Government is a Negative Space

The toughest job for the Libertarian is figuring out how to sell the concept of limited government to people who've been trained in public schools to see the state as the primary actor in their lives.
The greatest tool that Libertarians have in their arsenal is the US Constitution which limits government. I love talking about the Constitution and defending it. But, I notice that this conversation falls on deaf ears.

The question is: why?

Our public schools teach people to look to the state for the answers. Talk about liberty is counter to their training.

The Libertarian argument is subtle.

Government is a limit placed on a people. Therefore, limiting the limit creates an unlimited people.

The argument uses a double negative. The Constitution argues for a limit placed on a limit.

To restore interest in freedom, liberty minded people must find ways to rework the conversation to remove the double negative.

One could start with the conversation: "Government places limit on the people. Limiting government creates an unlimited people."

This statement doesn't work because the term "people" is plural. Any group of people can be divided. You should talk about an item that cannot be divided: The Individual.

Each individual lives a continuous life from birth to death. I cannot jump out of my body and be someone else.

To win the health care debate, libertarians should concentrate on the individual. An individual lives a continuous life from birth to death (with new children created in the process).

To start this conversation, I created a program with the gimmicky name: "The Medical Savings and Loan."

In this program I start with the challenge that everyone who can self-fund their care should self-fund their care.

I replace group insurance pools with a plan in which each person has a savings account and access to loans to help them self fund care. To administer the program, I created a new position called the Health Care Advocate. (the advocate replaces insurance agents and claims adjusters).

The advocate has a computer program that simulates expected health expenses and helps people set up a structured savings program to cover those expenses.

For the small number of people who have an abnormally high ratio of expenses to income, the program has a generously funded system of grants.

The MS&L completely removes the concept of group funding of care.

The sneaky part of this program is that it engages the participants in the program in a conversation in which they see their individual live as the positive space.

People who see themselves and the positive space and the government as a limiting force are open to the Constitution and the need to place limits on government.

In contrast, people weened on the concept of group funding of individual consumption dislike limits place on the state because they see the group, not themselves, as the primary actor.