Strategic Vision

In an excerpt published on LRC from remarks delivered at the Dallas-Ft. Worth Mises Circle, November 5, Jeff Deist put forth the intriguing proposition that perhaps it is time to re-brand “libertarianism” in light of new realities of strategic marketing and ideological differentiation from progressivism, neoconservatism, and the watered-down “libertarian-lite” monstrosity put forth by Gary Johnson and Bill Weld in the 2016 presidential race.

So let us promote a different vision of liberty, a robust, muscular, pragmatic vision that accords with reality and human nature. One that is not at war with culture, tradition, family, religion, and community. One that fits the world as it is: hardboiled, pragmatic, results-oriented, focused on issues and market solutions.

I would heartily suggest that such a commendable strategic vision has already been stretched out long ago from two unique but very different sources that compliment and enhance each other.

The first is by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. and Jeffery A. Tucker, in a classic but forgotten article, “Ayn Rand Is Dead,” which appeared in the May 28, 1990 edition of National Review. These co-authors outlined a magnificent rubric which presents the elements of a Decalogue for a new freedom movement based on a broad based appeal to first principles:

1. Objective standards of morality are essential to the free and civilized social order.

2. Western culture is eminently worthy of preservation and defense.

3.Vigorous social authorities embodied in the family, church, and other mediating institutions-is a bedrock of the virtuous society.

4. The egalitarian ethic is morally reprehensible and destructive of private property and social authority.

5. The leviathan state is the prime institutional source of evil throughout history.

6. The unhampered free market is morally and practically superior to all other systems.

7. Private property is economically and morally necessary.

8. The garrison state threatens liberty and social well-being.

9. The welfare state is organized theft

10. Proper civil liberties are based on property rights.

The second group of principles is from the Ten Points of the Libertarian Party Rothbard Caucus:

1. Principled Populism – The Libertarian Party should be a mass-participation party operating in the electoral area and elsewhere, devoted to consistent libertarian principle, and committed to liberty and justice for all. The Libertarian Party should trust in and rely on the people to welcome a program of liberty and justice and should always aim strategically at convincing the bulk of the people of the soundness of libertarian doctrine.

2. Rights Are Primary – The central commitment of the Libertarian Party should be to individual liberty on the basis of rights and moral principle, and not on the basis of economic cost-benefit estimates.

3. Power Elite Analysis – American society is divided into a government-privileged class and a government-oppressed class and is ruled by a power elite. Libertarian Party strategy and pronouncements should reflect these facts.

4. Resistance & The Oppressed – The Libertarian Party should make a special effort to recruit members from groups most oppressed by the government so that the indignation of those who experience oppression is joined to that of those who oppose oppression in principle. The Libertarian Party should never approve of the initiation of force, nor should it rule out self-defense and resistance to tyranny.

5. No Compromise – The Rothbard Caucus insists that all reforms advocated by the Libertarian Party must diminish governmental power and that no such reforms are to contradict the goal of a totally free society. Holding high our principles means avoiding completely the quagmire of self-imposed, obligatory gradualism: We must avoid the view that, in the name of fairness, abating suffering, or fulfilling expectations, we must temporize and stall on the road to liberty.

6. No Particular Order – The removal of a harmful government policy should never be held up as a condition for removing another, for this throws self-imposed barriers in the path of liberty and removes potential pressures for change. For example, saying that borders may be opened only after welfare is eliminated is unacceptable; the proper position is to push for both changes. Should we succeed in achieving open borders only to find that welfare burdens are increased, this should be used as an additional argument to abolish welfare.

7. Strategic Centrism – Avoiding the twin errors of sectarianism and opportunism is key. Simply repeating our basic principles and not proposing transition measures is ineffective in the short run because only a small part of the populace is interested in liberty in the abstract, and hiding or abandoning our principled positions is ineffective in the long run because it fails to sustain us as a movement and attract and retain new Libertarians.

8. Radical Abolitionism – As the word radical means “going to the root” of something, radical Libertarians should not merely propose small changes to the status quo and debate the fine points of government policy with their opponents, but should propose the abolition of State institutions and programs while calling attention to the evil at their base: the coercion, force, and tyranny inherent in the State. Because morality and logic are on our side, the best candidates and spokespersons will sound eminently reasonable while maintaining radical libertarian positions.

9. Anti-Imperialism & Centrality of Foreign Policy – Because the United States government aspires to world-wide control of events, foreign policy is always potentially the most important issue of our time. The Libertarian Party should bring to the public the truth about the continuing threat to world peace posed by U.S. foreign policy. No one should be deceived by the notion that any government, like the American, which has a relatively benign domestic policy, therefore has a relatively benign foreign policy.

10. Anti-State Coalition – The Rothbard Caucus agrees to the view, adopted by the Libertarian Party at its 1974 Dallas convention, that for purposes of party programs and activities the issue of the ultimate legitimacy of government per se is not relevant. We oppose all efforts to exclude either anarchists or minimal statists from party life.

 

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6:19 pm on November 9, 2016