I Need Your Help...

Dated Sat. January 7, 2012: The results are in - from here on in - just call me a 'Compassionate Libertarian' G.


But First -

Only a few contacted me to encourage me to continue with my regular Blogging.

Ergo, I will now move to infrequent writing.

But before I 'write off into the sunset'... I need your help.

From the outset, I have felt rather smug in my Libertarian Cloak - even most recently poking fun at the names of the three major parties in Canada - ie that their names do not reflect their true identities.

So in that context, I did some more research in regard to the word 'Libertarian' and here is what I discovered.

Wikipedia defines a Libertarian generally as one that considers "liberty (t0 be) the moral principle of Society. In the broadest sense (it) advocates strict limits to government activity and sharing the goal of maximizing individual liberty and political freedom".

If my research had ended there - I would have continued to remain smug....however...

Further reading found that there is a broad spectrum to be found under the Libertarian Umbrella ranging from out and out Anarchists, including those who would have the poor and disadvantaged fend for themselves, to economic philosophers such as Libertarian Guru Milton Friedman who called for a negative income tax - otherwise known as a guaranteed income for those without.

No wonder then when I mention to some folks that I am a Libertarian, they physically recoil.

For me, I believe that I am a Libertarian as described in Wikipedia. I am also a firm believer that the poor and the poor disabled are in need of society's financial assistance.

So how do I describe myself? A Conscience Libertarian?

Here then is where I need your help.

I would welcome your ideas of what to name Libertarians without including the weird and wacky.

In the meantime, I might find myself joining the New Liberal Party which is currently under development.

Articles today by two of its candidates for Party President - one the ubiquitous Sheila Copps - call for their New Party to use modern media - face book, tweeting and the like to tap into the 'grass roots' of society. It would be "bottom up democracy" rather than the top down models we have endured for far too long.

And this you will recall, is exactly what I called for in my recent Blog.

The problem of course is that with Power - it corrupts absolutely and given that, it is difficult for the leadership of any party to share power - even with the 'grass roots'. The Reform Party is the most recent example of how principle and practice struggle to co-exist.

So before I am forced to take out a Liberal Membership, I need your help in coming up with a descriptive of 'Libertarian' that best defines me and like minded persons.

As I see it...

'K. D. Bell'