[Lnc-business] One Day More

[Joshua Katz]

Mr. Chairman:

A chill wind is blowing.  Around this nation, and the globe, opposition is
growing to trade, the source of our prosperity.  Opposition to difference
is growing, as is opposition to immigration.  Some see in this a hope for a
peaceful future, but this is a mistake - as Mises wrote, when goods and
people cannot cross borders, bullets will.  We have seen the rise of
populism before, we have seen what this combination of nationalism,
nativism and protectionism can wreak.

The world will need a strong, faithful voice for trade, for international
understanding, for peace.  The world needs a political party devoted to the
principles that stand opposite the rising nationalist fervor.  Fortunately,
we are here.  Tuesday confirmed what we have long promised:  that we are
not going anywhere.  From California to Massachusetts, Libertarian
supported initiatives prevailed.  From coast to coast, Libertarians prepare
today to take office.  Ballot access victories remind the nation that our
brand is strong and will not disappear.  Here in Missouri, voters decided
to amend the state constitution prohibiting new sales taxes, and decided
against a hike in the cigarette tax.  Judge Richard Teitelman of the
Missouri Supreme Court, famed for his strong opinions on capital punishment
(adopted by the US Supreme Court in Simmons), the rights of the accused,
and for his stand against zombie-debt, was retained in office, amidst a
Republican sweep of the state.  Our ticket shattered records, even against
a backdrop of low turnout.  While other parties competed, and won, by
chasing their opponents away from the polls, our voters came out to support
the most experienced and credible ticket on the ballot in all 50 states and
DC.

One Day to a New Beginning

An election has passed.  That's time for a new beginning - time to prepare
for the next one and beyond.  I suggest we begin by welcoming our new
members, figuring out how to reach out to them and retain them, and
solidifying the opposition to the new government.

Raise the Flag of Freedom High

For decades, we have warned of the dangers of the imperial presidency.  We
have asked the citizenry to consider, with each new power handed to
government, what that power would mean in the hands of those with whom they
disagree.  Today liberals, conservatives, and all opponents of the noxious
brand of populism now coming to power are realizing that this was not just
some philosophical abstraction, nor were our warnings just attempts to
scare them into adopting our ideological concerns.

Now, it is time for us to hold high our banner, and welcome those who are
discovering the importance of our warnings.  Let us be careful not to chase
them away or send them scurrying back to the simplicity and comfort of
advocating government programs to undo the evil effects of other government
programs.  Let us withhold our need to remind them that we told them so,
and focus on the value of what we told them, and on working together to
make it so.

Every Man Will be a King

There is a fundamental incompatibility between populism and
libertarianism.  The libertarian calls for every man to be sovereign only
over himself.  The populist calls for the every-man to be a King.  The
populist calls for the highest priority in society to be the economic
well-being of the every-man, of the man he thinks of as the silent
majority.  The libertarian knows that the path to a better world runs
through the greater shared prosperity we can realize by protecting the
weak, the minority, by making sure there is a voice for the man who cannot
speak, and by allowing all to join in our dream of freedom.  Narrow
sectarian interests of the "every-man" cannot be reconciled with freedom
for all.

There's a New World for the Winning

The world that dawns, for us, is the 2017 municipal elections.  Let us
build on what we accomplished in this cycle, and let our newly elected
officials this year and next serve as the important buffers between the
people and the government in DC.

There's a New World to be Won

To our brothers and sisters on the left, we say - the peaceful transfer of
power is one of those uniquely American bulwarks of freedom.  If you feel,
as we do, that so much of what is positive about America is under attack,
do not react by throwing away this, too.

To our brethren on the right, we say - you are not locked in.  You are
completely free to fight for what is best in the conservative worldview,
for free trade and free movement, for limited government - and not embrace
the populism and nativism that have overtaken the Republican Party.

Do You Hear the People Sing?

There is, now, a new silent majority.  The silent majority that stands
against hate and for the oppressed.  The silent majority that stands for
the rule of law, protection of the accused, and due process.  The silent
majority that stands for freedom against narrow economic self-interest.
The silent majority that stands for the wants of the consumer and the needs
of the entrepreneur.

Supporters of the new populism barely outnumbered those who voted for the
old elitism, but the supporters of freedom grew by leaps and bounds.  There
is, among that half of the population that did not vote, nary a trace of
support for the hate-fueled nativism that won, and only modest support for
the technocratic form of bureaucracy that lost.  There is, though, strong
support for the continued growth of our message and our cause.

My Place is Here, I Fight with You

The election map and numbers are stark.  On a county by county level, the
picture is even clearer.  An unscientific poll two months ago asked - who
would win, and would it be close, or a landslide?  Nationwide, the results
were wrong:  Clinton in a landslide.  State by state, though, the results
were revealing:  in states that went to Clinton in a landslide, the
plurality of the votes said that Clinton would win in a landslide.  In
states where Trump narrowly edged out a win, a plurality of voters thought
Trump would win by a narrow margin, and so on.  Only 5 states deviated from
this pattern, plus one, New Hampshire, whose results in the poll matched
the final outcome, but by pure chance, because there were not enough voters
in the poll to give a significant result.

We all live in our bubbles.  People predicted the outcome based on what
they saw around them.  I hear discussions in the academic setting that take
for granted the non-existence of Trump supporters.  I hear from my
volunteer firefighter friends the shock that anyone out there supported
Clinton.  Yet, this nation is united in many ways.  Almost uniformly, I'd
suggest, Clinton and Trump supporters agree on their second choice.  *There
is only one choice, then, to unify this nation, to steer away from those
freedom-destroying dichotomies and bring forward the liberty-enhancing
ideals that we all share. *

Watch Them Run Amok

Catch Them as They Fall

Never Know Your Luck When There's a Free For All

In Freedom,

Joshua Katz
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