I Was a Card-Carrying Libertarian
October 25th, 2007 - 12:27 pm
My latest PJM column/confessional was posted this morning — and I missed it. My boss seemed to like it, though. Anyway, go read my Confessions of a Black Sheep Republican.
Good essay. For me, W was the first non LP I voted for, and that was in 2004.
I still think taxes are too high, the federal government is much much much too big (No Child Left Behind is an unconstitutional federal intrusion) and drugs should be legalized/regulated. But first, we got some real enemies to deal with.
Neither the Dems nor Liberts seem to realize that. Which leaves me with the choice of W. Ugh.
Sure glad to have your voice back in the blogosphere. I went through a very similar intellectual development, and shared my thought on it back in December 2003 (early in my blog’s life): Clothespin Republicans.
The trouble with capital-L libertarians is that they tend to ignore liberty and its growth outside our borders.
Find sand, dig hole, insert head.
We small-l libertarians (who choose GOP candidates as the bad-over-worse alternatives) should get that capital L back someday.
“the pulpy Liberty was for ponytailed radicals like me”
Pictures please.
TO: Stephen Green
RE: Yeah….
….I saw it there. And commented on it, there.
Let me just say this….
It’s easier to correct ‘wrong’ than it is to correct either ‘stupid’ or ‘crazy’.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
P.S. The latter two are incurable, except for ‘Acts of God’. And neither the Democrats nor the Libertarians believe in Him. So why should He ‘believe’ in them?
Unfortunately, none of this is an account of what the LP’s position was, or the actions of Libertarians internationally. The post and comments do seem to reflect what extreme conservatives presume is happening with libertarians. The sources quoted have nothing to do with the LP, and are even Republicans.
I co-ordinate the Libertarian International Organization. Far from being indifferent to what is outside US borders, our activists have worked closely with both the LP and members of the Government in working to bring down dictatorships of every description by spreading ideas, mentoring activism, and direct citizen diplomacy. Numerous leaders elected in those dictatorships say the “L” factor was essential in getting change. Groups such as http://www.isil.org and http://www.FEE.org played very key roles.
Libertarians believe that coercive government is to be replaced or circumvented by voluntary action, and view coercive government as essentially impotent or backfiring. The major interest of Libertarians at that time or today is not in taking a position on inane conservative or socialist war policies, but encouraging their own Libertarian view of continued citizen action as paramount:such as creating democracy and Libertarian movements abroad, and encouraging Sister-City type exchanges–what Eisenhower called the true defense of free countries (and also was how we contacted Boris Yeltsin with important effects). The US does not need vast militaries to fight ‘our’ battles. We do need to encourage Libertarian-oriented thinking abroad so they organize to fight our battles by action in their own country.
As to the events in question, I was on the Executive Committee of the LP USA at the time. Our reaction was to urge Libertarians to donate blood, period. In short order we voiced limited and critical support for military response, but more important we co-ordinated with Libertarians in Afghanistan, who had been leading a struggle against the Taliban, to begin action. In fact, on 9/11, there was a picture on our front page we had just uploaded of Libertarians working in Kabul to develop Grameen style banks with the endorsement of Aslam Effendi, a distinguished member of the Afghan royal family. It is forgotten that by the time the US arrives, revolt was in full swing, and then Libertarians there worked with other groups in summoning the jurga AGAINST US wishes that created free elections there. The situation in Afghanistan has moved to an international nation building phase. In Iraq the US–meaning the GOP–has unwisely not repeated the strategy in Afghanistan with mixed results. Meanwhile, the US government and NED have taken to sending activists from other countries to LP HQ to learn about us.
Meanwhile, State LP’s have begun participating in an LIO program adopting Sister groups abroad. The Florida LP, for example, has worked closely with Costa Rica resulting in a strong Libertarian-Liberal party there instead of a trouble spot. No Saddam Husseins there.
Big government cannot help you, small government cannot help you, but self-government can help you. If you want to have a Libertarian ‘position’ on the war or foreign policy, join a local Sister City or similar program trying to help a struggling country and donate to http://www.ISIL.org to bring young students to Libertarian conferences where they can meet and learn from people who have changed their nation because of Libertarian help. National defense by the spread of freedom is ultimately too critical to be left to government, as Eisenhower suggested. Prevent the IRAQ’s of the future by citizen action you can start today as others have: get yourself appointed to a Sister City advisory board,help the leaders of to-morrow learn about freedom and rights, and effective activism to better their countries. You don’t need to be a card-carrying anything to understand or do that.
TO: M. Gilson-De Lemos
RE: Ooooo….An Essay!
Kuwel.
I’ll be back to you on this. Later tonight or sometime tomorrow. It all depends on how much time it takes me to throw together this Vietnamese dinner of broil flat-fish (flounder) with a spicy sauce accompanied by Vietnamese eggrolls. It all depends on how drunk I get in the process.
In the meantime, I’m also attempting the ‘hack’ the recipe for Thai Hep’s Bun Thit Nuong (barbecued pork tenderloin). The latest effort is quietly maranading in the frig, in preparation for tomorrow’s cooking adventure.
Yeah….I’m on a SE Asian kick right now. I think I’ve got the Thai down pretty good.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[Rebel, n., A proponent of a new misrule who has failed to establish it. -- Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary]
P.S. Speaking of platforms….
…and in accordance with your complaint about a failure to ‘recognize’ the LP’s political theory….
….please provide the election-cycle-2008 platform; plank-by-plank.
I’ll choose a plank and we can ‘discuss’ it….HERE….or on ground of your choosing…if Stephen resents our use of his bandwidth.
TO: M. Gilson-De Lemos
RE: Ooooo….An Essay! (Reprised)