Letter: Libertarian and Republican politics are socially harmful

Editor,

It is common to hear Republicans and Libertarians say that less government is the solution to people's problems. This idea is not new and it has it's genesis in the writings of Thomas Robert Malthus.

According to their Malthusian logic programs like food stamps, medicaid, social security and affirmative action should be eliminated, because government should not interfere with the wild west capitalism. Malthus argued that human population growth would eventually exceed the amount of food that was being produced; therefore he concluded that war, disease and famine were necessary in order to not exhaust the planet's limited resources.

When the Irish Potato Famine struck in 1845 the world was able to get a painful and unforgettable example of where Malthusian logic will lead politicians when they are confronted with human suffering that can be fixed by government interference.

The Irish Potato Famine would ultimately lead to a million Irish dying due to starvation and to another million being forced to leave their country. The response of the British government during these years of hell for the Irish was to hold fast to their philosophy of small government.

A British official by the name of Sir Charles Trevelyan said, "The real evil with which we have to contend is not the physical evil of the famine, but the moral evil of the selfish, perverse and turbulent character of the people."

There you have it folks: let people starve to death, because after all government has no responsibility to feed starving people. If a certain group of people dies off, then that is not so bad, because you need a good famine every once in a while to thin out the herd.

Libertarians and Republicans, like Ron and Rand Paul, do say some positive things in regards to advocating for an isolationist foreign policy for the U.S., but U.S. politics involve both foreign and domestic policy.

As far as domestic policy goes, I think the records of Ron and Rand Paul are crystal clear that Malthusian logic is in the DNA of political parties like the Republicans and the Libertarians. Call me old-fashioned, a communist, crazy or whatever you wish, but as far as I'm concerned, it is a moral abomination for government to not provide a social safety net for those at the bottom rung of society's economic ladder.

Muhajir Romero