(Funny photo was here in the actual newsletter.)

LRC editor Bernard Carman argues the merits of an incremental platform at the 2006 Libertarian Party of North Carolina Convention.

Yes, it is possible to have a bit of fun when arguing for a change in LP strategy. And it is important to maintain a spirit of good fun; many of those on the other side of the incrementalist-purist debate are tireless workers for liberty. And we all want more liberty.

And speaking of fun, I have tried to make this a more fun issue of the LRC newsletter. Reading and voting on the existing platform planks, and the many proposed replacements is a lot of work. And earning money to support the Libertarian Reform PAC is work as well.

So, in this issue we feature more big ideas, controversial ideas, and a very funny pictorial essay—funnier than the picture above, IMHO.

We have a famous science fiction writer pointing out the libertarian movement’s blind spot; we are getting clobbered from behind and don’t even realize it. (A much abridged version of this appeared in LP News some years back, which inspired a change in strategy on my part which has proven to be an order of magnitude more effective than my earlier strategy.)

We have a classic piece by a former LP Pennsylvania chair Lois Kaneshiki on the importance of doing real politics. When Lois was chair, Pennsylvania was running up the score of Libertarians holding public office.

We have a very funny piece by Garry Myers. (No link here. I'm using it as bait to get you to read though the business stuff first. You can't have your pudding 'til you eat your beans.)

And we have a couple of possibly controversial pieces by yours truly on how to do outreach to Christian moralists.

But first, a couple bits of business. I’ll try to keep it short.

A Complete Platform

Nick Wilson has put together an entire LP Platform based upon existing and proposed planks that you approve of, as well as upon user comments and user votes to say nothing in certain areas. The result is a platform that reads well, could play on campus, and is half the size of the current platform.

Because we didn’t achieve consensus on certain important subjects, Nick did write some new material, so this platform cannot be considered vetted until you the members give it a look and a vote. If there are parts you find objectionable, please comment loudly. If there are consistent calls for change in certain areas, then a new edition will be in order. Furthermore, if any of you which to produce an amended version, let me know and I will copy the source into a new proposal in your name and you can tweak away.

However, all this needs to be done soon! The convention is a month away!

Please click here and vote.

Financial Report

Here is our latest report from our treasurer, Tony Oneka:

End of March Balance $102

Receipts

April Receipts $724

May Receipts $250

Total Receipts $1076

Expenses

PayPal Fees $22.36

LP News Magazine-Sized Ad for June $650

Total Expenses $672.36

Balance $403.64

This report was made over a week ago. I think we received one PayPal donation since then. It also does not include my own in-kind donation of some blog ads and of the web space for www.reformthelp.org.

Upcoming Expenses

A table at the convention run $350. We will get one.

Good news: We will also get a room to caucus in on Friday afternoon for free!

More good news: we also got the mailing list of all the delegates and alternates (around 800 people) for free.

Shameless pitch for money: We need to send the delegates and alternates a packet by mail. This could run between $400-800 depending on how much we include in the packet. Sending multi-ounce packets by first class mail is expensive per person, but you cannot get more targeted a mailing list. And think of all the $10,000 campaigns that have been lost due to the opposition quoting the LP Platform. Think of the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of extra dollars the LP could raise if its message was a bit more mainstream. Your dollars to make this a quality mailing have a potential leverage of several orders of magnitude!

We also need money for printing up of handouts, stickers, etc. for the convention proper.

And now, for the deep ideas, and the fun.

The Other Foe of Free Enterprise

by David Brin

The fall of Communism came at an opportune time.

Few can recall when this militant movement wasn't hammering at the gates... our century's counterpart to the warlike hordes of old. For seven decades, communism spread by conquest, conversion, and subversion, outpacing even the eighth century eruption of Islam or the Mongol expansion of the twelfth. It seemed poised to permanently change the world.

Communism grew out of Karl Marx's fevered notions of how societies ought to work. Millions were convinced by his pseudo-scientific, “if-then” rhetoric. But human nature, for better or worse, never fit old Karl's idealizations. A few seers—Andrei Amalrik, Jean-François Revel and others—understood that nothing long-lasting could ever come of it, neither utopia nor endless terror. Amalrik's forgotten 1970 masterpiece, “Will the Soviet Union Survive Until 1984?” underestimated by a few years the obstinacy of a bureaucracy clinging to power, but otherwise called events with remarkable vision.

