[Lnc-business] Ideas for Change

[Starchild]

	I recently posted some ideas on IPR (IndependentPoliticalReport.com) for changes I believe would benefit the Libertarian Party and our cause of freedom. Some of these ideas will not be new to some of you, but I'm posting the full list here for the record.


1) More transparency in things like committee meetings, staff salaries, contracts, leaders’ contact information, and party governance in general; make our commitment to institutional transparency much stronger and more ingrained in our structure and culture than it is now

2) Turn LP.org into a much more interactive, participatory website (more polls, more calls to action, let LNC members blog again, let LP members comment on stories, have social media profiles, etc.)

3) Get our conventions out of hotels and without sacrificing business sessions or speakers, make them more like festivals, with more music, art, workshops, outdoors activities, and a variety of events to attract a more diverse range of supporters and attendees, including having lots of opportunities and reasons for non-libertarians to attend and be exposed to libertarian ideas without paying

4) Make party headquarters more of a community center and activist workspace open to everyone, so it feels less like the private domain of staff and we can get more use out of the space, and put a “mobile HQ” on the road (an RV or some similar large vehicle or vehicles emblazoned with libertarian messaging to travel around the country participating in local events, candidate rallies, affiliate support, etc.)

5) A functional committee system (more committees staffed with more LP members doing more work in a more open, democratic, and accessible manner, with regular, detailed public reports and Q&A sessions before the entire LNC)

6) Less of a “strong chair” system – preferably this would entail a bylaws change, but a chair could unilaterally delegate significant powers and relinquish power in practice without altering the bylaws

7) Revamp LP News to publish monthly, and both this and other written and online communications to include more news of the broader struggle for freedom, rather than the current narrow focus on the party, with an emphasis on seeking to appeal to non-traditional libertarian constituencies and people on the left at least as much as people on the right

8) Take a stronger line in support of Libertarians and other pro-freedom activists who really stick their necks out for the cause, e.g. suffer arrest, make major sacrifices, etc.; honor these individuals and hold them up as role models

9) Do more coalition-building around specific pro-freedom issues, with other groups both inside and outside the libertarian movement and make more party publicity and resources available to empower victims of government aggression and small marginalized groups fighting for legitimate rights that do not enjoy much public or institutional support (their numbers add up!)

10) Stop wasting party money by flying multiple staff members to LNC meetings and paying for fancy meeting rooms and catered food for those meetings

11) Strengthen our ties and increase our communications and collaborative efforts (e.g. joint press releases and declarations, summits etc.) with other libertarian movement organizations both in the  U.S. and around the world, including student organizations – make campus outreach a much higher priority and do more to integrate student groups into the party

12) Engage in more “guerilla activism” such as civil disobedience, unorthodox and unexpected tactics, adopt more of a “revolutionary spirit” and less of a bourgeoisie, white collar approach

13) Mobilize the resources of our membership (e.g. tap Libertarians with knowledge and expertise in specific areas to speak out about those issues on behalf of the party, identify Libertarians who own land, commercial offices, etc., that can be used for billboards or signage to increase our visibility, host meetings, conventions and events, etc.)

	
	Do you like any of these ideas? If so, let me know which, and perhaps we can craft some motion language and get something going.

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