Customer Reviews

A New Beginning

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The Libertarians just don't ever seem to get any respect. Even though they've managed to survive and grow (albiet slowly) over the past 30 years (as opposed to the late Reform Party) and they've also managed to show a consistent strength without resorting to continually renominating the same celebrity candidate (as opposed to the Greens), many political commentators tend to dismiss America's largest third party as "a bunch of Republicans who want to get stoned." The fact of the matter is that, even as the Libertarians have been ridiculed, many of their ideas have been adopted into the so-called political "mainstream." Even their most controversial stand -- the legalization of drugs -- has become more and more acceptable with each passing year. And, compared to most other third party candidates, the Libertarians have been able to consitently nominate credible candidates for the office of presidency -- such as Ron Paul in 1988 and especially Ed Clark in 1980. Polling over a million votes, Clark was by far the Libertarians most succesful presidential candidate and his campaign is reponsible for bringing several previously frustrated voters into his party's camp. Clark wrote a New Beginning specifically for the 1980 campaign and, despite being twenty years old, it remains a valuable introduction to the beliefs and philosophy behind the Libertarian Party. Writing in clear, level-headed prose, Clark explains why the Libertarians believe that government has become too intrusive in American life, why the War on Drugs is a waste of taxpayer money that does more harm than good, and -- perhaps most importantly -- demolishes the myth that the Libertarians are a bunch of a anti-government flakes. Instead, Clark details policies that, if radical, also tend to make a lot more sense than the bloated government gridlock perpatrated by the mainstream political establishment over the past few decades. While I don't agree with the entire platform (in specific, the isolationist bent of some Libertarians tends to leave me a bit alienated), its still a well-written polemic that deserves every voter's consideration.