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Gutting Libertarian
Party Principles
The Portland Purge


By L.K. Samuels

Portland, we have a problem. The July 1-2, 2006, Libertarian Party National Convention in Portland, Oregon, is over, but the repercussions will be felt for years. A small, well-organized group of pragmatists and conservatives -- the LP Reform Caucus -- attempted to oust the original heirs of the Libertarian Party.

First, the usurpers attempted to abolish the LP pledge, arguing that it is simply too shocking for the general public. They failed, but barely. Next, through a parliamentary procedure, the Reform Caucus successfully gutted the LP national platform from over 60 planks to about a dozen. Little remains, not even the venerable plank opposing foreign interventionism.

With typical political thinking, this small discordant group dismisses anyone favorable to the platform as “anarchistic,” predisposed to stopping any “Big Tent Libertarian” outreach ventures. Unable to abolish every plank in one full sweep, the reformers plan to recruit new LP members from the ranks of other political parties, specifically from the religious “Constitution Party.” With these Bible-thumpers as card-carrying LP members, they hope to finish off the remaining platform and pledge at the 2008 convention.

So what are some of the principles that must go? First and foremost is the non-aggression principle, which is considered the main threat to an election-oriented populism. If libertarians would simply throw away this principle, explaining LP policies on taxation, the drug war, foreign policy and military intervention would no longer be a campaign nightmare. The LP would now be free to advocate all sorts of government programs and interventions since taxation would no longer be considered a violation of human rights. Voters would no longer fear that someone out there actually believes an individual’s property does not belong to the state.

In essences, these reformers are attempting to turn the LP into a “pragmatic” party in order to bring it into the vote-getting political mainstream. And yet, the founder of the Libertarian Party, David Nolan, has repeatedly said that he and the early founders were more interested in the educational opportunities available through a campaign for office. To them, actually winning an election was secondary.

But should the Libertarian Party bases its success solely on achieving political power? Should we seek political power as the end-all? One Reform Caucus leader echoed this sentiment by arguing that the LP must “win elections at any cost,” which comes close to the Machiavellian notion that the “ends justify the means.” To him libertarian principles were an impediment to greater LP election victories.

If libertarians discard or hide their principles, they will have no maps to take them where they had set out to go. They will be ideologically naked in a political world that has little regard for individual autonomy. Like clothes, principles provide a fabric with which to cover one’s vulnerable parts. Without principles, most people would be susceptible to the seductive and corrupting influence of a political system only interested in its own survival at the expense of taxpayers. Any electoral victory by a non-principled “Big Tent Libertarian” would be hollow and meaningless. He or she would simply become part of the systemic problem of an overreaching government.

Without strong principles, the Libertarian Party might as well as change its name to the Conservative Party or the Reform Party. If the Libertarian Party wishes to remain the “Party of Principle,” it must have some.

- - - - - - - -

Editor and contributing author of Facets of Liberty: A Libertarian Primer, L.K. Samuels is the Northern California Vice Chair of the Libertarian Party and Vice Chair of the Monterey County LP. He was a delegate to the 2006 LP Portland convention.

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