by George Dorgan
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Libertarians close to UP Schweiz (Swiss independent party) ridiculed the Green Liberal Party, GLP and the Pirate Party as being in favor of the state and left-wing, hence not libertarian. George Dorgan suggests that both GLP and the Pirate Pirate are pretty close to UP, hence all three are libertarian parties. He thinks that the discussion if one is “Left” or “Right” needs to be left out completely, when we speak about liberty.
In several Facebook discussions (here, here and here), Swiss Libertarians suggested that both the Swiss Pirate Party and the Swiss Green Liberals (GLP) were not a nice alternative because they were not libertarian and too much “left”.
Based on Political Compass German Elections 2013 and Tagesanzeiger
I think that the discussion if one is “Left” or “Right” is rather the question
- if the state must redistribute some income from rich to poor – the so-called “left” in the sense of this political spectrum – or
- if the individual is free to choose if he/she gives for example 10% of his income to the poor. Some might give 5%, some generous people 20%. This is the old Christian idea that got replaced by state-enforced redistribution of income.
To my view, the discussion if the state must intervene against a degradation of our environment is Not contained in the political compass, it is essentially a third dimension. The GLP is in favor of pro-environment state intervention, the Pirate Party and UP Schweiz are rather against it. The following table gives a first overview:
| Dimension1: "Social" Left-Right | Dimension2: Authoritarian-Libertarian | Dimension3: Pro-environment intervention | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GLP | Center | Libertarian | Pro environment intervention |
| UP Schweiz | Right | Libertarian | Against |
| Pirate Party | Center | Libertarian | Undecided |
| Greens | Left (social state intervention) | Center | Pro environment intervention |
| All of FDP, SVP, BDP. CVP | Right | Authoritarian | Against (CVP a bit less) |
| SP | Left (social state intervention) | Center | Pro environment intervention |
Obviously all government parties are authoritarian parties, apart from the SP.
The Swiss UP! was supposed to be neither left nor right. It has libertarian ideas. Hence it is situated in the bottom area, completely opposed to authoritarian ideas. However, the political spectrum above and many arguments from the opponents suggest that the party is “right-wing”. The reason might be that UP-Schweiz is a spin-off of the right wing and authoritarian parties FDP and SVP.
Please help to match the initial “libertarian” ideas against the GLP or the Pirate Party. I have not done it yet. The following table gives an overview of the UP Schweiz! program, template for matching against GLP and Pirate Party. It also brings more light to the difference between libertarians and authoritarians.
| UP program in comparison | UP Schweiz | GLP | Pirate Party | SP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Against state and re-distribution | ||||
| Dismantling of the power of the state. | Yes | |||
| Fewer and simpler taxes | Yes | |||
| Stronger tax competition | Yes | |||
| Reduction of debt | Yes | |||
| Reduction of social services | Yes | |||
| Reduction of public distribution | Yes | |||
| Gradual replacement of AHV | Yes | |||
| Freedom | ||||
| Independent and neutral Switzerland | Yes | |||
| No Swiss entry in EU or NATO | Yes | |||
| Unilateral introduction of free trade | Yes | |||
| Free Migration | Yes | |||
| Privatisation of asylum system | Yes | |||
| Self-determined life | ||||
| Legalisation of drugs | Yes | |||
| No bans on games, gambling... | Yes | |||
| Easy access to euthanasia | Yes | |||
| Stop of universal military conscription | Yes | |||
| No taxes for promotion of culture | Yes |
P.S. Hope somebody has encountered a slight contradiction in this post on the UP program and on the definition of liberty.
References:
The German version of the UP! Program is available here.
The link to the UP!-Schweiz Website.
