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Reactions on a Pittsburgh Libertarian email list[]
- July 6, 2006 from Dave Eckhardt
Ringleader is such an Emotionally-Loaded term.
Among my objections to the "Reform the LP" campaign was its repeated use of emotionally-laden terms and false dichotomies -- starting with the name itself: "reform" has the connotation of righting wrongs. Think of all the terms that could have been used instead, such as "advance", "popularize", "grow", etc. In general, any time anybody claims they're "reforming" something I assume they're trying to put something over on me (see "campaign finance reform").
I found the campaign against the membership pledge deceptive. Convention attendees received two stickers, one reading "big tent libertarian" (meaning: ditch the pledge) and the other reading "anarchists only" (keep the pledge), and were encouraged to wear one or the other.
Now, we may not need a membership pledge (I think we do), and it's possible we need to replace the one we have (personally I am open to suggestions), but despite having received and carefully read the "RLP"'s pre-convention pamphlet I don't see how the current pledge equates to anarchy, and I believe many current LP members would reject that characterization.
A similar pair of stickers was handed out about the Platform--keeping the platform was derisively labelled "libertopia tomorrow", and I think abruptly ditching the entire platform en masse was called something like "gradual libertarian".
Again, maybe the platform is too long and/or too idealistic and we need a smaller, more-focused one (fine by me). But it appears as if what we got was a campaign for rejecting *all* platform planks (the right to keep and bear arms squeaked through with something like 50.1% of the vote, which I interpret as meaning that many people just checked the "reject all planks" box on the ballot).
Personally I don't believe this country will get limited government until the average citizen wants it, and I don't think the average citizen *can* want limited government without understanding what it means. I think Badnarik is on track when he addresses the situation as an educational problem.
What I *don't* think will work is an "electoral reform program" consisting of handing out three stickers to everybody in the U.S., "Commie Democrat", "Ayatollah Republican", and "Sensible Libertarian", and expecting a sound-bite trick to bring in the votes.