Should Poker Be Legalized?

"Government, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." -George Washington

Like many poker players, I lean toward Libertarianism as a political philosophy. For those of you who don't know was Libertarianism is, it's a political and personal philosophy that focuses on individual liberty. People should be allowed to do what they want to do as long as they're not infringing on anyone else's rights to do what they want. This makes it pretty clear that I think poker should be legal, and it should be legal everywhere.

A lot of smart people oppose Libertarianism as a philosophy, and some of them make valid points. Some of them are liberals and some of them are conservatives. What's the difference between liberals and conservatives, and which of these are closer to Libertarianism in temperament. I'd contend that neither of them are truly closer to Libertarianism than the other one.

Liberals believe in individual freedom when it comes to moral choices. For example, abortion is an individual liberty that should be protected, according to the liberal side of American politics. And free speech should be unrestricted. But they believe that individual freedom is less important when it comes to economic matters. Individuals should pay taxes, and the government should spend that money to help people.

Conservatives believe in economic freedom, but they believe in stricter government when it comes to moral choices. For example, many conservatives think that abortion should be illegal. They also don't believe in gay marriage, and some forms of free speech (like burning a flag) should be limited or illegal. But they believe that the government shouldn't interfere with economic matters. Taxes should be minimized, and so should government services. The conservative viewpoint is that private industry will take care of the things the government provides, and they'll do so more efficiently than the government could.

Libertarians, on the other hand, believe in total freedom on both sides of the coin. Abortion should be legal; it's not the government's place to restrict individual freedom. Taxes should be minimized. It's not the government's place to spend MY money.

So, being a Libertarian, of course I think poker should be legal. Why on Earth should the government have any say-so about whether or not I want to take MY money and bet it on a game of cards? It IS my money, right? I'm the one who went to work for 40 hours this week to earn it. Why shouldn't I be able to do what I want to with it?

I'm not sure I understand how anyone in the United States could think it's right for the government to dictate to me how I spend my money, especially not if I want to play poker with it.