Sure enough, after but a single human lifespan, the flame that seemed so dire sputtered. History tells of many nations and peoples going down with their creed, rather than admit its irrelevance, but today we see Russian adults, reared on the catechism of Marx, abandoning the faith and converting en masse to the rites of Adam Smith.

So, all hail the market, revividus! With the great enemy of Free Enterprise fallen, no obstacle blocks our road to capitalistic paradise. Right?

Well, maybe. First, let's ponder a question or two. (Be warned. Some of these will be discomforting to comfy libertarian nostrums.)

Historically, how many free market systems offered promise in their day, only to falter, then fail?

The answer: lots. There have been fleeting episodes of openness in many societies—from Heian Japan, to Ashoka's Indian Empire, to the early caliphate of Baghdad—narrow, blessed periods during which ideas flowed like rivers, when liberated individuals proved their mettle in fair competition and were rewarded less for their connections than for what they produced. These were times of rich culture and rising prosperity for all, not just the most creative or influential. Alas for human progress, every one of these brief experiments withered soon after flowering.

How did they fail?

Continued here

Preparing for the [Libertarian] Revolution

by Lois Kaneshiki

Do you read your local newspaper? Are you as familiar with what your local government is up to as your state and national? Or do you think that local government is irrelevant when it comes to the reforms needed to move society in a libertarian direction?

I think there is an unstated assumption among Libertarians that if we simply fix the federal government and get it out of our hair that everything else will fall into place. This view ignores the reality of politics, how the political machine operates and what sustains it in the first place.

Local Politicians: How Do They Get There?

The first step in recognizing the nature of the political machine is to observe how your local officials are elected and/or appointed. How do your precinct officials get their appointments? Who is on your borough or city council? How did they get there? What is their record of service in the community? What connections did they have before they even considered running for office? Are they elected as ideologues, or are they elected because other active community members are familiar with them and like them?

Continued here...

Greetings from Ayn Rand

by Garry Myers

What if Ayn Rand had gone into the greeting card industry? Imagine the artistic potential of applying Objectivism and the moral system of rational self-interest in a field notorious for being either maudlin or whimsical…

Happy Birthday!

“Gift giving is altruistic, therefore evil. I hope your birthday is a happy one, but I will do nothing to make it so.”

More rational greetings here.

The Law of Liberty

by Carl Milsted, Jr.

There are those within the libertarian movement who believe that the cause of liberty requires first that the world be taught some overarching, comprehensive philosophy, such as Objectivism. Such philosophical programs usually involve debunking religion, or at least putting religion in its place. If these people are right, then the prospects for liberty are bleak for several reasons:

The axioms of Objectivism are rough approximations at best, and lead to many theorems at odds with casual observation.
It is rational to be religious. The death rate stands at 100%, and will continue to be so until the Second Law of Thermodynamics is repealed or someone discovers a loophole. Ergo, rational self-interest dictates concern with the afterlife.
While religion does involve faith, there is some scientific evidence in the historical record.
As Pascal famously stated, some evidence is all that is necessary to justify action, given the stakes involved.

Fortunately for those of us in the United States, the dominant religion is Christianity, and Christianity is fundamentally libertarian (albeit, not libertine).

This is not to say that most Christians are libertarians. Far from it! Continued...

The Power of Mercy

by Carl Milsted, Jr.

To a large degree the Libertarian Party grew out of a book – a very influential book, one which came in second in a Book of the Month survey of most influential books for Americans. I refer, of course, to Atlas Shrugged.

However, there is another book which came in higher, much higher: the Bible. Part Two of this book, the New Testament, is extremely libertarian. Indeed, forgiving enemies and turning the other cheek go well beyond the libertarian non-initiation of force mandate.

All too often I hear calls for civil liberties and attacks on Christian fundamentalism voiced in the same paragraph. This is a grave error! The problem with many Christian fundamentalists is that they are not fundamentalist enough!

Continued here

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