[Lnc-business] New Spanish-language LP brochure

Fri Mar 30 21:15:58 EDT 2018

	I was happy to learn in an email from HQ today that the LP store is now offering, along with some other new materials, a new Spanish-language brochure about the party:

https://lpstore.org/product/spanish-brochure/

	In general it looks good, but in reviewing it (although I'm not fluent, I read enough Spanish to get a pretty good sense of what it says) I did notice two significant problems I'd like to see us correct in future printings:

(1) There is no mention whatsoever in the brochure of the Libertarian Party's support for open borders and immigrant rights. While I think it would be pandering to focus excessively on these points in a general Hispanic outreach brochure, to not mention them at all in such a piece seems like a regrettable oversight and missed opportunity to let a largely immigrant audience know that unlike the establishment parties we have their backs.

	By contrast, the fact of the Libertarian Party being the third-largest party in the United States is mentioned not once but twice (once on the back side of the tri-fold, once in the inside text – see detailed image at https://lpstore.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/What-is-the-LP-Spanish-2018-bleed-sans-crop.pdf ). I would suggest deleting the inside mention, and using the space to instead include this quote, or part of it, from our platform:  

"Political freedom and escape from tyranny demand that individuals not be unreasonably constrained by government in the crossing of political boundaries. Economic freedom demands the unrestricted movement of human as well as financial capital across national borders."

(2) The brochure contains a quote by one William Allen White, "La libertad es lo único que uno no puede tener a menos que esté dispuesto a dársela a los demás”, which appears to be a translation of "Liberty is the only thing you can't have unless you are willing to give it to others." (https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/william_allen_white_122594)

	While it's a fine quote, sadly it turns out that White wasn't always willing to give liberty to others, but sometimes quite the opposite. His Wikipedia page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Allen_White) contains among other materials an excerpt of an editorial he wrote during the time of the U.S. government's occupation of Cuba which is both highly racist against non-Anglo-Saxons in general and Cubans in particular, and also strongly at odds with the non-State-interventionist libertarian approach to world affairs:

> "From a March 20, 1899 editorial, The Emporia Gazette:
> 
> Riots against the police are occurring in Havana. They will keep occurring. No Latin country governs itself. Self-government is the most difficult thing in the world for a people to accomplish. It is not a matter that a nation acquires by adopting a set of laws. Only Anglo-Saxons can govern themselves. The Cubans will need a despotic government for many years to restrain anarchy until Cuba is filled with Yankees. Uncle Sam, the First, will have to govern Cuba as Alphonso, the Thirteenth, governed it if there is any peace in the island at all. The Cubans are not and, of right, ought not to be free. To say that they are, or that they should be, is folly. Riot will follow riot. Anarchy will rise to be crushed. And unrest will prevail until the Yankee takes possession of the land. Then the Cubans will be an inferior—if not a servile—race. Then there will be peace in the land. Then will Cuba be free. It is the Anglo-Saxon’s manifest destiny to go forth in the world as a world conqueror. He will take possession of all the islands of the sea. He will exterminate the peoples he cannot subjugate. That is what fate holds for the chosen people. It is so written. Those who would protest, will find their objections overruled. It is to be."

	Many individuals of past centuries, including some who tended to be otherwise libertarian, held racist views, and while such views should be condemned, this does not mean in my opinion that the positive contributions and thoughts of these persons should be ignored or thrown out with the bathwater. However White was apparently not generally a libertarian figure – his Wikipedia entry identifies him as a "leader of the Progressive movement", a movement which tended more toward authoritarianism than freedom – and he is the only individual named in the brochure. I can too easily imagine a Spanish speaker unfamiliar with our party and movement picking up this brochure, seeing White's name, doing a web search to find out more about this man we deem worthy of quoting in a piece where no other persons are mentioned by name, coming across the racist quote above on Wikipedia or some other site and his associations with Progressivism, and thereby drawing some mistaken and unfavorable conclusions about the LP, especially since as noted above the brochure fails to mention our support for immigration and immigrant rights.

	Indeed this is a serious enough issue that I think it might be best if we didn't offer the brochure for sale until it has been corrected. I initially went to check out the brochure mainly because my first thought on seeing the email was that I might encourage the Libertarian Party of San Francisco to order some, but upon reflection I am now feeling less than comfortable with such a recommendation, given the problems noted above, and the likelihood that there are other, better, Spanish-language materials available out there.

Love & Liberty,

                                    ((( starchild )))
At-Large Representative, Libertarian National Committee
                       RealReform at earthlink.net
                                  (415) 625-FREE
                                    @StarchildSF

P.S. – Less problematic, but also mildly disappointing to me was to see the new LP t-shirt on offer (https://lpstore.org/product/dont-tread-on-me-shirt/) still using the old "Don't Tread On Me" slogan from the Gadsden flag which has come to be widely associated with the Tea Party movement, now that we have the new and more libertarian alternative "Don't Tread On Anyone" (which unfortunately is not featured on any of our products on offer). 
-------------- next part --------------
    I was happy to learn in an email from HQ today that the LP store is
   now offering, along with some other new materials, a new
   Spanish-language brochure about the party:

   [1]https://lpstore.org/product/spanish-brochure/

   In general it looks good, but in reviewing it (although I'm not fluent,
   I read enough Spanish to get a pretty good sense of what it says) I did
   notice two significant problems I'd like to see us correct in future
   printings:

   (1) There is no mention whatsoever in the brochure of the Libertarian
   Party's support for open borders and immigrant rights. While I think it
   would be pandering to focus excessively on these points in a general
   Hispanic outreach brochure, to not mention them at all in such a piece
   seems like a regrettable oversight and missed opportunity to let a
   largely immigrant audience know that unlike the establishment parties
   we have their backs.

