I’ve been told using the word “Libertarian” to describe my project will cause it to be an immediate failure. They simply have too bad a reputation, and they cling to intransigence and recalcitrance like a Red Badge of Courage. We have one purpose with respect to the American Libertarian Party.
We want to take them over. Remove the old leadership, change their Preamble, Principles and Platform, move the party headquarters from the segregated South to the integrated North . Make the party much more inclusive, tolerant, diverse. Use the internet as an interactive force which seeks to bring people together with a common mission. A Libertarian mission.
World Peace. Domestic as well as International. Liberty, Democracy.
Justice. social, political, economic.
Fair Taxes.
Limited Government. One which serves, doesn’t oppress. Clean and lean. Free and Fair Markets.
We’ll use their hard-won 45 year struggle for ballot access to create a viable third party now- rather than try to start a new third party from scratch. Rich and charismatic TR couldn’t do it, Ross Perot couldn’t do it- and I can’t do it.
The Libertarians deserve credit for that accomplishment, but not eternal devotion. Their avowed dedication to Liberty we have in common, but their political party structure, the people in control, and the practical agenda they promote aren’t devoted to that ideal. The Koch subterranean agenda financed it- but we intend to wrest it away from them.
Rather they’ve become the latest edition of what started with the Lost Cause of the Civil War and the institution of Slavery, became penury, The KKK, Jim Crow and continues to fester just under the surface of all its ideology- and determines most of its current practical purpose. It’s become a magnet for perverts.
They almost always vote Republican, because since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights act of 1965 the former Jim Crow “Dixiecrats” changed sides and became Republicans. As a big wellspring of Republican power responsible for Republican dominance, their wishes are not to be denied. They sometimes champion “State’s Rights” to supersede the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights- America’s Founding Documents. They try to suppress voting rights to defeat Democracy. They seek to destroy many of the institutions of government which serve the ordinary American for the increased advantage of the very rich. They deserve to be defeated, again.
I don’t expect them to like it, but I tried working inside their organization to reform it and they are resistant to the changes. Their leadership is corrupt, and their idealistic political agenda has been co-opted by a few very wealthy people to negate most of what’s best about their basic idea. They exist to intimidate moderate Republicans with primary challenges, or spoil elections they would otherwise surely win- to serve the corrupt purposes of these very few. Corruption and political intrigue is at the heart of their organization- and in that way they’re no different from the Democrats and the Republicans.
Taking them over should be easy. They rarely get more than 3% of the vote, and almost never exceed 5%- but that’s sometimes enough to control an election. Half of Americans have given up on voting as an exercise in futility, and many are seeking a viable third party. Over 90% of Libertarian ballot access goes unused because the party leadership is so corrupt and incompetent- and they never offer their candidates any support. It’s a great opportunity to make change happen fast.
I believe a cleaned up and opened up Libertarian Party could be a viable political force- if its purpose was to represent the people and win elections. Basic “Libertarian Ideology” is widely
shared and can be transparently applied to make the America and the world better. My initial strategy is to get good people who want to promote Democracy, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to fill these open slots on the ballot- and change the Libertarians for the better by making them successful. Good people in the party will see what we’re trying to do is good for the party, and join us. We’ll not need the largesse and control of those wealthy and corrupt few, nor will we feel the need to submit to their malevolent and self-serving agenda.