In order to
foster libertarian activism in the upcoming elections and beyond, I am
proposing and opening for discussion the plan outlined in this text. Some parts
of the plan do not apply directly to activism, but rather to activist's
education, which will help us articulate and defend our position once the
activism has finally given us the opportunity and audience we can speak to.
The Reason
The
political dialogue in the United States has unfortunately devolved into 30
seconds sound bites, tested by the public opinion groups, for candidates of
ruling parties to deliver in the format that can hardly be called a debate. But
the solid debate and contrasting of libertarian positions against the two
dominant parties is exactly what's necessary for libertarians as whole, and
Libertarian Party in particular, to reclaim their rightful place in the
American politics and participate in crafting the policies that will shape the
future for the generations to come. This change cannot, and will not happen
from the top up. No matter how appealing the thought of libertarian candidate
or someone in likes of Ron Paul, winning the presidency really is, we have to
be realistic and admit that the establishment, with all the laws they have
crafted for the past few decades, will not allow that to happen. The change
will come from the bottom up. It will come from the local politics. It will
come when we've reached enough people locally and enacted policies that others
can use as their guide. It will come when we prove again that liberty and human
interaction, without the coercion of state, produce once more the marvels of
human creativity. I hope this renaissance of liberty starts in Tampa Bay,
Florida.
The
two-party duopoly that's currently draining the life and money out of the
general public has been established to give American people an illusion that
they have some kind of a choice and check over their rulers. The byproduct of
decades of ever-expanding state has been the loss of interest of the general
public for the governmental affairs and civic duties. I suspect this is also by
design of professional bureaucrats that have dominated the political discourse
for the long time. Libertarians must account for this loss of interest, and
sometimes flat-out apathy of the general public when engaging in any
discussion. The first rule of writing and public speaking is to always be
mindful of your audience. If you lose your audience, the efforts to persuade
them will fail, regardless of how sound your argument is, and regardless of how
much your position would benefit them if implemented. Winning the audience and tailoring the
message of liberty depending on who's listening will be a big part of the
program that I am proposing here.
The Plan
Now that I
went over the reasons for the plan and obstacles we will face putting it out
there, I want to go over some high-level specific action items we will need to
discuss and implement. As any serious proposal, this plan will focus on actions
that will affect several key areas; public outreach, education, and the local
political engagement, being the three most important ones.
Public Engagement
Even the
worst plans, the plans and programs that work directly against the public, put
out by the establishment parties find their support in the public due to the
outreach and engagement of establishment tentacles that never rest. To be
successful in spreading the message of liberty, we must never rest either. Several
prominent areas we need to focus on are local newspapers, websites, and
television stations. Even though the national issues are a lot more dominant on
the cable channels, local issues, presented in the true light, are still very
important to the members of our Tampa Bay community. To put the message out to
our local media, I present the following:
1.
Tampa Bay Libertarians should monitor the
current local events, and send carefully crafted letters to the editors of the
local newspapers regarding all local events. Letters include, but are not
limited to Tampa Bay Times, Tampa Tribune, TBO.com, and other prominent local
news outlets. The letters must be concise, and present the real alternative to
the typical Republican/Democrat approach.
2.
Tampa Bay has many locally operated radio
stations. Libertarians should engage in a thoughtful discussion on current
issues using this medium. I do not expect to reach the likes of Rush Limbaugh
or reverend Glenn Beck with our message since they are too far gone, but the
local programs would be a fertile ground for our platform and public outreach.
3.
Tampa Bay has many voluntary events that
libertarians can participate in under the party banner. Events such as public
hearings and political gatherings can be used to spread the message of liberty
to the audience.
4.
Libertarians need a dedicated public relations
team in charge of publishing the timely, official statements regarding current
events to all local news outlets. These statements should be used to give the
public an alternative to the official, two-party endorsed opinions.
Libertarian Education
All the
public outreach is futile if the message expressed by it is not clearly
defined. The danger we must avoid is to allow our message to be blurred and
equated with the message of current two-party duopoly. On each occasion, we
must present the clear alternative to both ruling parties and refuse to side
ourselves with either of them. Comparing ourselves to the republican or democrat
party would be comparing the same as comparing us to theocratic Iran and
communist China. Our liberal philosophy is what has created the United States
to begin with, and we must continue to emphasize the best of the libertarian
thinking in each public engagement. To enable this, we must foster the
education on theory and application of libertarian principles to the current
society. It would be a shame if the public finally heard us just to realize
that we have really nothing to say to separate us from the establishment. Round
tables and friendly discussions in person on history, ethics, and applications
to current problems must once again be resurrected. Resources-rich websites,
such as www.mises.org should be a regular
stop for any libertarian interested in learning any aspect of libertarianism.
To
accommodate different types of learning styles, a YouTube channel should be
established to provide video lessons, local problems discussions, and official
statements to the liberty lovers across the internet. Due to the recession and
lack of funds, I understand this may not be doable at the moment, but the Tampa
Bay Libertarians should have a local office open to all, that serves as the
center of all our activity. Having the office would allow us to call public
meetings and invite participants from all over the state of Florida and beyond
to guest speak and be a part of the solution. The libertarian movement has
factions across the United States and the world. In order to achieve the
coherent message and have a lasting impact on the current affairs, the movement
factions must link and participate in the open and honest discussion. Tampa Bay
Libertarians must be definitive in their commitment to open dialogue and
participation of all groups, even if the platform of some group differs
slightly from the platform of libertarians.
Tampa Bay Concrete Political Plan
Finally, we need to show that libertarian
principles are not just pie-in-the-sky utopian babbling, and present the
concrete plan of moving Tampa Bay and its counties forward. Libertarian will not find a better friend and
ally for this than math. The power of real numbers and the power to relate
those numbers to each citizen will serve as the perfect ground to stand against
the establishment tendency to use make believe numbers and unicorn projections.
What we need to do is obtain the actual budget of each respective county we're
looking at, and then reveal the waste with real numbers. After the waste has
been revealed, it needs to be related to the amount of taxes and fees each
citizen pays in order to allow it. This waste is particularly prevalent in the
areas of police and sheriff departments, the departments that the establishment
now tends to call “first responders” in order to elevate their existence and
function to something essential and noble. Together we need to show them that
the first responders to any event are the people closest to it: the community
that's affected by the event. Unlike police and sheriff deputies, whose best
interests do not often align with the interest of the community, we are the
ones that will directly be affected by the outcome of any affair that takes
place within our community. We must not be afraid or hesitant to point out the
many shortcomings and abuses of power that come from the “first-responders”.
We must not be afraid to point out the liberty
is the end goal, and not some optimal condition for other goals, irrespective
of what the situation on the ground is. With that goal as the guiding light, we
will conquer all obstacles that come our way. We will endure the shortcomings
of the current system, all the while paving the road for the better, and the
more logical one. We will demonstrate once more to the world what it means to
be an American, having the highest ideals of human liberty, as well as the
centuries of liberal philosophy to help us, and serve the individuals in
achieving whatever goal, they themselves, as individuals, set out for to
achieve. And in you, Tampa Bay Libertarians, who decided to forgo the
established system despite the personal gain associated with it, I see the
force of future, and know that I couldn't have hoped for better companions to
help me on this journey.
In Liberty,
Vedran Delic
