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Libertarian sees virtue in risk-taking, disaster help

But this doesn't mean that it's government's job

 by Sheri Conover Sharlow

Libertarian Writers' Bureau

There are two things going on that ought to fire up my Libertarian ire, but I just can't get riled.

Libertarians believe that government has the reverse Midas touch. Everything government touches turns to a steaming, stinky garbage heap, and its cronies have skimmed off any recyclables and compost, which they will force all of us to buy whether or not we want them.

That's because power gives people the opportunities to take from the unwilling and give to the all-too-willing, whether it's money or advantage, position or prestige.

Libertarians oppose situational ethics because understandable exceptions eventually turn to graft. Still, I can't get angry about Marion's ice rink and U.S. military craft helping in the tsunami region.

Marion's mayor is former Olympic skater Wayne Seybold. He's also my former neighbor. My husband and I spent a number of winters with Wayne --I can't call him Seybold -- digging snow from our narrow, hard-to-plow street. Nice guy just doesn't do him justice. He does what it takes, then keeps going.

This is great, because Marion needs an outrageous effort. We've watched one plant after another close, including what had been our largest employer. Indianapolis Star cartoonist Gary Varvel said the city has entered a depression. He's probably right.

Anyway, Wayne and his sister and skating partner, Kim, have had a business that sets up outdoor ice rinks. This year, there's one in Marion's biggest city park.

I can't get mad enough to look into how much money it's clearing or whether he gets a cut, which I doubt.

First, it's a gamble whether it will break even. I wouldn't bet either way.

Second, no competitor is beating down the doors to do this.

Third, there would be no ice rink in Matter Park if Wayne and Kim weren't from Marion and if they were not adamant about thanking the community that helped them when they exhausted their training funds.

And lastly, Marion needs a bright spot. The rink offers something nice to do, plus it shows Marion's pluck. Wayne and Kim took a chance on a community that many people have written off.

See? No venom.

Same goes for sending U.S. military patrol planes, helicopters and ships to deliver aid, plus a 1,000 bed hospital ship to offer space to treat a handful of about 500,000 people injured in the tsunami.

As a Libertarian, I strongly oppose supposed peacekeeping. (They're not peacekeepers. They're soldiers. And they're big targets, not only for weapons' fire, but to confirm rumors that Americans are imperialistic goons bent on forcing the world to run our way.)

But this is not peacekeeping. And this disaster is a very different, very rare event. With 4,000-5,000 Americans missing, it's quite likely that more Americans will have perished in this disaster than the total number of people who were massacred on September 11.

We'll never know the tsunami death toll, but current estimates say about 150,000 people. That doesn't include the additional 50,000 who could die from epidemics caused by the disaster.

To put this into perspective, imagine a tornado from nowhere initially killed every person in South Bend and Kokomo, injured everyone in Fort Wayne, Evansville, Bloomington and Gary, then in the following weeks killed everyone in Elkhart.

I can't go so far as to approve of government aid. That's not government's job. (I haven't totally lost my touch.)

However, putting former presidents George Bush I and Bill Clinton in charge of a private shakedown is inspired. Clinton will not rest, no matter what his doctors say, until he's exceeded his own high expectations for fund-raising. Bush I doesn't have Clinton's money-making prowess, but this cause suits him and he will shine. Besides, he can extract money from Republicans who won't give to Clinton.

OK, that's a Libertarian angle, too. We have zero problems with private aid, given freely.

Americans donate money and time at a rate that far exceeds the rest of the world -- the same people who say we aren't doing our share. For example, Philanthropy magazine reports that American contributions average seven to eight times more than gifts from German or French donors. Also, private donations far outpace government giving. A 2003 report by the U.S. Agency for International Development shows the U.S. government only gave 18 percent of the $56 billion that Americans gave to developing nations in 2000.

The key is that Americans choose to give their own money.

So please, fellow Libertarians, forgive me for going soft. I promise to be cutthroat when the General Assembly returns to its old tricks.

http://www.writersbureau.org

Sheri Conover Sharlow is a verteran news reporter and editor, chair of the Libertarian Party of Grant County (Marion) and Communicatons Director of the Libertarian Party of Indiana.

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