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LP Monday Message: Why are you a Libertarian?

By Jordan Willow Evans on March 8, 2011 1:54 AM

LP Monday Message:

Dear Friend of Liberty,

I want to know why you are a Libertarian Party member.

(If you’re not already a Libertarian Party member, you can join today. Then, tell me why you joined.)

In addition to wanting to hear from you, I want to share your story with others. Your response may get reprinted on our website, in LP News (the official print newspaper of the LP), or somewhere else.

1) Length: 1 to 300 words (I’m hoping to get plenty of short, one-sentence responses, not just 300-word essays.)
2) Pictures: Send a photo if you have one that we can post on our website or in LP News (HIGH-resolution please).
3) Videos: Feel free to make a video and send a link to it.
4) Please reply directly to this email without changing the subject line so your response is easy to find.
5) Please do not respond if you don’t want to give us permission to re-print your response — or CLEARLY indicate that you don’t want me to re-print your response.

Please include your:
1) Name
2) City
3) State
4) Website or email (optional)

If you want to tell me why you are NOT a Libertarian Party member, your response is welcome, too. I might use that somewhere.

I became interested in the Libertarian Party because I was fed up with Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America and the Republicans who failed to actually cut government. I joined the LP in 1996 and became a monthly pledger in 1997. Prior to joining the LP, I was mostly interested in economic issues. After joining the LP, I came to appreciate the importance of civil liberties. Harry Browne convinced me to support a non-interventionist foreign policy and to embrace immigration. I’ve been a solid 100-100 Libertarian on the World’s Smallest Political Quiz for over a decade. Republicans talk about economic freedom, but deliver the opposite. Democrats talk about defending civil liberties, but support things like the Patriot Act. The Libertarian Party consistently defends freedom on all issues. With a national budget of under $2 million, the Libertarian Party delivers a surprisingly big bang for the buck. That’s why I’m a Libertarian Party member.

I look forward to sharing your story about why you are a Libertarian Party member.

Sincerely,

Wes Benedict
Executive Director
Libertarian National Committee

P.S. If you have not already done so, please join the Libertarian Party. We are the only political party dedicated to free markets, civil liberties, and peace. You can also renew your membership. Or, you can make a contribution separate from membership.

Jordan Willow Evans

Jordan Willow Evans is an editor and policy analyst based in Goffstown, New Hampshire. She serves as managing editor of Independent Political Report and executive director of the Outsider Media Foundation, a nonprofit news organization focused on independent and alternative political movements. She has studied third parties and political outsiders since her student years.

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2 Comments

  1. Gary Chartier March 9, 2011

    This is way too long for what Wes is looking for:

    http://liberalaw.blogspot.com/2009/08/getting-from-there-to-here-political.html

    The short version, I think, is that I was very much a libertarian as an adolescent; discovered the importance of traditionally leftist concerns as a late high school and college student; unfortunately became a pretty conventional statist as a result, on the assumption that addressing these concerns required the activity of the state; and returned to libertarianism when I discovered, courtesy of people like Kevin Carson, Charles Johnson, and Roderick Long, that I didn’t have to choose between being a leftist and being a libertarian.

  2. paulie March 8, 2011

    They’re looking for stuff to be sent directly to LPHQ, but you can also post it here – as long as you don’t forget to also send it to them as well.

Comments are closed.