Courses

Jonathan Casey

Chair

Classical Liberal Caucus

Jonathan Casey is a father, small business owner, and Chair of the Libertarian Party Classical Liberal Caucus.

Blog Posts

Why cosmopolitanism is essential to liberty

November 23, 2022
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Philosophy

Cosmopolitanism is the belief in universal human rights, regardless of time or place. That each of us is a citizen of the world first, country second. It also denotes a law and morality that transcends all, and must be applied to everyone equally. This equality under the law means that no one has any right to rule over another and each person must be free to control their own life. At its heart, cosmopolitanism is a rejection of man’s tribal instinct. By expanding the tribe to mankind as a whole, we rise above our natural tendency to prefer our own group over others and instead form a bond

Why democracy is good for liberty

September 15, 2022
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Democracy and Voting

There is a growing tendency among libertarians to attack the concept of democracy, and blame it for America’s problems. But this is reckless: we need to address the issues within our system and provide alternatives instead of burning the entire thing down. Democracy is defined as “a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.” Many accuse democracy of being merely majority rule, but if democracy is majority rule, is the alternative minority

Promoting false narratives doesn’t promote liberty

August 26, 2022
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Free Speech

Some libertarians have a tendency to latch on to any story that questions the mainstream narrative. This is a risky gambit; for every heterodox view that is correct, there are a thousand that are false. Whether it’s the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Covid, or even Jan 6, we should not promote false narratives even if we like the implications of those narratives. The message of liberty is too important to be diluted with lies. When we propagate false narratives that appear to help us achieve our goals, we are little better than those who peddle outright lies to sell their own agenda.  It

Why pro-liberty solutions must apply to the real world

August 25, 2022
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Free Will and Moral Responsibility

For a policy proposal to be deemed pro-liberty, it must meet a simple requirement: to increase liberty, not decrease it. Policies are not implemented in a sterile lab environment, they are implemented in the world as it exists now. If a policy increases liberty in some theoretical world, but decreases liberty in the present world, can we really consider it to be pro-liberty?  Libertarians love discussions about the theoretical, where the variables are predictable and constant. These discussions can be useful for working out where to go, but they have little to offer on how to get there

Why libertarians should support Ukraine but oppose American military intervention

August 17, 2022
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Charity

Those who claim to love liberty should not be attacking those who are defending their homes as "pawns", and should never defend the actions of the invader.  To do so completely rejects the foundational principle of property rights that libertarianism stands on. Either the Ukrainian people have a right to defend their homes from invasion, or we reject the non-aggression principle entirely.  To merely show a desire to sign a defensive treaty is not a threat, so any notion that this invasion was caused by NATO must be rejected outright. Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, and Norway

National divorce is not a pro-liberty solution

July 21, 2022
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Liberty

Fear is the stalwart and eternal ally of tyranny, and sowing division is the surest way to make people afraid.  Today, many Americans aren’t motivated by the candidate they vote for, but rather by fear of the candidate they are opposed to. As politicians push division to gain more power, libertarians should be working to unite Americans against authoritarianism.  Division is the fuel that nourishes tyranny; feeding it will only starve the liberty movement. Talk of “national divorce” has grown as Americans are being driven apart by political wedge issues designed to keep