Platform

PREAMBLE

We the Libertarian Party of Atlanta exercise our right of assembly under both the state and federal constitutions in order to promote our common ideals. It is our utmost desire to establish liberty as the central focus of political debate. All political power is derived from the consent of the governed and we must recognize the sovereignty of every individual. Our aim is to defend the rights of the ultimate minority -- the individual citizen.

We believe that most government action should arise at a local level instead of from a distant capital. A government can best fulfill its necessary functions when it is close to its citizens. With so much attention being focused on national politics, it becomes easy to forget that local government has far more influence on our daily lives. Our primary focus is to influence our local governments. In a free society, force can never be a means to achieve political or social goals. Liberty can only be preserved when individuals deal with each other as equals without force or fraud. Because government has the sole legitimate power to utilize force to achieve its objectives, we must ensure that proper safeguards are in place to limit its use. The growth of government beyond its necessary functions will only erode liberty and ultimately replace it with tyranny.

In the following pages we have set forth our basic principles and enumerated various policy stands derived from those principles. We must preserve the ideals which form each individual's birthright: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for ourselves and future generations. These specific policies are but signposts; however, our goal is a world set free in our lifetime, and it is to this end that we take these stands.

INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL ORDER

Crime
We believe that the primary purpose of government is to protect the life, liberty and property of individuals. Criminal laws should only include actions which violate the rights of others through force or fraud. As free individuals we voluntarily assume the risk of harm to ourself through our own actions. All crimes have a perpetrator and a victim. We do not believe in the myth of a crime without a victim. We support full restitution to victims from the criminal that did them harm. The right of due process, legal counsel, and a fair trial by a jury of one's peers must never be infringed. We oppose any attempt to abridge the principal that an individual is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. We do not support the violation or curtailment of constitutional rights in order to support the prosecution of those charged with a crime. We believe that a jury must decide both the facts of the case and the justice of the law.

Health Care
We believe that the relationship between a medical professional and their patient is sacrosanct and the government has absolutely no legitimate function within that relationship. The government should never endorse any plan that might seek to limit or dissuade a medical professional from providing the best possible care to their patient. The legitimate role of government can never be construed to include the doctor-patient relationship.

Individual Sovereignty
We believe that the the individual is the fundamental basis of a free society. All governments exist through the consent of the governed and that consent can only come from sovereign individuals. The government can never exercise a power that a sovereign individual does not grant.

Personal Relationships
We believe all individuals should be free to engage in any consensual private activity with any other person without government interference provided the activity does not violate the rights of any other person through force or fraud. The government's legitimate function is to protect individual rights, not provide any preference to any particular sexual orientation, preference or gender identity.

Property Rights
We believe that property rights are entitled to the same protection as all other human rights. The owners of property have the full right to control, use, dispose of or in any manner enjoy their property without interference, until and unless the exercise of their control infringes the valid rights of others. We oppose all legislative controls on wages, prices, rents, profits, production, and interest rates. We advocate the repeal of all laws banning or restricting the advertising of prices, products, or services. We oppose all violations of the right to private property, liberty of contract, and freedom of trade. The right to trade includes the right not to trade — for any reasons whatsoever. Where property, including land, has been taken from its rightful owners by the government or private action in violation of individual rights, we favor restitution to the rightful owners.

Right to Bear Arms
We believe that under the state and federal constitutions all citizens have the right to bear arms. In the early days of our state and country the settlers depended on their firearms for their survival and our founders realized that the government should be forbidden from taking their means of survival away. While today we do not live on a lawless frontier, the citizens still require the right to bear arms. Every individual has the right to defend their lives and property. Any governmental usurpation of the right to bear arms only makes the individual more beholden to the government for their basic needs.

DOMESTIC ILLS AND GOVERNMENT

Budget Priorities
We believe that the top budget priority of a government should be to fund its legitimate functions. In times of reduced tax revenue a local government should focus its resources on the protection of private property. Police and fire departments are a legitimate function of government that should only be curtailed in situations where every other discretionary item has been eliminated. However, every use of public funds should be closely monitored and audited—police and fire protection are no different. No part of government should be given a “blank check” simply because it serves a legitimate function.

Education
We believe that education, like any other service, is best provided by the free market, achieving greater quality and efficiency with more diversity of choice. Schools should be managed locally to achieve greater accountability and parental involvement. Recognizing that the education of children is inextricably linked to moral values, we would return authority to parents to determine the education of their children, without interference from government. In particular, parents should have control of all funds expended for their children's education.

Government Involvement in Private Enterprise
We believe that a government should only focus on its legitimate functions. A government's entry into private enterprise is an untenable situation that serves to drive out innovation. When a government becomes involved in a function better served by private enterprise it only provides inferior service at a higher cost. No legitimate enterprise can compete in a free market where a government can simply run them out of business.

Subsidies
We believe that government subsidies only act to show favoritism toward certain entities and only work to remove freedom and competition from the marketplace. All forms of government subsidy are an anathema to the ideal of free markets and should therefore be abolished.

Taxation
We believe that all individuals are entitled to the fruits of their labor. Government should only focus on fulfilling its legitimate functions and must always operate within its means. It is unconscionable to incur public debt which burdens future generations. Taxation should not be used by government as a means of social engineering or to punish otherwise consensual behavior of individuals. Taxation is one of the great powers of government and we must remain vigilant against excessive use of that power.

OMISSIONS

Our silence about any other particular government law, regulation, ordinance, directive, edict, control, regulatory agency, activity, or machination should not be construed to imply approval or disapproval.