Comments on: Libertarian Party of West Virginia chair Matt Harris: Why I loathe Ayn Rand and you should too

By: John

John — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 22:53:08 +0000

Is this a joke? Rand was against any government policy beyond a police force and courts… She certainly was not a statist. While she criticized the anarchist faction of libertarianism, her purely political views are not different from mainstream modern libertarianism.

On your accusation that she is against the productive individuals in society… I am really not sure where you drew this conclusion from. She glorifies competent executives in Atlas Shrugged, but also glorifies the common workers who are competent at what they do. All of her protagonists have the ability to do hard labor and technical productive work in addition to business or their other talents.

Very strange analysis and conclusions you have made… I am not a Randian or Objectivist but I feel there is a lot to learn from her work. Some of the best moral arguments for Capitalism and a purely free government.

By: mdh

mdh — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:14:17 +0000

“The work of the anarchist is above all a work of critique. The anarchist goes, sowing revolt against that which oppresses, obstructs, opposes itself to the free expansion of the individual being. He agrees first to rid brains of preconceived ideas, to put at liberty temperaments enchained by fear, to give rise to mindsets free from popular opinion and social conventions; it is thus that the anarchist will push all comers to make route with him to rebel practically against the determinism of the social environment, to affirm themselves individually, to sculpt his internal statue, to render themselves, as much as possible, independent of the moral, intellectual and economic environment. He will urge the ignorant to instruct himself, the nonchalant to react, the feeble to become strong, the bent to straighten. He will push the poorly endowed and less apt to pull from themselves all the resources possible and not to rely on others.”

Quoted from a 1911 essay posted originally at http://libertarian-labyrinth.blogspot.com/2009/07/tale-of-two-mini-manuals.html

By: Melty

Melty — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:53:14 +0000

Thanx, libertygirl. I’ve been collecting these things.
I’ve been thinking since a few years ago that there ought to be a liberty-rhetoric think tank for working out what buzzwords are good, and for brainstorming new ones and the like, for more effective pro-liberty talk. To this day, I’m not aware of any such thing. Is there one? If one could just put a few linguistical-n-freedom minded folk together on it, you could get it going on.

By: libertariangirl

libertariangirl — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:16:16 +0000

I like your ideas Melty , I have a personal hate fetich against the words healthcare , law enforcement . absolutely drive me crazy!!!!!

By: Melty

Melty — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:23:55 +0000

stuff like “nonagression principle” and “enlightened self-interest” goes nowhere towards target audiences

By: Melty

Melty — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:19:52 +0000

“LP . . . uses language that fails to connect with the target audience”
good point!
I suggest libertarians develop a distinctive talkstyle free of euphemisms and socialist/miltarist buzzwords (for a few examples: healthcare, gender, African-American, climate change, War on Terror, pro-life, pro-choice)

By: paulie

paulie — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:37:26 +0000

But then as Erik mentioned a lot of Libertarians voted for Bush (especially in 2000), and I don’t just mean Dondero.

There were some that voted for Kerry too – our AL-79 candidate from 2002 Charles Johnson (radgeek.org) for example.

By: paulie

paulie — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:35:11 +0000

Not me. But there definitely were some, Seth Anthony of CSU Libertarians and former Georgia LP exec dir Trevor Southerland for example.

By: libertariangirl

libertariangirl — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:32:33 +0000

what? theres no such thing as a Libertarian who voted for Obama , right?
why on earth would any self respecting Lib ever vote for Obama?

say it aint so P , say it aint so !

By: paulie

paulie — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:32:11 +0000

Also from what I can tell, there are already many Obama voters complaining that he sold them out on issues ranging from torture to gay rights.

It took Bush voters til 2006-7 to get to the same stage.

Yet another reason I think we have more opportunities on the left, if we just really tried.

By: paulie

paulie — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:29:54 +0000

In 2008 it seemed most soft-Libertarians and even a few former hard-L went for Obama.

By: Erik Geib

Erik Geib — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:23:46 +0000

Boaz and Kirby once did a report titled ‘The Libertarian Vote’ that showed in 2000 small-l lib.s voted 72-20 for Bush over Gore. In 2004, horrified by war and intrusion on our civil liberties, this margin shrank to 59-38 (I believe that’s the figure; the 2000 figure is definitely correct). More alarming than the overwhelming Republican support is that 92 (2000) to 97 (2004) of lib.s vote for non-lib. candidates.

Voter-pattern studies have consistently shown that voters try too hard to ‘game’ the system for a likely favorable result (‘the lesser evil’ approach). When (IF) we can break down the real barriers (strategy isn’t really the barrier – ballot access, devate access, FPP, gerrymandering, etc. are) we can really see how people feel. As is, we’re much better off attacking the barriers against us and standing as a consistently libertarian voice of education and reason in the meantime.

Personally, I think the best chance for change is outside the system anyway. As I’ve said before, by voting Lib. (and I do), I and others are ultimately gaming the system too. No candidate is perfect – we’re always picking lesser evils.

By: paulie

paulie — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:15:03 +0000

Now there’s a candidate I can really get behind!

——————–

And for anyone not on facebook

The LNC needs Aaron Starr’s wisdom more than ever!

Aaron has toured the country for over 10 years, working as an emcee, stripper, singer, dancer and musician.

He currently holds the following titles:

1) Mr. Capital City Lights All-Star 2007
2) Mr. Closet 2007
3) Mr. Columbus All-Star 2008
4) Mr. North Star King Of Kings (runner-up) 2008

Aaron as chair of the Libertarian National Committee would be a huge boon and recovery for the party’s credibility as a whole. He blogs at http://www.aaronstarr.com

By: libertariangirl

libertariangirl — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:12:28 +0000

.light hearted comedy

By: libertariangirl

libertariangirl — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:11:54 +0000

Brian invited you to join the Facebook group “Draft Aaron Starr for LNC Chair”.

To see more details and confirm this group invitation, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?group.php&gid=208961785653&mid=bcbd7bG4e2b0d18Ga8c359G6

Thanks,
Draft Aaron Starr for LNC Chair