A Word To The Wise In The Libertarian Party

A WORD TO THE WISE IN THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY

 

Some of you aren’t going to like what I have to say here and some of you will. I could give two shits and a giggle as long as you support my right to say it. Nonetheless, I’ve been at this for quite some time without all of the Big tent politics I see bubbling up to the surface. I’ve got some things we all need to consider if we’re going to become a viable force for liberty in this country, and I’ll state my reasons for each of them. I’d advise you all to listen for understanding, not pause for rebuttals.

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1. THE PRINCIPLES OF LIBERTY TRANSCEND THE POLICIES OF POLITICS. This party has the greatest potential for diversity of any political party in the history of the world. We’re going to have some left-leaners and we’re going to have some right-riders, but that’s ok as long as both of you can agree that decisions are better left in the hands of individuals than they are in the hands of government. If I’m not mistaken, isn’t that why we’re all here? Regardless of where you stand on the political spectrum, if you aren’t fully supportive of others making decisions you would abstain from, my question is:
DO YOU REALLY SUPPORT LIBERTY?

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2. INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY SHOULD BE THE ONLY POLITICAL PLATFORM WE STAND UPON. If any of these factional caucuses believe that our party should be pandering to Republican or Democratic issues to draw in new members, that debate has been settled: GO JOIN THE PARTY THAT ALREADY SUPPORTS THEM. And allow me to present some examples.

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3. ABORTION: It’s fine that you’re prolife, it’s fine that you’re prochoice. As long as you support the freedom for others to decide for themselves without government intervention (not even the states), I’ll stand with you. But if you think that the Libertarian party has any business involving themselves with this issue, you are a damn fool. Especially so if you think that government should be handling it. It may be a “moral issue”, but it shouldn’t be a “political” one. There’s already a party that supports that: MAY YOU JOIN THEM NOW.

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4. SUPPORT FOR BLM: It’s fine that you support BLM, its fine that you don’t; but don’t tell people who aren’t racists that it is not enough….that they need to be ACTIVELY antiracist. WHAT DAFUQ DOES THAT EVEN MEAN? Am I supposed to be out there holding hands and singing kumbaya…or should I be slinging Molotov cocktails? Get that nonsense out of the party and learn how to support individual liberty, for Pete’s sake. There’s already a party that supports BLM: MAY YOU JOIN THEM NOW.

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5. SUPPORT FOR THE LGTBQ COMMUNITY: I don’t just support the liberty to choose for myself, I support the liberty for them to choose for themselves. That should say it all. I support liberty for the individual and if that’s not enough for you, I may not be the problem. What it is going to take for people to realize that the individual is the smallest minority on the planet. PARTY OF ONE. That goes for blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, Asians, whatever….whether they are gay or straight, it simply does not matter: YOU ARE STILL AN INDIVIDUAL. When you allow yourselves to be backed in a corner on partisan particulars, you’ve done that to yourself. Always stand on the platform of liberty for the individual, regardless of ethnicity or preference. IT REALLY IS THAT SIMPLE. Where I draw the line is when I’m required to carry water for a particular group: I CARRY WATER FOR US ALL. If that water ain’t good enough for you, you can fetch your own. This goes for both racial issues and preference issues.

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6. WHEN IT COMES TO TRANSGENDER: You are free to do as you like. You are free to believe as you wish. I refuse to prohibit any voluntary endeavor you set out on. But I also refuse to be obligated to any part of it for that same reason. I’m not to pay for it, I’m not to participate in it, nor will I criticize anyone else for doing so. If you are transgender, that’s your business, but it doesn’t belong in politics, just like race and sexuality don’t belong here either. Do your thang and let me do mine….DEAL? I will stand by the individual liberty for both of us to do that.

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7. WHEN IT COMES TO RELIGION: I’m happy for you that you have religion and I’m sure you’re proud of it, but if you whip it out and start using it on other people, we have a name for that: Assault. And I’ll be the first person to smack you upside the head with it. Seriously, take the 5 seconds required to read the 1st paragraph of the 1st Amendment and see that your religion is not needed in government and it damn sure doesn’t belong in this party. Be religious all you want, but leave that shit at home. That being said, I’ll also be the first person to smack anyone upside the head for punishing you for it as well. It’s all part of that individual liberty I keep talking about; the same individual liberty that this party should also be talking about as well. There’s no such thing as “religious freedom”, its part and parcel of Individual liberty.

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8. THE FREE MARKET DOES NOT SOLVE EVERYTHING. Before anyone gets their nose in a joint over this, I’m going to hold up a few examples you might want to think about before you open that yap: THE IRS, THE DMV, and THE FEDERAL RESERVE. Yes, they are all private corporations and prime examples of those wishing to hand over govt functions to profiteers. If this is your vision for “the free market”, I won’t be joining you on that shortbus to hell. We could probably do without all three of them at some point, but making them for-profit businesses of federal functions guarantees they will be debauched from top to bottom. If you somehow manage to find a way to defend these monopolies of government functions, I’ll be willing to listen. Good luck with that. The free market can only exist where there is freedom to choose, and freedom to abstain.

