<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><br></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>I think some remarks I recently posted to IPR (<a href="http://IndependentPoliticalReport.com">IndependentPoliticalReport.com</a>), in response to someone encouraging libertarians to stop wasting their time with the LP and join the Republicans instead, are relevant to this discussion:</div><div><br></div><div>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div><p><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#3600fc">During the struggle for American Independence, would it have been
useful to have some colonists who supported the values of the freedom
movement “work within the system” by staying loyal to the British
monarchy, if they’d been able to get themselves elected to Parliament or
into influential positions close to King George III? Undoubtedly, yes.
But what was really required, and what the real revolutionaries
provided, was a radical paradigm shift, a clean break from the past, a
new movement that wasn’t tied to the old political establishment. Having
enough people willing to stand up and make that break, even though it
looked like a long shot, was what made the revolution ultimately
successful in a way that getting a bunch of colonist sympathizers
elected to Parliament never could have.</font></p><p><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#3600fc">The libertarian movement today is fighting an equally historic
struggle for independence, but this time it’s worldwide – freedom and
independence for each individual. In the United States, that movement
has a political party, and it is not the Republican Party. The
Republican Party, as its “Grand Old Party” moniker illustrates, is part
of the old order. </font></p><p><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#3600fc">Abandoning the 2-party cartel <i>isn’t</i> mainly about educating
people or producing short-term electoral gains. The main reason to join
the Libertarian Party isn’t because doing so makes it easier to educate
people about libertarianism, or because while it’s harder to win
elections there’s a greater likelihood that the people you do elect to
public office won’t sell out – although I happen to believe both of
those things are true. </font></p><p><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#3600fc">When individuals with libertarian values succeed in getting some
power within an establishment vehicle like the Republican Party, there
will always be limits on the extent to which they can fully embrace the
libertarian movement, because they have to work with the people who make
up the party they’re in, and that party is not part of the movement.
During his campaigns for Congress and the presidency, Ron Paul spent
much of his time running and identifying as a “conservative”, even when
he was saying <i>libertarian</i> things; it may have been the necessary
political price to be paid for working within the GOP as successfully as
he did, but it undercut the message. Unreservedly condemning an group
while simultaneously continuing to work within it strains both one’s
credibility with outside observers and one’s ability to remain viable
within the group, and thus libertarians working within organizations
that are mostly statist naturally tend to hold back some of the fire
they might otherwise unleash. There is a certain ability to inspire and
radicalize others that can only come with openly making a full, clean
break and publicly declaring one’s allegiance to the new paradigm over
the old.</font></p><p><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#3600fc">The importance of declaring openly and strongly for the party that
most has truth on its side can often be lost in the heat and confusion
of battle. When waging an uphill struggle, there will always be a score
of tempting arguments for choosing the safer, more popular, or more
conventionally acceptable path toward change. Some of these arguments
will even be sincere, and not merely consciously or unconsciously
self-serving efforts to reap conventional rewards of money, power,
status, and career opportunities, or at least minimize the loss of these
things that siding with the underdogs often entails. But history
renders a clearer verdict. Who today remembers and is inspired by the
“good Tories” who sought to advance the values of American freedom while
still remaining loyal subjects of King George? </font></p><p><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#3600fc">Using democratic elections to remove those who believe in State power
from office has numerous advantages over the alternate methods for
removing them, and sharing the freedom message through education in
order to wake people up is absolutely key, but for them (us) to be an
effective force for radical change we must be more than just individual
libertarians acting atomistically. That is why a <i>libertarian movement</i>
is needed, and why one arose. Advancing that movement matters more in
the long run than any successes that can be had within the current
paradigm.</font></p><p><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#3600fc">But for a movement to realize its full potential, there needs to be a consciousness among its participants that they (we) <i>are</i>
a movement, and indispensable to creating that consciousness is
practicing solidarity within the movement. Rallying around your symbols
and standing proudly with your comrades. </font></p><p><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#3600fc">And that brings us to what I believe is the most important reason to
support the Libertarian Party: Right now the Libertarian Party is the
clear political standard-bearer for the <i>libertarian movement</i> in
