The Liberty Manifesto

From a speach by libertarian PJ O'Rourke. I suppose he opposes Bush's aim to construct a democracy in Iraq:
============
All we have is the belief that people should do what people want to do, unless it causes harm to other people. And that had better be clear and provable harm. No nonsense about second-hand smoke or hurtful, insensitive language, please...

Freedom is not empowerment. Empowerment is what the Serbs have in Bosnia. Anybody can grab a gun and be empowered. It's not entitlement. An entitlement is what people on welfare get, and how free are they? It's not an endlessly expanding list of rights -- the "right" to education, the "right" to health care, the "right" to food and housing. That's not freedom, that's dependency. Those aren't rights, those are the rations of slavery -- hay and a barn for human cattle...

There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences...

If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free.