Kevin Tull responds to Missouri LP list war debate

By Kevin Joseph Tull

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An Internet post by Kevin Tull responding to the ongoing debate on the Missouri list server, molp@yahoogroups.com, regarding the war.

Friends of Liberty,

I'm certainly no peacekeeper and I can't mollify this situation with one word or many more. But being a small voice in a big pond maybe I can at least add my opinion and let things work out as they will hoping that maybe I have said something of worth. For better or worse any of you who have read any of my posts or essays at LFA, or in the Missouri LP newsletter "Show Me Freedom" in the past know that I believe the most important thing in our goal to achieve greater liberty for ourselves and our families is to achieve a higher level of awareness among society of what freedom and liberty means.

I'm not talking about the claptrap that we "live in the freest nation in the world," we are Libertarians, or at least we believe strongly in the libertarian philosophy, and the clichés don't work for us. We know better. When government doesn't work we say it doesn't work.

The funny thing is when we don't work we also say that we don't work (This is a good thing). But we seem to have the sensitivity of the average five year old when it comes to name calling and other insults. We either forget or we just don't care that we have overall a greater goal. In many cases we would rather bicker and threaten to leave, or leave the party, then work toward the goal.

Here's an example of something that annoyed me about the party at the last, and my first, National Libertarian Convention. Someone brought forward a proposal of a change in the platform that we should advocate not only fully informed juries, but that we come out in our platform against "jury stacking." This recollection may not be entirely accurate, but I believe it is pretty close to what was proposed. The point is that this is something I personally feel very strong about, but I didn't decide to leave the party or threaten to leave the party when it overwhelmingly failed to pass.  

Recently I became the chair of my county's Libertarian party and I have an email list of about sixty locals. So I send out an email about our monthly county meeting and what happens, five people show up.

That annoys me, but do I say, "well it’s a hopeless cause," or "nobody really cares, So I quit!" No, I say "five people care," and maybe those five people might be able to influence five more someday. 

A lot of people may not show up because they believe it’s just a "supper club." So what! Do you think those five people who show up think that? No, they think, "maybe, just maybe, if I can keep showing up, and throw a buck or two in the hat and help with OPH booths or something else here or there I can help make things in this world a little better, a little more libertarian."

What do we think we are accomplishing by arguing incessantly about the party or its platform? Do we promote Liberty by threatening to leave the party when we basically all believe in the libertarian concepts of natural law? These are the societal and political goals we all are working for.

My personal opinion is that as dysfunctional as the Party’s members can be at times, we still have the best political philosophy in town. So what are we doing about it? Are we complaining that we have worked for the Party for years and it has let us down, so we quit? Are we saying the philosophy is sound even if some of the activists aren't, so we give up?

Maybe we feel the practical societal changes that will bring us all more freedom are sound, even if the activists we need aren't all that active, so you’re not going to play anymore. Get over yourself. 

Just keep in mind one thing as you contemplate all this: the Party didn't make you leave, you did. The activists didn't let you down; you chose to let down the activists. Complain if you want, but stay the course. Point out the flaws, but stay the course. Get tired, take a break, grow a beard, take a smoke, drink and then get up and shave (shaving optional, but please take a shower) and show up and stay the course!

Kevin Joseph Tull

thejclib2@juno.com , Chair, Jackson County Libertarian Party, Missouri
http://www.geocities.com/thejclib

Editor, Show Me Freedom, Official publication of the Missouri Libertarian Party
http://www.showmefreedom.org

Contributing Editor, Liberty for All ezine, http://www.libertyforall.net