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America's Debate > Archive > Political Debate Archive > [A] Independent/3rd Party Debate
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FlutePlayer
My question for debate is, should the Green Party become more libertarian?

By libertarian, here's what I'd suggest:

*total legalization of drug possession and total legalization of immigration
*abolish insider trading laws
*abolishing all laws prohibiting gambling except internet gambling (internet gambling can result in hackers rigging games)
*totally respect rights of the accused
*voluntary instead of mandatory juries - face it, some people aren't fit for jury duty - they might not have the knowledge to understand what's going on at trials
*letting people keep any weapons they want to defend themselves
*no mandatory service of any kind
*no right of the government to require anyone to consume any medicine/accept any mental health treatment he/she doesn't want

I'd like the Green Party to adopt these libertarian ideas. I think it'd get more votes if it did.
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SuzySteamboat
No. There are differences for a reason; if I liked the Libertarian philosophy, I'd be a Libertarian. It's like going to a Catholic church and asking if they should become more Protestant; you don't go somewhere and then change it to be like something else already in existance, you just stick with the original.
jenreiautter
The first four of the points you posted are already within the scope of what the Green Party Stands for.

I don't think it would be easy to get Greens to embrace the gun culture. One of our key values is non-violence, and owning a weapon increases the chances of using it.

No, I say let the Greens be Greens and the libertarians be libertarians. We have many philosophies unique to our parties, even though we may share a few values.
Overman
I think the Green Party's core values (eg, anti-capitalist, anti-corporate, pro-government regulation) contradict the basic principles of the Libertarian Party.

Greens have a somewhat pessimistic view of human nature; that unregulated businesses will engage in unrestrained pollution and desecration of the environment. Libertarians, on the other hand, tend to view unregulated businesses as being able to operate to their potential, and for the ultimate benefit of all. There will always be a few individuals, or groups of individuals that disregard the rights of others (clean air, clean environ), but punishing ALL for the irresponsibility of a few is wrong....at least to the Libs.
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