   By contrast, the fact of the Libertarian Party being the third-largest
   party in the United States is mentioned not once but twice (once on the
   back side of the tri-fold, once in the inside text ï¿½ see detailed image
   at [2]https://lpstore.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/What-is-the-LP-Spa
   nish-2018-bleed-sans-crop.pdf ). I would suggest deleting the inside
   mention, and using the space to instead include this quote, or part of
   it, from our platform:

   "Political freedom and escape from tyranny demand that individuals not
   be unreasonably constrained by government in the crossing of political
   boundaries. Economic freedom demands the unrestricted movement of human
   as well as financial capital across national borders."

   (2) The brochure contains a quote by one William Allen White,
   "La libertad es lo nico que uno no puede tener a menos que
   est dispuesto a drsela a los demsï¿½, which appears to be a translation
   of "Liberty is the only thing you can't have unless you are willing to
   give it to others."
   ([3]https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/william_allen_white_122594)

   While it's a fine quote, sadly it turns out that White wasn't always
   willing to give liberty to others, but sometimes quite the opposite.
   His Wikipedia page
   ([4]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Allen_White) contains among
   other materials an excerpt of an editorial he wrote during the time of
   the U.S. government's occupation of Cuba which is both highly racist
   against non-Anglo-Saxons in general and Cubans in particular, and also
   strongly at odds with the non-State-interventionist libertarian
   approach to world affairs:

   "From a March 20, 1899 editorial, The Emporia Gazette:
   Riots against the police are occurring in Havana. They will
   keep occurring. No Latin country governs itself. Self-government is the
   most difficult thing in the world for a people to accomplish. It is not
   a matter that a nation acquires by adopting a set of laws.
   Only Anglo-Saxons can govern themselves. The Cubans will need a
   despotic government for many years to restrain anarchy until Cuba is
   filled with Yankees. Uncle Sam, the First, will have to govern Cuba as
   Alphonso, the Thirteenth, governed it if there is any peace in the
   island at all. The Cubans are not and, of right, ought not to be free.
   To say that they are, or that they should be, is folly. Riot will
   follow riot. Anarchy will rise to be crushed. And unrest will prevail
   until the Yankee takes possession of the land. Then the Cubans will be
   an inferiorï¿½if not a servileï¿½race. Then there will be peace in the
   land. Then will Cuba be free. It is the Anglo-Saxonï¿½s manifest destiny
   to go forth in the world as a world conqueror. He will take possession
   of all the islands of the sea. He will exterminate the peoples he
   cannot subjugate. That is what fate holds for the chosen people. It is
   so written. Those who would protest, will find their objections
   overruled. It is to be."

   Many individuals of past centuries, including some who tended to be
   otherwise libertarian, held racist views, and while such views should
   be condemned, this does not mean in my opinion that the positive
   contributions and thoughts of these persons should be ignored or thrown
   out with the bathwater. However White was apparently not generally a
   libertarian figure ï¿½ his Wikipedia entry identifies him as a "leader of
   the Progressive movement", a movement which tended more toward
   authoritarianism than freedom ï¿½ and he is the only individual named in
   the brochure. I can too easily imagine a Spanish speaker unfamiliar
   with our party and movement picking up this brochure, seeing White's
   name, doing a web search to find out more about this man we deem worthy
   of quoting in a piece where no other persons are mentioned by name,
   coming across the racist quote above on Wikipedia or some other site
   and his associations with Progressivism, and thereby drawing some
   mistaken and unfavorable conclusions about the LP, especially since as
   noted above the brochure fails to mention our support for immigration
   and immigrant rights.

   Indeed this is a serious enough issue that I think it might be best if
   we didn't offer the brochure for sale until it has been corrected. I
   initially went to check out the brochure mainly because my first
   thought on seeing the email was that I might encourage the Libertarian
   Party of San Francisco to order some, but upon reflection I am now
   feeling less than comfortable with such a recommendation, given the
   problems noted above, and the likelihood that there are other, better,
   Spanish-language materials available out there.

   Love & Liberty,

                                       ((( starchild )))

   At-Large Representative, Libertarian National Committee

                          [5]RealReform at earthlink.net

                                     (415) 625-FREE

                                       @StarchildSF

   P.S. ï¿½ Less problematic, but also mildly disappointing to me was to see
   the new LP t-shirt on offer
   ([6]https://lpstore.org/product/dont-tread-on-me-shirt/) still using
   the old "Don't Tread On Me" slogan from the Gadsden flag which has come
   to be widely associated with the Tea Party movement, now that we have
   the new and more libertarian alternative "Don't Tread On Anyone" (which
   unfortunately is not featured on any of our products on offer).

References

   1. https://lpstore.org/product/spanish-brochure/
   2. https://lpstore.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/What-is-the-LP-Spanish-2018-bleed-sans-crop.pdf
   3. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/william_allen_white_122594
   4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Allen_White
   5. mailto:RealReform at earthlink.net
   6. https://lpstore.org/product/dont-tread-on-me-shirt/