When we meet another libertarian we often spend the first few minutes sizing them up and trying to determine the nuances of their philosophy. Once we have this piece of the puzzle we too often create a relationship based on if a person is one of "us" or one of "them". The fact of the matter is the "them" is never our fellow libertarians, but those statists who wave the flag with one hand while stealing our liberties with the other.

A pendulum swinging back and forth never moves forward. We can have a national committee full of self described "radicals" that refuse to let any "reformer" have input. The following convention the "reformers" can take over the national committee and shut out the "radicals". In the end we are back where we started. We will never manage to move forward if part of the national committee spends its time trying to silence members who disagree with them. We will not survive if we continue to allow LNC subcommittees to hold meetings in which some members were excluded because other members disagreed with them.

The Libertarian National Committee needs to live up to the libertarian philosophy of personal liberty. We have to accept that our fellow libertarians will sometimes disagree with us. We can only create a libertarian society when we spend less time as a party fighting over how we word our message and more time spreading our message.

The party must stand firm on its principals of individual liberty and personal responsibility. With the Democrat pendulum swinging to the left and the Republican pendulum swinging to the right, some argue the Libertarian Party needs to rush into the void. By moving our party to the left or the right we are just creating another void "up". We cannot and should not compromise our philosophy to fill a void. Where would this leave our party when the Republican or Democrat pendulum swings back? Instead of moving into the void we should reach into the void. Through outreach and education we will bring those who are left politically homeless by their parties into the Libertarian Party.

We should never mistake the Libertarian National Committee for our Libertarian Party. Our party is not a committee of seventeen. Our Libertarian Party is the people who run for office, donate money, and volunteer their time. The party is those who are activist working to change the world. Our Libertarian Party is us.

Our Libertarian National Committee needs to listen to our members, the people who elect the committee, to listen where they want their donations spent and on which path they want to go. Then our LNC should lead the way. Our National Committee should learn what our party actually needs from a national office and then find an economical way to meet our needs. When we listen to activist on the front line and meet their needs we will move our party and our society into a bright future of freedom.

Scott Williamson is a candidate for LNC Regional Representative and can be contacted at scott.williamson01@comcast.net

Scott Williamson :: The Party and the Pendulum

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