Q:Liberal Capitalist? How is the Liberal Capitalist Party different from the Democrats?

A:

History has conclusively demonstrated that collectivization fails in its primary purpose of alleviating the suffering of the poor, and creating social justice. On the contrary, it accomplishes the exact opposite, impoverishing its adherents and enabling the creation of the most oppressive and murderous regimes in world history. The half measures and partial implementations of collectivist policies that the Democrats reflexively propose thus predictably result in half measures of dysfunction wherever they are applied to the American economy. (Is anyone surprised that the most unstable and mismanaged industries in the American economy - medicine, insurance, energy production, telecommunications, et cetera - are also the most governmentally-regulated?) In rejecting collectivism, Liberal Capitalists also reject its methods, and call for the proactive and determined deconstruction of the many counterproductive policies and institutions that continue to plague the post-collectivist world economy. Cato Institute analyst and author Brink Lindsey details some of the costs of collectivism's legacy in his book Against the Dead Hand. The replacement of these "zombie" legal structures with functional, wealth-creating policies is a key liberal capitalist goal.

As collectivism has dominated the imagination of the left to varying degrees for much of the last century,  most of our other disagreements with the Democratic Party are tangential in some way to this fundamental difference of principle. One of these disagreements is belief in the possibility of Utopia (or Worker's Paradise). Unlike the Democrats, Liberal Capitalists accept the limits of human knowledge and ability.  We understand that it is simply not within the power of man, regardless of any level of organization or cooperation, to eliminate all unfairness and suffering from life. As this is not possible, we do not believe that government should waste the public's time and money trying to solve every problem we encounter, thereby occluding other possible, nongovernmental or at least more local solutions. The great Stoic philosopher Epictitus taught that “when we attempt to play a role that is beyond our power, we fail twice - once in that role, and again by neglecting the role we might have played with success”. Liberal Capitalists reaffirm the principle that the best person to attend to your business and care for your needs is you. We desire to open an all-inclusive political conversation with the American public on the proper scope and limits of government in the modern world, and then wish to actively reduce government to within these limits. As a general rule, we consider government action to be the last, worst tool to solve any problem, to be sadly deployed only after all other solutions have been tried and have failed.

Another area where collectivism has had an adverse impact on our society is in the conception and application of the right of property. A century of relentless attacks by leftist academics have seriously weakened property rights in America and throughout the world. The mere notion of a right, not an unjust privilege or historical happenstance, but an actual legal right to personal property seems wrongheaded, or even tawdry or greedy to many on the left. Yet the secure legal right to property is not only critical to the success of any capitalist endeavor, it is fundamental to our Constitution and our American way of life. Liberal Capitalists are fully aware of the importance of property rights to America's success, and will seek to strengthen this right, primarily by eliminating those obsolete programs and policies which reduce its scope or presume its irrelevence. We will also shoulder the burden of refuting the arguments of free-market critics, and re-explaining the critical importance of secure property rights to the American public.

In addition to maligning and minimizing the right to property, leftist politicians have also profited by demonizing Corporate America. They rail against corporate greed and impose hefty taxes, knowing full well that the only way for corporations to pay such duties is to raise prices - a hidden and terribly regressive tax on the poor. They also interfere with legitimate business practices to score political points, milk constituent corporations for donations (and sometimes trade access), force businesses to undertake the expense and liabilty of policing their customers without training or compensation, regulate every aspect of business with “feel good” legislation based on theories rather than market realities, and all while insulting them on the evening news.

Liberal Capitalists recognize that, like any other form of power, capitalism can and has been abused by the untrustworthy. The horrible working conditions, child labor and slave wages that characterized the dawn of the Industrial Age are documented facts, and the improvement in these areas that we see today is in good measure an accomplishment of the left (for which they are to be commended). Noting these historical facts the Liberal Capitalist concludes that the only trustworthy, functional market is a secure and well regulated market. But our current marketplace is rather overregulated, or badly regulated based on half implementations of now-discredited collectivist principles. And everywhere it is unjustly distrusted and maligned. There will always be the occasional bad actor. The need for continuous policing of the public square is real. But the odd Enron aside, Corporate America is a fairly trustworthy place, providing millions of Americans with safe, well compensated jobs, as well as countless innovative products. They generally listen to their customers, react to emerging American values (such as environmental or worker safety concerns), find solutions to many of our problems, and produce goods and services with astonishing efficiency.  As Liberal Capitalists, we recognize that our nation’s advance is fueled by Corporate America, and that rational regulation based on proven market principles is necessary to progress. We also believe that most businesspeople are honest, hardworking and trustworthy people, and that therefore the associations which they create and oversee are generally trustworthy as well.

Another unhappy legacy of the collectivist era is the ugly palette of cheats, tricks and manipulative tactics that have proliferated throughout the landscape of American politics. This ethical race to the bottom has been driven primarily by increasing leftist frustration at their enduring failure to advance their adgenda at the ballot box. Americans stubbornly refuse to support collectivist projects that the many on the left sincerly believe are in the country’s best interests. This has given rise to ever-increasing cynicism and wide belief in a vast polity of easily-manipulated dolts, deluded by hucksters into acting against their own welfare. To rescue these poor rubes, true believers in the collectivist cause raise their fist and cry “by any means necessary!” And so the Democrats have constantly sought other, nondemocratic ways of advancing their agenda, using the courts, media, academia, and charitable institutions, as well as underhanded legislative tactics such as hiddden taxes, gerrymandering, and other forms of gamesmanship. Alarmed by this relentless, all-out attack, and butressed by a few true beliefs of their own, Republicans have learned all of these dirty tricks, and have developed a few new ones. The result is the toxic, integrity-starved political climate that we see before us today. To attempt to remedy this, Liberal Capitalists choose to return to trust in  the wisdom and integrity of our countrymen. We will deal openly, in good faith and challenge others to do likewise. We will attempt to persuade rather than manipulate, and will try to win and lose with grace. There is only one way for us to return to civility, and that is to start being civil again. We will begin.

Because of course there are many areas where the Liberal Capitalists and the Democrats agree. We stand together on race, gender and religious equality, the fundamental fairness of gay marriage, legal access to abortion, medical marijuana initiatives, and the ongoing protection of minorities from persecution by the majority. We propose that most of these thorny issues be subjected to the rational compromises of federalism, in the interest of peaceful co-existance and healthy legal experimentation. We look forward to working with committed Democrats on these sorts of issues. In other areas, however, such as those described above, we are prepared to offer sharp criticisms and propose alternate solutions.