Outright Libertarians on US election results

Outright Libertarians via FB:

Dear Members and Allies,

Like many of you, I laid awake in shock last night and woke up despondent today. On reflection, I think apprehension is warranted but I also think hopefulness and courage as well. Sometimes a big rude orange man with bad hair is just a big rude orange man with bad hair, and we won’t know until next year what else is in the cards.

Fear was the motivator of choice this election and it’s only natural for those fears to remain. Remember they were amplified by a complicit media as were the inflated polling data, wikileaks showed us how closely the Clinton campaign worked with them to advance its narrative and that power imbalance was one sided. Things may not be what they seem, and there is much to look forward to.

The underground left will find fertile ground to recruit, they are far more libertarian than the mainstream left and counterculture will rise with them, as it did when reactionary cultural norms in the late 60s intersected with unpopular policies. Activism will probably get a whole lot more fun with the emergence of an active left and libertarianism is certain to continue enjoying growth, and the benefit of the alt-right reabsorbing even more of the unsavory remnants of the paleolibertarian strategy.

Am I worried? Yes. Have I lost hope? Not for a second. I was at least this demoralized in the wake of 2008 and we made it through. We saw a rise in violence globally and at home under Obama and reason to believe it would have gotten worse under Clinton. We’ve been living in a brutal imperial police and surveillance state for 15 years and to a lesser extent for decades.

We are resilient, we are courageous, we are diverse, and we are strong. It is still a beautiful world, full of passion and beauty and joy and love. Fear has no power over our brilliance; darkness cannot drive out our light. In fact the opposite is true. Love wins, it always wins. This too shall pass.

In Love and Light,
Mike Shipley, Chair