"I don't see the love in Libertarians."

(Written journal style so please forgive the frequent use of "I".)

A friend of mine has made this comment several times recently. Given her POV, as she a certain family member tends to be an angry person, and many of the "libertarians" she knows are angry people this makes sense. On the other hand, there is another side to this.

In the past, I've described myself as borderline anarchist and borderline libertarian. For me, I refuse to be identified with a particular political party for number of reasons. Each time I witness the liberties we turn over to the federal government, it worries me. I wonder if our society has forgotten the lessons history has for us. Today, there are very few differences between the GOP and the DNC especially when the progressives of each side become involved.

For me, the ideal of the libertarian thought process is the most compatible with our Christian duty, because it encourages us to work together as a society. We cooperate as a community to accomplish missions instead of expecting the federal government to do it for us. Often, my friend mentions a family member she views as angry and mean. Someone who would not give to those less fortunate than himself. Sadly, these people exist, but my mind, I wonder why we expect the government to accomplish our Christian duty and impose that duty on others. Yes, everyone has to answer that trite question, "What would Jesus do?" but at the same time, as individuals we are given the Christian mandate to help the less fortunate. Christ said, "When you fed the less fortunate, you fed me" (paraphrased) not "When the government feeds the less fortunate, you feed me." Those who refuse to feed the poor will then answer for that failure and this will happen when we allow the federal government to take over charitable giving and caring.

Often, I hear reference made to socialized medicine and that it needs to be done the right way. Sadly, there has yet to be a socialized medicine administered in the proper way. Each time a society gives more power to the government to control, administer, and own property instead of individuals, the disparity between the haves and the have nots increases. The middle class disappears while the poorest of the poor continue to grow.

All of this said, there is a lot of anger on all sides of the political field be it libertarians, republicans, democrats, or any other "party" that exists. Terms of racism, persecution due to religious beliefs or the insinuation that one is weak minded to believe in religion, and many other accusations run a muck. The party that claims to advocate for the less fortunate also views the murder of unborn children is a "choice" instead of protecting the unborn and will quickly remove our individual rights. The party that claims to protect the unborn, often fails to do just that and it will also remove our individual rights (think patriot act and the tarp act for starters).

Catholic philosophy indicates that decisions should be made at the lowest level possible instead of having a macro-government in control of our lives. This is where religious liberty begins along with true respect for others. It leaves protection of our nation to the federal government and from there allows decisions to be made on a state, local, and individual level instead of a dictator like federal government.