Why would I write an article encouraging people to vote?

[LovePrevails]

Well, for the first time Scotland has a libertarian party.

 

Do I believe that political action is effective? Not really

 

So why would I write this?

 

Most people in Scotland have never even heard the word libertarian! we have a strict left-right divide between labour, the greens and the marginal socialist (communist) parties and the conservative party as well as UKIP. Since people don't gather en masse to regard the philosophy of every day life, peaceful parenting &c. I thought it might be a good excuse to get people searching the term and exposed to ideas they have never even heard or considered before.

 

Don't think I would get involved if I lived in the states but here is the article I wrote if you would like to give me any feedback - I made a concerted effort to distinguish us from both the left and right parties.

 

http://scottishlibertarians.com/the-avengers-a-libertarian-perspective/

 

let me know what you think

[regevdl]

Well done!  I also don't believe political action will eventually give us a stateless society.  The only way that could occur if people were offered a vote of 'do you want gvt or not'.  And that will never happen and honestly, it should NEVER happen so spontaneously and instantly. Just like voting or throwing massive hissy fits to take down the Confederate Flag doesn't instantly wipe away racism, nor should we believe instant destruction or mass spontaneous negation of the system will bring a moral society.  Like going cold turkey.  Sure...it works but sometimes without additional therapy, the junkie lacks the recognition of how he/she became a junkie in the first place.    the society NEEDS to evolve to that consciousness and awareness in its own ebb and flow. This is the value I see in political parties such as Libertarian.  I will say that then you have your hard-core Libertarians who think this is the best thing since slice bread and those who recognize the minarchists and anarchists.  I like Tom Woods for this purpose.  He, in my opinion will always be a Libertarian but he has interviewed Stefan and others who have moved beyond Libertarianism and don't see it as a threat, so he uses his base as a platform to further bring other viewpoints that the political platform won't accept or even acknowledge exists.  

 

However, I will say that since we are immersed in state-fullness, there is benefits to parties like the Libertarians and classical liberals that use the very political system they are trying to undermine. Many candidates in the past have used it as an educational tool.  use the system to simply add a different viewpoint, even if it doesn't catches immediately or get 'elected' into the highest most prominent position.  

 

This shouldn't be the only way to spread the idea, of course, but it helps to have a multi pronged approach.  

 

I myself came from the left by American standards, mainly as a rebellion against my religious-conservative parents.  drifted more towards libertarianism....simmered in that viewpoint for awhile but once I was challenged to reflect on inconsistancies in polices, I had no choice but to reflect on my own inconsistancies in which I drifted toward minarchism and eventually anarchism.  

 

The point of sharing my personal experience is that if we keep getting stuck int he political process, then rarely do we shift and drift or really challenge ourselves.  However, we have to be realistic that most people have separation anxiety the moment you even suggest or mention anarchism.  So there does need to be a 'transition' option for lack of a better term.  Some people get stuck there as it's cozy and warm and fewer continue the self reflection work and iron out the inconsistent wrinkles in their principles.  This is my biggest criticism of libertarians that they still have blind spots they keep on purpose or lack of self awareness which eventually becomes the Dunning-Kruger effect