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9. SPEAKING OF FREE MARKET, ABOUT THAT “BAKE THE CAKE” ISSUE: If you believe that customers can be as discriminating as they choose….whether it’s over price, over selection, over location, and in some cases….EVEN COLOR, then you, by default, believe that the provider has the same prerogative as well. And sure; racial and sexual preference discrimination is ugly and disgusting, but so is using the force of government to correct it. It racks my brain to see a bunch of people who supposedly support “the free market” clamoring over government’s intervention on behalf of one side of an economic exchange. With today’s sanctimonious cancel culture in full force, you already have a free market solution to this problem without the first piece of legislation required. Individual liberty is a two way street and don’t you ever forget that. But be warned that both the problem and the solution are double-edged swords. Get this bullshit out of the party.

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10. IT DOESN’T MATTER WHO THE LIBERTARIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE IS. A libertarian is simply not going to win the office of president anytime soon. And on the “icecube’s chance in hell” that they do, they won’t have a handful of allies in congress to operate with. The president’s primary legal obligation is “faithfully uphold the laws” of the country and if you have dems and reps making those laws, we’re right back where we started. Nothing would unite the left and right like neutering a Libertarian president out of spite. His only power would be to veto bad bills, and only then when they can’t be made veto-proof. Our best bet is put Libertarians in Congress, both House and Senate, where they can participate in the actual creation of those laws or vote them down. And at some point we’ll have enough Libertarians in congress to actually make a difference in this world. Anyone focusing on the presidency right now is simply putting the cart before the horse. Go after mayorships, governorships, senatorships, representation, electorships…..you’re gonna have to grow some grass on the field before you play ball.

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11. PRINCIPLES BEFORE PERSONALITIES. If you came here for power, you came to the wrong place. Sure, it’s nice to have the fancy titles and all of the adoration that comes with being a power broker in the party, but the fact is WE REALLY DON’T HAVE MUCH OF THAT TO OFFER. And certainly not enough for some of the megalomaniacs I’ve seen come and go in recent times. We all complain that “government” should be our servant and not our master: Well, here’s your chance to ante-up. Thinking that because you have some notoriety in the libertarian circle means that you can hang your crusades up on the marquee and that the party will come around to your way of thinking is just plain narcissism. Getting caught up in some of the above issues will continue to divide this party into left/right, Prag/Mises, Big Tent/Small l Libertarianism until we are nothing but a ragtag assortment of quirky malcontents. If you want people to hang around, you’re going to have to find a way to include them without compromising them. Dragging these “republican/democratic” litmus tests around is one of the surest ways to validate the insidious mindset we should be opposing.

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12. WATERING DOWN THE MESSAGE. Message? What message? You mean INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY? Oh….that message. If you can’t see that all of these partisan inquisitions of “baking cakes”, “killing babies”, “murdering blacks” and whatever the social agenda of the moment may be is a trap, then you really don’t have a leg to stand on. And as far I’m concerned nothing waters down the message of liberty like “decriminalizing” marijuana rather than legalizing it. And we all know which caucus supports that. As for all of the shitposting and lack of decorum…of which I am quite adept at, DO THAT IN YOUR OWN NAME AND LEAVE THE PARTY OUT OF IT. That’s what I do. If you want to ask me what I think, I’ll tell you and you might not like it, but don’t ask me to speak for the libertarian party. Pretending to speak for this party, even as prominent members, without some sort of acknowledgement that our party varies widely across the spectrum is a foolish and selfish indulgence. Admitting that libertarians can have a variety of perspectives is a far more attractive feature than some rigid dogmatic proclamation of homogenous “purity”. #YoureNotARealLibertarian

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I made it clear that some of you aren’t going to like this; some of you will, but most of you are only going to like SOME OF THIS: IDGAF. I made a point of airing out some of our dirty laundry just for that reason, and if you go after me for not supporting some of these stupid issues that keep us all at each other’s throats, you’re only proving me right. Fact is that NOBODY EVER AGREES COMPLETELY WITH ANYONE ELSE ON EVERYTHING; that’s the “individuality” among us that needs to cherished, not scorned. And even when we don’t agree, we should at least agree on the liberty for each of us to make our own choices, because I didn’t come here to tell you what to do, but the minute you support using the force of government as a weapon on others….WHO PAY FOR THAT GOVERNMENT AS WELL, you can go back to whatever pissy little party you came from.

SO DON’T TAKE THE BAIT: When someone comes at you with one of the stupid narratives of the week, stop pandering to idiots. Stop putting yourselves in impossible positions you can’t win and trying to make miserable people happy. It doesn’t work. And stop selling out the Libertarian party to the left and the right trying to make them happy too. When someone asks you about an issue, ask them “how does it apply to individual liberty?”….PUT THE ONUS BACK ON THEM. And if they can’t find a justifiable relationship to that, be sure to point that out to them. And if their position infringes upon your individual liberty, make damn sure you point that out as well. You’re not going to win every battle, so choose them carefully. Right now, the toughest battle is within the party itself: Are we going to be a party of individuals? Or are we going to become some mindless mass of morons whose positions are picked out for them….like republicans and democrats who also rarely align perfectly within their own party. In the end,

WE ARE ALL REPRESENTATIVES OF THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY: Be a good one.

 

Rob Libertarius Gainey, Libertarian