[Lnc-business] Avoiding the arrogance of power

Sun Oct 2 08:13:15 EDT 2016

	Thanks, Alicia. Without being shy about letting correspondents know when I disagree, I try to respond diplomatically to everyone who writes to me as an LNC member – and if they write to more than two or three LNC members, post my responses here as well as to the writer so that LNC members who weren't copied on their "cc" list and folks reading on the reflector list can see what kind of input we're receiving. 

	Part of the way in which power "corrupts" is that it tends to make those who possess it arrogant. Thus I see maintaining humility as an important practice for libertarians in positions of power (whether formal positions like public office or internal party office, or more informal types of power). In traditional stories, wise and compassionate rulers are often portrayed going out of their palaces disguised as ordinary people in order to mingle with their subjects on an equal footing and see things from their points of view in order to learn what's really going on. Not that LNC members are anything like kings of course, but making a practice of politely responding to all grassroots contacts and inquiries seems like a small way to take a spiritually somewhat similar approach. I don't think it's a coincidence that the most libertarian member of Congress, Justin Amash, is also the only one I've ever heard of explaining his votes on each piece of legislation to members of the public.

	Ideally I think governments seeking to operate in accord with libertarian principles on a sustainable basis would do well to also include some structural safeguards designed to keep leaders humble. Government chambers being designed with the most comfortable seating reserved for members of the public rather than the officeholders, requiring officeholders to commute using public transit, live in modest public housing, this sort of thing. The tradition of the Pope washing the feet of parishioners may be a little weird for modern times, but in spirit it's right on the mark. Seeing members of Congress required to spend a day each year as volunteers helping members of the public fill out their tax forms would certainly be a gratifying exercise.  :-)  I also like the idea, which has been seriously proposed, of requiring politicians to wear uniforms emblazoned with the names of their biggest campaign contributors, kind of like athletes wear jerseys emblazoned with the names and logos of their corporate sponsors.

Love & Liberty,
                                   ((( starchild )))
At-Large Representative, Libertarian National Committee
                                (415) 625-FREE

On Oct 1, 2016, at 11:49 PM, Alicia Mattson wrote:

> I'm just writing to compliment Starchild on his very diplomatic response to an absurd request.
> 
> I found it interesting that her FEC filings say she does not plan to exceed the $5,000 filing threshold, but she told us she would raise hundreds of millions of dollars...
> 
> -Alicia
> 
> 
> 
> On Sat, Oct 1, 2016 at 11:28 PM, Starchild <sfdreamer at earthlink.net> wrote:
> Hi Audrey,
> 
>         Thank you for writing to members of the Libertarian National Committee. However, the chances that this committee will dump Gary Johnson from this year's presidential ticket in October 2016 are vanishingly small, and if we did, the chances that we'd replace him with someone whom none of us seem to have heard of, who did not participate in our party's nomination process, and who for all we know may not even be a member of the Libertarian Party, just because she wrote to us out of the blue and told us she'll get 15% of the vote, etc., are basically zero.
> 
>         Surely you can understand that it would not be in the interests of the Libertarian Party or the cause of freedom for us to operate that way, any more than it would be in your interests for you to entrust your savings to someone who came up to you randomly on the street and promised you she could get you 15% interest on your money!
> 
>         But if you do believe in the cause of minimum government/maximum freedom and want to help, we welcome your support and there are lots of ways to get involved. You might contact your state or local chapter (you can look them up at http://www.lp.org/states) and attend a local meeting or two for a start. If (as I gather from your message may be the case) you are already running for president as an independent, you can use that soapbox to speak out about government abuses, including the rigged, undemocratic elections process in this country that harms all alternative candidates and parties. The way things stand, it would be virtually impossible, even if the most desirable candidate in the world came along and offered to be our nominee, to get him or her on the ballot in all the states now, due to the complex ballot access rules.
> 
> Love & Liberty,
>                                  ((( starchild )))
> At-Large Representative, Libertarian National Committee
>                                (415) 625-FREE
> 
> 
> On Sep 29, 2016, at 6:07 PM, William Redpath wrote:
> 
> > I am sure that she would get the endorsement of The Detroit News.
> > --------------------------------------------
> > On Thu, 9/29/16, Daniel Hayes <danielehayes at icloud.com> wrote:
> >
> > Subject: Re: [Lnc-business] Fwd: Dump Gary Johnson
> > To: lnc-business at hq.lp.org
> > Date: Thursday, September 29, 2016, 8:03 PM
> >
> > On
> > another note.  She is going to get 15% overnight but she
> > couldn't get my email right when she sent it.  At least
> > I know why I didn't get it..
> >
> > Daniel HayesLNC At Large Member
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
> > On Sep 29,
> > 2016, at 6:55 PM, Alicia Mattson <secretary at lp.org>
> > wrote:
> >
> > I'm not seriously
> > considering doing what this message asks us to do, but I am
> > curious whether this person is a member of the LP or not.
> > Is she in our membership database?
> >
> > -Alicia
> >
> >
> > ---------- Forwarded
> > message ----------
> > From: Audrey Addison
> > Williams <healingsoulofamerica at gmail.com>
> > Date: Thu, Sep 29, 2016 at 5:56 AM
> > Subject: Dump Gary Johnson
> > To:
> > chair at lp.org
> > Cc: Treasurer at lp.org,
> > Starchild at lp.org,
> > Daniel.Hsyes at lp.org,
> > Sam.goldstein at lp.org,
> > Joshua.kstz at lp.org,
> > Secretary at lp.org,
> > Vicechair at lp.org
> >
> >
> > Nicholas
> > I urge you to call an emergency session to urge
> > Gary Johnson to step aside.
> > I am registered with the FEC P60021250
> > I WILL get enough votes to make the Libertarian
> > Party viable respected and influential
> > I WILL bring Milennial and Minorities to the
> > Libertarian Party
> > I WILL raise hundreds of millions of dollars
> > for the Libertarian Party
> > I WILL quickly achieve the 15% required to
> > participate in the last debate
> > Wells remains as VP
> > You have a responsibility to your Party and to
> > the American People to ACT NOW!!
> > Let's do THIS
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Lnc-business mailing list
> > Lnc-business at hq.lp.org
> > http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
> >
> > -----Inline Attachment Follows-----
> 
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