>To: Robert Goodman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: Wizenberg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 09:17:21 -0700 (PDT) >> > >Steve Clymer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >From: "Steve Clymer" >Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:59:50 -0000 >Subject: [triplenine] Time for libertarians to get serious > > >It's funny that so much of the political disagreement on this board >comes between people who generally share a libertarian view of >politics. The same sort of political confusion is apparent in the >pages of Reason Magazine where libertarians asked how they would vote >came out all over the map. Over the last 15 years, I've watched the >libertarian movement move along a dual course one political and one >influential with respective outcomes that are extreme success and >disastrous failure. While the Cato Foundation and other libertarian >think tanks have been very successful in changing the landscape of the >debate the Libertarian Party has been little more than a debating club >and barely more than a blip on the political landscape. If we >libertarians really want to live in a better, freer country then it's >time to focus our efforts in the area where they will have the most >effect. Here's my prescription: > >1. Stop ignoring the realities of the two-party system, namely that >third party candidates move the government in the opposite direction >of third party candidate. Over the last 25 years the net effect of >the Libertarian party has been to increase the size of the federal >government and I think that Libertarian party leaders enjoy the >king-of-the-dipshits effect too much and so the vanity of running a >presidential campaign wins out over a sound strategy to achieve >libertarian goals. At the very least an endorsement strategy could be >used to build the party while making sure that close races aren't >tipped in the wrong direction. > >2. Starve the beast. Since libertarians are generally opinionated and >independent-minded there tend to be three positions for every >libertarian in the room, so it's even more important that libertarians >concentrate on the one goal that they can all agree on: REDUCE THE >SIZE AND POWER OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. When it comes to the >federal budget, the two sides of this objective are cutting taxes and >reducing spending. Since it takes more political capital to reduce >spending than to cut taxes, the number one focus must be on cutting >taxes. I use the heroin addict analogy. If you're living with a >heroin addict who is consuming too many of the household funds you >will have more success in cutting off the funds than in curbing his >appetite for heroin. Any libertarian who believes in raising taxes >now to match spending gets us closer to reducing the size of >government should be shipped to Canada ASAP and the rest of us should >kneel, posterior facing Washington D.C. five times a day and repeat >the same mantra 3 times (once for each 10 percentage points of GDP >spent by the public sector): > >REDUCE THE SIZE AND POWER OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT >REDUCE THE SIZE AND POWER OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT >REDUCE THE SIZE AND POWER OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT > >3. Don't be seduced by the left. Generally libertarians tend to have >more in common with liberals than conservatives since liberals have >better parties, more interesting vacations and generally similar views >of the world -- in short liberals are libertarians lacking either a >deep understanding of government or an effective means for controlling >the fascist desire to control other people's lives or money. So when >the liberals in entertainment and media have such a ball bashing a >conservative like Bush it's easy to get caught up in the fun. After >all, I find Jon Stewart's Daily Show a hell of lot more fun than Pat >Robertson's Hour of Power (or whatever it's called) and there ARE >plenty of reasons to be upset with Bush and the Republicans. The left >even pretends to be libertarians when it gives them an excuse bash the >president for things like the Patriot act, while ignoring the >countless myriad of government intrusions that the Democrats happily >voted for, including I might add, the Patriot act. The problem is >that after all of the fun is over and our anger at Bush vented, the >newly elected leftist will revert to their long term goals of >increasing the public sector and we'll have higher taxes and even more >government. > >Steve Clymer > > > > > >Yahoo! Groups SponsorADVERTISEMENT > > >--------------------------------- >Yahoo! Groups Links > > To visit your group on the web, go to: >http://groups.yahoo.com/group/triplenine/ > > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. > > > > >--------------------------------- >Do you Yahoo!? >vote.yahoo.com - Register online to vote today! > _______________________________________________ Libnw mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] List info and subscriber options: http://immosys.com/mailman/listinfo/libnw Archives: http://immosys.com/mailman//pipermail/libnw