the United States, and thus by choosing the LP you are practicing
movement solidarity. In contrast, urging libertarians to abandon the
Libertarian Party in favor of some other vehicle that is <i>not</i> clearly associated with the libertarian movement is <i>undermining</i> movement solidarity, and thus undermining the movement.</font></p></div><div>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>In the case of the libertarian activists arrested in Cuba, is there some tiny chance that the information coming from the Mises Institute is wrong, and these individuals did commit some actual crime in libertarian terms, as the Castro regime alleges? Of course there's always that chance, unlikely as it seems. Is there a chance that asking the U.S. State Department to apply diplomatic pressure in human rights cases could somehow lead to government interventions that are undesirable in libertarian terms? Again of course there is always that chance. There is also the chance that if the State Department <i>isn't</i> focused on this, but on something else instead, that "something else" (whatever it might be) could be even <i>more</i> likely to lead to aggressive U.S. government action! We just don't know.</div><div><br></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Like supporting the LP in general, this matter is one that I believe calls for <b>movement solidarity</b>. Not just with the libertarian activists themselves who courageously put themselves at risk by promoting freedom in a dictatorship, but also with the Mises Institute and several of our state affiliates (the New Hampshire and Oklahoma LP have reportedly joined the Nevada LP in condemning the arrests and issuing calls for the activists to be released). </div><div><br></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>We must not be so afraid of low-probability consequences, or of being wrong and having to issue a correction or retraction <sarcasm>(oh horrors, the <i>embarrassment </i>!)</sarcasm>, that we fail to take a stand in a matter that is so clear-cut on the face of it. Far better that we be over-eager in rushing to defend members of our movement, and stand with fellow movement organizations, than that we be over-cautious and let the moment to defend them and act in solidarity slip by while we remain silent.</div><div><br></div><div><b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>I vote yes on this motion.</b></div><div><br></div><div>Love & Liberty,</div><div> ((( starchild )))</div><div>At-Large Representative, Libertarian National Committee</div><div> (415) 625-FREE</div><div> @StarchildSF</div><div><br></div><br><div><div>On Feb 14, 2017, at 8:28 AM, Joshua Katz wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr">As I alluded to before this email ballot came out, I am having difficulty with this. According to this motion, they were targeted for their activism, and are unjustly detained. I suspect this is true, but I need to see evidence of this before I can endorse this party making such accusations against a foreign nation. While nations often unjust detain people, it is also true that libertarians can, sometimes, commit crimes. As of this moment, I do not even know what charges, if any, have been presented, so it is hard for me to say that these charges are false or trumped up. <div><br></div><div>I previously asked for more information, and Mr. O'Toole (thank you) forwarded a blog post from Mises. I have nothing against Mises, and I have respect for the Institute, I spent many summers there, and the Institute supported me through some difficult times. (Full disclosure: I do strongly disagree with the political tact that many associated with Mises have chosen.) But a blog post from them simply isn't the kind of information I am seeking. Do we know of any sources that can verify that they are being held for their activism?</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr">Joshua A. Katz<div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Feb 14, 2017 at 3:49 AM, Alicia Mattson <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:agmattson@gmail.com" target="_blank">agmattson@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.8ex; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-left-style: solid; padding-left: 1ex; position: static; z-index: auto; "><div dir="ltr"><div><div><div>We have an electronic mail <span class="m_1518591262353179632m_-3106942960241565296gmail-m_2797144110872258469gmail-m_7277579120155508541gmail-m_9149391285218628846gmail-il">ballot</span>.<br></div><br><b><u>Votes are due to the LNC-Business list by February 24, <span class="m_1518591262353179632m_-3106942960241565296gmail-m_2797144110872258469gmail-m_7277579120155508541gmail-m_9149391285218628846gmail-il">2017</span> at 11:59:59pm Pacific time.<br></u></b> <br><u>Co-Sponsors:</u> Starchild, Harlos, Demarest, Vohra<br>
<br><u>Motion:</u> The Libertarian National Committee condemns the unjust detention of libertarian activists Ubaldo Herrera Hernandez and Manuel Velasquez by agents of the Castro regime in Cuba on February 2, and demands the immediate safe release of these political prisoners who were targeted for their peaceful activism promoting limited government and free markets. We further ask the U.S. government's State Department to place diplomatic pressure on the Castro regime for their release, and encourage Libertarian Party members and supporters to contact their elected officials toward that end. <br><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br></font></span></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">-Alicia<br></font></span></div></div><br>______________________________<wbr>_________________<br>
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