To All,
I has come to my attention thru discussions in the natural law group that what Ehran was alluding to is true and the leadership has sold out to the christian moral majority and there are other problems with the leadership which we did not discuss since we were discussing natural law. Would any one care to illuminate me on these topics as can be seen from earlier posts here I am pro LP and this would be sad to find out if this were true?
I’m a member of the Libertarian Party, and plan to attend their national convention next weekend. Sadly, I think that many principled individuals in the libertarian movement have abandoned the LP, leaving it open for takeover by the “conservative wing” of the Libertarian Party. I don’t think it’s as much of a lost cause as many objectors believe as many votes are still fairly close, but as the Misesian/Rothbardians slowly trickle away from the party, it’s what you’d expect.
I am new to the forum and fairly new to libertarianism.I have just a couple of questions to you in the LP.Why is Ron Paul a republican,and in the MSM over hear in the UK,they talk of the Tea Party being politically diverse,with libertarians amongst them IE Ron Paul,with one main message of low taxes,but Palin is the face of the Tea Party,and she is no libertarian,Are these the conservative you talk of who are trying to take control of the LP?
From everything I’ve been able to gather, Ron Paul is a Republican because he believes that it’s more important to spread the ideas of liberty than to worry about labels. He believes that he can get more attention for these ideas as a Republican than he would in the Libertarian Party. As for the Tea Party and conservative elements trying to influence the LP, it’s not so much Sarah Palin, as she’s happy being a Republican. The issue is with people like Bob Barr and Wayne Allyn Root (the LP’s 2008 Pres/VP candidates) who are relatively libertarian on social and economic issues, but are very “Republican” on foreign policy. They both believe that the Libertarian Party needs to become more mainstream and only emphasize policies that conservatives can easily accept, rather than seeking to educate the population on what liberty really means.
Thanks Josh,
In the UK the LP is very small,and was only set up a few years ago,I’m not a member although it has crossed my mind.We also have UKIP (United Kingdom Independence Party) Which also claim to be a Libertarian party,and are the fourth largest party here,but whilst there are a lot of libertarians amongst them there is also a large right wing conservative element which is a shame,their main fight is with the EU superstate.
According to the current Chair of the Libertarian National Committee:
“Anyone who accepts the non initiation of force pledge, sooner or later that leads to anarchy. It just logically follows if you’re honest with yourself. Sooner or later… we won’t have it today or tomorrow, but sooner or later…we will.”
The Libertarian Party is nothing more than the sum of its members. As long as the truly principled avoid it, it will not be what we want it to be.