Some libertarians, including our libertarian third president, Thomas Jefferson, http://en.wikipedia.or...homas_Jefferson , the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, believe, like most of the Founding Fathers, that rights come from God and that the sole purpose of government, to the extent which it exists, is to protect the lives, liberty and property of the people.I agree.

        Other libertarians are non-theists, mostly adherents of Objectivism http://en.wikipedia.or...ivism_(Ayn_Rand) and believe that rights are inherent in our nature as rational beings. All libertarians oppose the initiation of force or the of fraud to cause political or social change. All members of the Libertarian Party sign this pledge:

 

        I certify that I do not advocate the initiation of force to achieve political or social goals.  

        A minority of libertarians cherish the ideal of a society without government. An example of those who pursue this ideal is The Advocates for Self Government, www.theadvocates.org. Unfortunately, history provides few if any successful examples of attaining this goal. Therefore, I oppose anarchy, primarily because it always results in more government. If this problem could be overcome, I would reassess my position.

 

       THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY 

        The Libertarian Party was founded in 1971 by David Nolan and several other Libertarian patriots in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1971 after Republican president Richard Nixon revealed that he was a Keynesian socialist by imposing wage and price controls and ceasing to pay foreigners gold for their dollars, just as Franklin Roosevelt had violated the federal government's identical contract with Americans in 1933.

        It is the largest alternate party in the U.S. with 200,000 members and approximately 600 office holders.

        In 1972, presidential candidate John Hospers received an electoral vote from Roger McBride who was nominated as the LP's 1976 presidential standard bearer. Despite harshly restrictive ballot access laws, the LP was on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia in 1980, when Ed Clark won almost one percent of the vote (the year I joined the Libertarian Party), 1992 and 1996, a record for alternate parties. Since 1988, when Congressman Ron Paul was the Libertarian candidate for president, the party has never been on the ballot in less than 46 states.

For more information about the Libertarian Party of the United States and the Libertarian Party of Ohio see www.lp.org and www.lpo.org.

 

    HERE IS THE STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY PLATFORM.

    OUR PRINCIPLES HAVE REMAINED UNCHANGED SINCE 1971.

 

We, the members of the Libertarian Party, challenge the cult of the omnipotent state and defend the rights of the individual.We hold that all individuals have the right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives, and have the right to live in whatever manner they choose, so long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal right of others to live in whatever manner they choose.Governments throughout history have regularly operated on the opposite principle, that the State has the right to dispose of the lives of individuals and the fruits of their labor. Even within the United States, all political parties other than our own grant to government the right to regulate the lives of individuals and seize the fruits of their labor without their consent.

We, on the contrary, deny the right of any government to do these things, and hold that where governments exist, they must not violate the rights of any individual: namely, (1) the right to life -- accordingly we support the prohibition of the initiation of physical force against others; (2) the right to liberty of speech and action -- accordingly we oppose all attempts by government to abridge the freedom of speech and press, as well as government censorship in any form; and (3) the right to property -- accordingly we oppose all government interference with private property, such as confiscation, nationalization, and eminent domain, and support the prohibition of robbery, trespass, fraud, and misrepresentation.