Ron Paul Revolution: libertarianism

By Zach Foster

A heavily edited version was originally published in April by Young Americans for Liberty

Syn-er-gy. n. 1. The interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects. 2. Cooperative interaction among groups, especially among the acquired subsidiaries or merged parts of a corporation, that creates an enhanced combined effect.

This is a very delicate subject, but please approach it with an open mind, and know that in no way do I wish to threaten YAL’s non-partisan, non-profit status in the writing of this communique to my fellow liberty activists.

First of all I must congratulate all the YAL chapters who have actively established and maintained a presence on their campuses and nearby towns. The many protests and creative demonstrations against violations of privacy and dignity by the TSA have made the papers in many cities. YAL members have shown that they have what it takes to raise awareness to the issues.

However, I am concerned with a perceived lack of unity among different factions within the greater liberty movement. For example, in California there have been many complaints of YAL chapter members being hesitant or opposed to partner in activism with members of Youth for Ron Paul. Among Youth for Ron Paul, there is widespread opposition to working with grass roots activists. Furthermore, though this gap is being bridged, there are still liberty factions within the Republican Party who will not work with Libertarian Party members to enact change, and vice versa.

I fully understand that overtly doing so would threaten tax-exempt and legal statuses of these various organizations. However, let us not forget that we are individuals, and as individuals we have a freedom of association. This author happens to be a member of various organizations, from YAL and YFP to the state defense force. However, being a member of one organization does not mean that identity is tattooed on my forehead. I still have the right to associate freely as a private citizen, as do all of you. If you wish to not compromise the status of your organization, then simply don’t wear the uniform, or the name tag, or the badges, etc. Wear your Ron Paul t-shirt or Gary Johnson t-shirt, or even a Murray Rothbard shirt or hat.

I urge all liberty activists to reach out to neighboring liberty organizations [you all surf on Facebook, you know who they are!]. Organize with them. Educate voters on the issues. Team up with them to get people registered to vote. Combine your numbers so that you can go door-to-door and cover a greater areas. Follow the example of groups like the LA Liberty HQ, who are constantly distributing literature, knocking on doors, canvassing parades and farmers’ markets, and making phone calls on behalf of multiple liberty candidates from multiple parties.

Just like having more laborers in the market creates more goods and more wealth, having more liberty activists working together creates more projects and more people reached and voters won. Multiplying your output means multiplying the chances of our victory.

For those of you who are already working with neighboring organizations, setting aside minor differences for the sake of spreading the message of liberty, I commend you. Keep up the good work! We have a lot more ahead of us, but we have the privilege of being the forces on the ground leading the charge of this revolution.

Image by markn3tel (via Flickr) and published via Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License. The owner does not necessarily endorse this author or his work.

Ron Paul Revolution

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Ron Paul Supporters Will Be Targeted by Gary Johnson in Tampa

Monday, May 7, 2012

Synergy and Cohesion in the Liberty Movement

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Jim DeMint: The GOP Must Start Listening to Ron Paul