In Defense of Radical Activism

This was a response to someone on Facebook who was angered because I insulted Libertarian Party activists whom are “party over principle.”  Enjoy.

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Rand, I was not insulting every LP activist, only those who cannot see the forest through the trees.  Partyarchs get really angry when anyone is critical of elements within the party.  Harry Browne was probably the most radical and consistent Libertarian to ever run for President.  The party was also the largest it has ever been during that time period.  Nobody respects the LP anymore because it has been taken over by “reformists” who somehow believe if we water down our message enough we will start winning office.

Anyone who has taken Political Science 101 knows this is a horrible strategy for a couple of reasons.  For an LP candidate to win office, they would have to appeal to the moderate voter.  This largely has to do with the adoption of the “argument to moderation” fallacy within the common American society which has resulted in our mixed economy, “reformed” welfare, civil unions, medical marijuana and many other statist policies that are somehow championed by the liberty movement.

Overton window theory states there are six steps in which a policy goes from unthinkable to public policy (Unthinkable, Radical, Acceptable, Sensible, Popular, Policy).  The only way we can actually achieve liberty within our society is to convince people unthinkable and radical ideas are acceptable.  Currently the LP is doing the opposite by moderating the message.  The LP will lose time and time again because to appeal to the moderate voter, you cannot be a libertarian.

Ron Paul has been effective because he takes the opposite strategy.  He presents radical and unthinkable ideas to the public on a national scale.  This allows the previously radical ideas to become acceptable and therefore moves us towards more liberty.  The best example of this is the Audit the Fed bill passed last year in Congress.  Before Ron Paul spoke about the dangers of the Federal Reserve, anti-Fed activists were called kooks and Anti-Semites.  Now there is a distrust of the Fed in American society.  The only way to achieve liberty is to radicalize the message and get that message out to as many people as possible.