I have a feeling the next election is going to be a break-out year for the Libertarian Party of Canada.
Pragmatic libertarians are learning that soft selling liberty gets about as many votes as being radical without the benefit of making more libertarians. The PPC got the same percentage of votes the LPoC typically gets in ridings where we run candidates, but there aren’t more libertarians in Canada as a result. In the US, Johnson and Weld didn’t do appreciably better than radical presidential candidates would have, and there aren’t more libertarians as a result of their candidacy. In other words pragmatic libertarians are learning that culture matters more than electoral success, or at least that if you’re going to put up libertarian numbers you might as well have a clear libertarian message.
While pragmatic libertarians are learning that radicalism is more practical than vote chasing, radical* libertarians are learning that sitting on the political sidelines isn’t practical either.
Radical libertarian heavy hitters like Tom Woods, Dave Smith, Scott Horton and Stephan Kinsella are joining the US LP and bringing the libertarian movement into the libertarian party. In the past they have all criticized the US LP for fielding presidential candidates who don’t seem to understand libertarianism and lack the radicalism of Ron Paul. They realized the only way to change this was to get involved and bring their supporters into the party that is the standard bearer of their philosophy.
So whether you are a pragmatic libertarian who realizes that making more libertarians is the most practical thing you can do, or a radical libertarian who realizes that involvement with the Libertarian Party can help create more libertarians, my challenge to you is to get involved. We need to start preparing for the next election.
Here are some ways you can help us and get involved:
- 2020 Convention planning (location and dates TBD)
- Run for Leader, Deputy Leader or President
- Serve as a regional board director
- Serve as regional organizer
- Run as a candidate
- Help with content creation and social media
- Set-up an Electoral District Association
Please contact [email protected] if you can help out. Let us know where you live and what your skills or interests are.
My wife Tena and I would like to wish you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I look forward to working with you in 2020.
Sincerely,
Tim Moen
Leader of the Libertarian Party of Canada
*note – by “radical” I don’t mean obnoxious leftist style activism. I mean radical in the sense Rothbard used it in his essay “Do You Hate the State?” A conservative abolitionist says “we need to end slavery because it’s not economically efficient and we will tend to have better outcomes without slavery.” A radical abolitionist says, “Even if it were true that slavery is more economically efficient and more cotton gets picked and our nations GDP goes up I am still opposed to slavery. It is immoral.” For more on this here is a recent talk I gave in Vancouver: https://youtu.be/wiX7agblcWI