position. As long as the goal is clear I'm all in favor of taking every possible pathway to reach it. Like working within the system and working outside of it, pursuing sudden change in one area while working incrementally in another, or both rejecting and embracing alliances based on single issue causes depending on the situation. As long as the core principals are never breached, consistently maximizing freedom while minimizing coercion gets us to the libertarian society.
