I tried that route too. As you may know I worked for US Congressman Ron Paul for 6 years as his Senior Aide. A side project as Aide was American territorial possessions, specifically Navassa Island, Seranilla Banks and Bajo Nuevo in the Caribbean.
I tried like hell for months to get libertarians interested in populating these uninhabited terriritories. Ron was into it too. Instead, they all got swept up by the nutty Free State Project and Ice Cold New Hampshire. There's only one route left for us; activism within the GOP. --- In [email protected], Greg Southworth <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I hear ya. It is bound to be frustrating when defeat seems to be snatched from the jaws of victory. Another route might be to do like the Progressives did at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. Form a non-partisan movement that demands limited government, free markets, social tolerance, and the right to form your own community movement. There might be other components, but that could be a start. Taking some of the Cato Institute's proposals and promoting them could also be a start. I suppose the benefit of such an approach is that it has a higher moral ground in that it isn't seen as just another political group grubbing for favors. Maybe then, it would be easier to "influence" political parties especially if they see the wind is blowing in a different direction. > > Greg > > Eric Dondero Rittberg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Greg, we have already tried the "build the movement outside the two > major parties" route. > > Most of us here have given their lives to the cause of the > Libertarian Party. > > It has been a miserable failure. I hate to say it, cause I was as > dedicated to the LP as you could imagine. For 6 years I did barely > nothing else except work for the LP at very, very low wages. > > 6 years of my life lost. > > The LP has not elected a single US Congressman in 35 years. And > worse currently there are NO LIBERTARIANS ELECTED TO STATE > LEGISLATURES ANYWHERES. > > The only choice we have is a faction within the Republican Party. > Like it or not. It's either that or just give up on political > altogether. > > > --- In [email protected], Greg Southworth <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > Neither has a sterling record. Republicans have at least addressed > the idea of limited government. Once upon a time, they actually > believed in limited government. But when asked how they would > address real problems such as pollution, crime, race relations, > etc...they gave us "pollution is good for you!", the War on Drugs > for crime fighting, and a Southern strategy (which meant kissing up > to overt segregationists in return for votes) to address ethnic > conflicts in America. Don't worry the Demos have their own warts. > Now with the advent of the Neocon/Social Conservative movement we > have something called "big government conservatism"(America on the > march to promote its interests as a Bible-believing Christian nation) > > > > The movement called libertarianism is going to have to either > build a movement outside the traditional party system and seek to > transform society independently of that system or enter one or both > parties and transform them from within. I can see good arguments > both ways. Arguing which party is less bad is a pointless exercise > and a waste of energy. > > > > Greg > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > >>all of the above. republicans are not the enemies of > libertarians, democrats are. > > > > Vic<< > > > > They aren't its friends. > > > > BWS > > > > > > ForumWebSiteAt http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian > > > > > > > > SPONSORED LINKS > > Libertarian English language Liberty Political parties Online > dictionary > > > > --------------------------------- > > YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS > > > > > > Visit your group "Libertarian" on the web. > > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of > Service. > > > > > > --------------------------------- > > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------- > > Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > > > > ForumWebSiteAt http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian > > > > SPONSORED LINKS > Libertarian English language Liberty Political parties Online dictionary > > --------------------------------- > YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS > > > Visit your group "Libertarian" on the web. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. > > > --------------------------------- > > > > > --------------------------------- > Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! 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