Richard A. Epstein opines on why he is a libertarian.

So what then is the core of my libertarian beliefs? Here I would organize these around some very familiar watchwords: individual autonomy, as self-rule but not unconstrained by the rights of others; private property, with an eye to the commons; freedom of contract, with an eye to externalities; limited government, with a fear of excessive concentrations of power. But on most ordinary social interactions, including the full array of two-party relationships – buyer-seller, landlord-tenant, employer-employee, insurer-insured; partner-partner – contract should ordinarily be king. And while we have to tolerate the use of state coercive power to build highways, we should work hard to keep government out of private employment and property transactions. No minimum wages, no (or very few) safety regulations; no anti-discrimination laws; no labor statutes; rent control; little (strictly guarded) zoning; no crazy-quilt subsidies to peanuts or raisins; no trade barriers against low-priced imports, and the like. This is a small world government relative to what we do today. At a guess we can cut out well over half of government functions and curtail or contract out many others. All this leaves us with a state that is larger than many defenders of a pure libertarian order might wish. Police and military remain; roads, sewers, telecommunications and electric will all have some level of government ownership or control; the inevitable tax, motor vehicle, voting, and land, copyright and patent lists will need constant upgrade and servicing; intellectual property. But the hope is that a small government will yield more sensible interventions of these key areas.