“Government? We have a government”?

By Jim Fryar.

Patrick has done it again. He has a habit of making comments that I feel deserve substantial answers, or maybe I just talk too much. Anyway, I have been so long winded that I will do it as a post again. Patrick's comment was: -

patrick joubert conlon said...
Wayne is definitely one of us. When he first thought of running as a Republican, I was thrilled but, since he has decided to run as a Libertarian, I have had to cool my enthusiasm. Third party candidates don't stand a chance in the USA and are often spoilers as in "the perfect is the enemy of the good."

BTW I loved your ending quip: “Government? We have a government”?

Thank you Patrick.
It is an honour to be quoted on your blog.

It was a thought emanating from a moment of whimsy some time ago, when I thought about a ‘Republic of Libertaria’. Since then I have explored your ‘State of Jefferson’ and the ‘Republic of Cascadia’ both of which are remarkably similar, except Libertaria would have no national boundaries but would be purely “State of Mind’.

It is somewhat flattering to think out something that you believe to be good, and then find that others have visited it too. I found that when I was thinking of policies or arguments, I would look at them from the viewpoint of, “How would we do this in Libertaria”. It’s odd that I have been doing this for 30 years without thinking of the actual properties of the state of mind. I hope I don’t sound too weird.

I can see what you mean about Wayne Root. I have had the thought for some time that it is the worst possible time for the Republicans to find themselves up against a credible and charismatic Libertarian candidate, and I wish for your sakes that this wasn’t happening.

A significant part of your Republican Party has genuine libertarian credentials, and I really think this is the way for your people to go, however there is no party here that offers us this option, all of them being based on statism. When I was in my teens there was what was called ‘The Ginger Group’ within the Liberal party, but it was small and long gone.

About 30 years ago I was the campaign director for a Libertarian (Progress Party) candidate, and decided that it would be a good ‘stir’ to visit an old friend who was a Liberal party member, and ask him for a donation. To my surprise, he gave me a solid cheque, and told me that we represented what he had always believed the Liberal Party should stand for. This thought isn’t widespread though.

The reason for my post is that our libertarians tend to be what Eric Dondero calls “policy wonks” and I really want them to have a good look at the way WAR is doing it. He really knows how to sell the product, which is what we have to learn to do. I think that too many of us over here are stirrers rather than engaging in real politics, and this has to change.

If I was over there I would be quite at home with the libertarian elements of the Republican Party.

We also have preferential voting here, which allows us to choose an order of candidates if the one we vote for is unsuccessful, thus a vote for a minority party still counts on preferences.