Posted by Brent DeRidder on facebook:
Are you advocating Liberty everyday?
What am I saying? Of course you are. You love to debate, to share your opinion, to shake your fist violently at statism wherever you see it. You are passionate, diligent, and driven.
Are you making a difference?
Absolutely. Whether you’re working on a campaign, getting signatures, handing out literature, or just advocating Liberty from your armchair, you are making people think. Sometimes you’re making them think we make sense, sometimes you’re making them think we’re crazy, but you are making a difference.
If you’re like me, you’ve likely found “Who will?” to be your biggest obstacle. Anyone who’s spent more than 5 minutes in a Libertarian group on Facebook has seen people searching for the best answer to these types of questions. Who will build the roads? LOL. We all love that one. Who will feed the hungry? Who will keep us safe? Who will care for the sick?
The answer is always the free-market. We all know that. Sometimes we look for specifics or better answers but that’s what it boils down to. The free market. Voluntary funding. We know those to be wonderful ideas but read them aloud. Tell that to your children. Can you see where it sounds a bit cold? A bit lacking in empathy? It only gives us the warm fuzzies because of our understanding of the terms. I assure you it doesn’t have the same effect on the public in general.
But, you already know that, don’t you?
Of course you do.
If you’re like me, you want to give them a better answer. You know that the terms voluntary funding and free market are lost on a lot of people. You also know that for this movement to succeed, we need those people.
I’ve come to the conclusion that the best answer is “We will.” If someone’s asking you about education or caring for the needy, the hungry, the elderly, it’s likely because they care. So, tell them we will. We will build the roads. We will shelter the homeless. We will feed the hungry. We will care for the sick. We will educate the uneducated. YOU and I because we care about those things. Because that’s our common ground. Don’t let them look at you or this movement as cold or heartless anymore.
There’s a reason that “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” is such a heavily worn quote. It’s sage advice for any movement.
So, the next time someone asks you about muh roads, tell them we will.
#Libertarian
#Voluntary
#FreeMarket
#WeWill
Brent DeRidder lives in North Carolina and is active in the Libertarian Party and in the LP Radical Caucus.
Ever hear of John Locke’s social contract theory? Free people came together and voluntary gave up some of their freedoms to create government to meet certain needs. So the “we” is the government that the people voluntarily formed. So what’s the problem?
Should be fixed now, just for you.
Haha, you got me, Luke.
Thanks, but I was looking for the radial caucus mentioned in the article tags. That sounds intriguing. I’ve heard of the radical caucus before but this radial caucus… now that’s intriguing.
Luke, Facebook search Lp radical caucus.
Luke, check out http://www.lpradicalcaucus.org.
And yes we can! But seriously, tangible outreach and advocacy for the underprivileged is one of the best things any political party can do.
The radial caucus sounds cool. Where can I found more about them?