J. Timothy King

You might be a Democrat if you believe that a school that can’t teach kids to read is qualified to teach them about sex.

You might be a Republican if you believe that this same school is qualified to teach them about God.

But you’ll become a Libertarian when you realize that only government monopoly schools have trouble teaching kids to read.

You might be a Democrat if you think tobacco smoke is more dangerous than AIDS.

You might be a Republican if you think marijuana smoke is more dangerous than tobacco.

But you’ll become a Libertarian when you realize that government agents are more dangerous than all of these put together.

You might be a Democrat if you believe guns cause crime but criminals don’t.

You might be a Republican if you believe new gun laws are bad but bad gun laws should be enforced.

But you’ll become a Libertarian when you learn of the thousands of Americans who are assaulted, raped, and murdered every year because their government has taken away their Right of Self-defense.

You might be a Democrat if you believe government welfare helps the poor.

You might be a Republican if you believe corporate subsidies bring economic prosperity.

But you’ll become a Libertarian when you notice all the political interests lining up for tax-funded hand-outs up on Capitol Hill.

You might be a Democrat if you believe a person has a right to sell porn, but not tobacco.

You might be a Republican if you believe a person has a right to choose his own employees, but not his own sexual orientation.

But you’ll become a Libertarian when they strike a bipartisan deal to outlaw all these things.

You might be a Democrat if you think the military starts more wars than politicians do.

You might be a Republican if you think Democrats start more wars than foreign meddling.

But you’ll become a Libertarian when your own son or daughter enlists.

You might be a Democrat if you believe taxes are good for America.

You might be a Republican if you believe public debt is.

But you’ll become a Libertarian when you realize that it really doesn’t matter how you pay the salaries of all those government bureaucrats.

You might be a Democrat if you believe that objective standards are racist but racial quotas are not.

You might be a Republican if you think Democrats are full of themselves but families and churches couldn’t make it without your help.

But you’ll become a Libertarian when you decide that politicians don’t actually know what they’re talking about and don’t really care.

You might be a Democrat if you think taxes are too low but prices are too high.

You might be a Republican if you think taxes are too high but government spending is too low.

But you’ll become a Libertarian when you conclude that prices are too high because taxes and government spending are also too high.

You might be a Democrat if you believe culture didn’t exist before the NEA.

You might be a Republican if you believe morality didn’t exist before the DEA.

But you’ll become a Libertarian when you wish that you could forget them both.

You might be a Democrat if you believe gun owners are evil for exercising their rights under the Constitution, while pornographers are good for exercising their rights under the Constitution.

You might be a Republican if you believe the ACLU is bad because it ignores parts of the Constitution, while the Christian Coalition is good because it ignores parts of the Constitution.

But you’ll become a Libertarian when it becomes clear that today’s Constitution is merely a convenient seive that politicians use to bash each other over the head with.

You might be a Democrat if you believe socialism hasn’t worked anywhere it’s been tried only because the right people weren’t in charge.

You might be a Republican if you believe authoritarianism hasn’t worked anywhere it’s been tried only because the right people weren’t in charge.

But you’ll become a Libertarian when you discover that liberty does work, everywhere it’s been tried, for those who are bold enough to try it.