[Lnc-business] Ideas for Change

[david.demarest at lp.org]

Starchild,

Thank you for an admirable comprehensive list of opportunities. Many of your
suggestions can be undertaken proactively by decentralized affinity groups
in the broader Libertarian movement. Affinity organizations, inspired and
empowered by the LP, can do the heavy lifting and set an example on how to
get stuff done in parallel with electoral victory.

Self-funding at the individual project level for both the LP and affinity
teams will be critical to turning your liberty-enabling ideas into reality.

Perhaps a prioritized incremental strategy can maximize the success and
benefits of your extensive proposal list. The low-hanging fruit may be found
first in the voluntary sector and the broader Libertarian affinity-group
movement.

Starchild, count me in. Where would you like to start?

May Liberty be with you,

David Pratt Demarest
LNC Region 6 Representative

-----Original Message-----
From: Lnc-business <lnc-business-bounces at hq.lp.org> On Behalf Of Starchild
via Lnc-business
Sent: Sunday, June 17, 2018 8:13 AM
To: Libertarian National Committee list <lnc-business at hq.lp.org>
Cc: Starchild <starchild at lp.org>
Subject: [Lnc-business] Ideas for Change


	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