A Libertarian legacy

''Democratic and Republican politicians believe Americans are dysfunctional children who need government to act as their parents," Browne wrote on his website. ''Both parties seek to impose their values and recognize no limits on their authority."

It's hard to argue against this description. The Republican Party has long claimed to be the party of small government, and in the 1980s Ronald Reagan made strides in lessening the tax burden on Americans and deregulating the economy. But Reagan's Republican coalition included social conservatives whose agenda was to regulate personal morality.

Cathy Young

I had no problem with Browne's position on the following:

Browne's vision of minimal government allowed for no state role in environmental protection, health and safety regulations, or building and maintaining highways. His platform included immediate repeal of the federal income tax and dismantling of Social Security.

My problems with Browne were his insistence on complete isolationism and his tendencies toward anarchism as well as his positions on abortion and euthanasia. He also, as Ms. Young points out, advocated a return to libertarian ideals mandated by authoritarian control, something of an oxymoron. And finally, Browne's political ideal did not allow for any evolutionary or adaptive processes in returning us to the Jeffersonian model. In the highly unlikely event that he had achieved his goal, the result would have been utter chaos. It has taken us 140 years to slide down the slope of authoritarian socialism as far as we have. Browne's cure was just as likely to kill the patient.