Looking for a New Political Party...
So on a random surf this morning I came across this particularly stupid editorial/ article:
Pigs in Space
Courtesy of The Nation magazine. Thankfully most of the commentors on that posting excoriated the author for his naive and regressive viewpoint. I think I recognised a few fellow Cynics readers over there....
So here's my problem - I can't find a political party in the US that represents the majority of my views. I think this is a problem that is much broader than the mainstream realises.
I've been told that my views - which can be briefly described as "government should not spend money it doesn't have, and should stay the hell out of my private life" (or, alternatively, a fiscal conservative and social liberal) would fall into the category of "libertarian" - but the Libertarian party (with the notable exception of Ron Paul, who is a libertarian regardless of his actual affiliation) has NO traction in US politics.
They say that if you're 20 and aren't a democrat, you have no heart, and if you're 30 and aren't a republican, you have no brain. But what happens when you turn 40...?
Mr. Simonyi - congratulations on your well-deserved trip. I certainly envy you, and would do the same if I had the cash. As for the hordes of Xena-worshippers out there (you know who you are) - i've got a separate post for you in a moment...
posted by Shubber Ali at 4:22 PM
3 Comments:
If the Libertarians ever find a way to put up candidates that aren't loony throwbacks to the stone age I might consider them. I land as a social liberal and fiscal centrist, meaning I'm willing to borrow money a little bit if the cause is worth it and I can see a few that are.
However, the Libertarians make themselves irrelevant much like the other third parties do. They must have a grass roots appeal to grow and few have a clue about how to field thousands of local level candidates before reaching for the top offices.
And of course having lots of commentators standing around the edges describing what they'd like without really doing anything about it doesn't help.
I'm libertarian, and I do often vote Libertarian. I thought it was great that the candidate in '04 (anyone? anyone? Didn't think so. It was Michael Badnarik) was 'detained by authorities' for trying to deliver a court order to the Presidential debate in Arizona. The one where not all of the candidates who were on the ballots of all 50 states were allowed to participate despite the fact it was funded by taxpayer monies.
Of course, if being a constitutional scholar is being a "loony throwback", then F you I'll take the loony Libertarian throwbacks over the loony recidivists of the two major parties. Libertarian philosophy underlies much of the history of this nation, and is neither loony nor irrelevant. It's also going to have a strong impact on how humanity develops culturally once we start moving into the wilds of the High Frontier.
Libertarians will never have traction whilst folks like y'all sit around griping about how the Libertarians have no traction, leaving non-free-thinking libertarians with the false paradox of having to pick a Republican or a Democrat. The question does arise though of what a main-stream Libertarianism looks like versus the more intransigent types that have had a lot sway in laying the foundations to date.
The idea that libertarianism will play a major role in space colonization is probably fanciful, given the nature of the challenges and extreme need for cooperation. When your very life is the result of an investment by the community, and they can't spare the equipment or manpower to let you strike off on your own, you're looking at some pretty severe and regimented societies.
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