Why the Libertarian Party Is Not a Viable Alternative

First of, let me say that Governor Gary Johnson is a better candidate than Mitt Romney. Gary Johnson is credible, experienced, and willing to discuss the ideas that Obama and Romney aren't - like marijuana legalization and education reform. However, the Libertarian party simply does not represent what Americans are missing in the Republican party.

This isn't to say that there aren't wide swaths of the Libertarian platform that are greatly superior to the Republican platform. Chief among these is the respect for the civil liberties of Americans and reigning in the size of government and the military industrial complex.

However, there are also major portions of the Libertarian platform that aren't in agreement with what the American people are looking for when they turn away from the Republicans. Chief among these are the issues of trade and immigration.

The Democratic and Republican parties want amnesty and open borders. Their basis for this position is both to provide cheap labor for the economy, and to win favor with voting blocks now and in the future. When the American people look for another alternative, what they are looking for is someone who will enforce valid US laws without regard to what will benefit the party in the future. Unfortunately, one of the pillars of the Libertarian party is the freedom of people to enter and leave this country to find work. Libertarians don't view US immigration laws as consistent with the liberty of all people and best way to allow for the market to settle.

The second problem with the Libertarian party is their strong support for "Free Trade" agreements and principles. While no one can disagree with these principles in theory, the simple truth is that forcing Americans to "compete" with what is essentually slave labor in China and other places if not a free market. Free trade principles as they are employed today are not a matter of conservatism, liberalism, or libertarianism, but rather an admition that the US lacks the economic power to promote freedom of all people.

It is equally insane to force the American people to compete against citizens of other nations who are allowed to enter the country and then undercut the labor market here and send their earnings back home. That isn't a free market, it's feudalism. In this system, people are quickly divided into laborers and the educated. The large number of manual laborers all compete for dwindling jobs while the better educated are able to capitalize on this competition. 

Protecting the US workers from labor competition here and overseas is not government intervention into the "free market." It is the use of government to ensure that all those that enter the market are free. The Libertarian party does not represent the return to sane policy making that Americans need for the future.