What’s your favorite part of the Constitution? In a new video for Reason to commemorate Constitution Day on Sunday, Sept. 17, libertarian journalist John Stossel surveyed a variety of people to ask what they liked best about the Constitution. Interviews included members of the general public, as well as leaders in the liberty movement, including Libertarian National Committee Chair Nicholas Sarwark.
Sarwark said that he especially likes the protections that the Bill of Rights spells out.
“The rights of the individual, the right to free speech, the right to keep and bear arms, the limitations on the powers of government,” Sarwark said in Stossel’s video.
The Libertarian Party platform includes several mentions of important constitutional provisions.
“The protection of individual rights is the only proper purpose of government,” the third plank of the LP platform begins. “Government is constitutionally limited so as to prevent the infringement of individual rights by the government itself. The principle of non-initiation of force should guide the relationships between governments.”
In other sections, the LP platform asserts the importance of protecting the constitutional rights of the criminally accused, and of keeping these protections active for everybody even during times of war. Individual rights are always paramount.
“It’s a remarkable document,” Stossel concludes in his video. “I hate the archaic way parts of it are written, but heck — it’s still mostly working 230 years later. It’s a reason we should celebrate today: Constitution Day.”
