Irregular libertarian?

Everyone travels his or her own road when developing a personal system of philosophy. Ayn Rand posits, and I agree, that we all possess a personal philosophy, whether one is consciously aware of it or not. All our actions are based on an internalized set of values and ethics. I bring this up as a start of my explanation of why I use the phrase "irregular libertarian" as a shorthand way of describing my personal philosophy. Author David Horowitz (www.frontpagemag.com) coined the phrase and it is certainly apt in describing what I've in the past termed as being "libertarian with a little 'L'."

I believe most reasonable people understand that labels are only guideposts, and the nuances of each individual's political stand will vary from perceptions of what any particular label within any particular age or generation represents. Thus the problem with the tags "conservative," "liberal," "libertarian," etc. There are paleocons, neocons, neoliberals, classical liberals, objectivists, sense-of-life objectivists … well, you get my drift. I'm a libertarian with a little "L", because contemporary American libertarianism is the closest label I can use to describe my general philosophy, but I have many issues with the American Libertarian party.

A note here, there are those that believe that my use of "libertarian" is wrong, feeling the term has been appropriated from the Marxist-anarchists that claim the "libertarian" label for themselves. (See Noam Chomsky for a contemporary "left libertarian")

For a group that believes there is no right to property, they sure get huffy about "owning" a label!

Tweak aside, here's a short list of the ideas I hold and from which I operate.

Race is a myth
Governments are necessary in order to help secure the inherent rights of individuals. To that end, they must be limited in scope and authority and run by rule of law. Individuals relinquish the use of force as a means of settling disputes to the government in exchange for a forum to settle those disputes, judgments enforced by the government.
Society or culture is not government, and individuals, singly in voluntary association with others, have the right to criticize, shun, applaud, or promote ideas and behaviors that the government is precluded from doing.
Freedom of speech carries the concurrent responsibility of its consequences to the individual.
There is no such thing as a "right" to a good or service (as this conveys a concurrent duty to another to fulfill that "right" regardless of circumstance or agreement).
Associations between individuals must be as voluntary as possible, with the government only regulating such behavior when harm can be demonstrated or when disputes arise.

As I said before, short list. How does this translate into what policies I support or would like to see addressed in contemporary America?

Income tax abolished (I'd settle at this time for a flat tax)
Affirmative action as now configured abolished
Federal government out of education
Phase-out of government "schools"
Body of law that describes and protects the contractual obligations of married persons extended to gays and lesbians
Corporate welfare abolished
Federal regulatory bodies audited and overhauled
FBI overhauled and reconfigured
CIA overhauled and reconfigured
Maintain a strong, flexible, ready military
Decriminalize and/or legalize drugs

I'll be sure to revisit these lists and update them as needed.

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