Just another insignificant spec of space dust

Lives in Auckland, New Zealand

Lol… not exactly sure what defines a liberal… we have left or right here in New Zealand, if the left is considered a liberal then yes I am a liberal, my reason for being left is quite simple but yet is a personal reason mostly due to a massive stroke I had 10 years ago. 

After working for decades & paying taxes, the ruling right govt at that time had stopped funding such useless brain-injured folk & I was expected to buy my own walking aids, wheelchairs n things.

When I was in rehab learning to walk n talk again, I was mortified at the govt for their lack of concern & learned quickly that wealth over health was the right’s aim….the right was so arrogant.

Their leader even stated ” We don’t need to entice any elderly voters, coz they are a dying breed anyway”…they then proceeded to give themselves pay rises & new limos while they tossed many folks outta their state homes. 

Homelessness skyrocketed…the left here is more for looking after the people…. we in NZ have always been peaceful & anti-war, anti-nuclear, etc but when the right was in charge, the right leader was considered rich & knowledgeable. 

But as we all found out, he didn’t get rich by looking after people & they were out at the next election… now with Jacinda Adern, it kind of feels like we have a “mom” in charge & she looked after us all so well.

We all received thousands to get us through the lockdown back in march & now we are all living virtually covid free & the economy is getting back up there again…

Vice-Chair at Libertarian Party of Kern County

California Coordinator for the Mises Caucus

Lives in Rosamond, California

From Campbellsburg, Kentucky

How did I become a Libertarian?

I was the non-voter a lot of Libertarians say they want to reach but it wasn’t lukewarm statements that got me interested. I have a socialist friend that had me leaning towards Bernie but if I was going to actually vote I needed to hear both sides.

So, I tuned in to the first Republican debate in 2015, I knew Trump wouldn’t allow it to be boring, also I heard that my Senator was running and I remembered he was cool with weed. (Rand Paul, I had no idea at the time) 

Rand made a profound and radical statement that changed everything for me, “For every terrorist we kill with a drone bomb, we create 10 new terrorists because innocent people get caught up in these blasts and they have loved ones who now hate America” 

It just made so much sense.  Rand toned it down after that, which is why I think he lost so badly.

What kind of Libertarian am I? 

I consider myself a Rothbardian style Voluntaryist, I’ve dropped the Anarchist label for many reasons. I hold more traditional values than I do libertine.

I’m a Christian, my girlfriend and I have built a strong family unit, and for example, while I don’t think there should be laws against sex work, I don’t think that such pursuits are healthy for people to be engaged in. 

So it would be fair to say that I lean right and my personality often reflects my right leanings as well.

What would I like to see happen?

With the LP I would like to see a bolder message that highlights the evils of government; that the people in power aren’t just misguided goofs who bring us unintentional consequences. 

I think the consequences are intentional and that the people in power are not good people, to say the least. A message that rejects cultural Marxism and can soundly define what CM is without falling into racist and bigoted rhetoric.

What is my vision for the country… the world?

I think that decentralization, nullification, and ultimately secession is the only viable path forward to retaining and building free societies in America with perhaps an updated version of the Articles of Confederation for the purpose of defense for those states who would want that.

My vision for the world is for the natural rights of all people to be acknowledged and respected by all regimes and all people.

How can we make these changes happen? 

Politically speaking we need to take over local governments, elect Libertarians to city and county municipalities who aren’t scared of words like nullification and secession.

Outside of Political activity, I think that agorism should be adopted as much as possible without completely withdrawing from the current statist society. 

Also a renewed focus on implementing libertarianism into American culture and supporting those artists and cultural figures. SDA can help by mobilizing volunteers to push drug decriminalization ordinances.

Specifically blue areas in red states and gun rights sanctuary ordinances in red areas of blue states. 

And right now, any anti-lockdown efforts are greatly appreciated by people in our communities.

Member of Self-Determination Advocates since November 4, 2020

Voting is the failed attempt to give your rights away, to abdicate your sovereignty, your responsibility to make your own decisions. Even voting cannot do these things.

Sovereignty, your rights, your responsibility to make ethical, moral decisions is bound by and cannot be separated from Natural Law, and following for any length of time an illusory authority – and all authority is illusory – goes against Natural Law and is therefore folly.

Hence, government itself goes against Natural Law and is therefore also folly. (You may have noticed a creepiness about the word governmental… govern mental.) Government is an unnatural condition and freedom is a natural state.

We’re taught as children that obedience to authority is a virtue and that doing as you’re told makes you a good person and all of the worst tyrannies in history depended upon people believing that.

In reality, being moral means following your conscience and doing the right thing even when “authority” tells you not to. “Authority” is a word used for psychological manipulation and exists only in the minds of those who believe they have the power to wield it and those who believe they have an obligation to obey. 

Nature (Natural Law) is the answer to what is (a) right or wrong. What if we align ourselves with Natural Law (God’s Law, Universal Law, Karmic Law, the Law of Consequence,) by using the ancient and accepted, tried and true truth discovery process known as the trivium education methodology, in order to get the maximum experience from our potential as sentient beings?

What if the purpose of our collective existence is to steadily increase our conscious awareness until we can master our ability to develop sapience, the ability to make correct conscious choices, utilizing proper discernment, to bring about positive effects, conditions, and relationships in our world? 

Could this process be the goal of the spiritual journey and the manifestation of the Will of Creation? Is it the evolution of consciousness?

Natural Law – the set of universal, inherent, objective, non-man-made, eternal and immutable conditions which govern the consequences of behaviors of beings with the capacity for understanding the difference between harmful and non-harmful behavior – is the only real law and it is intrinsically known to us all subconsciously and to some of us consciously.

The more people that bring it into their consciousness, the less unethical or immoral behavior there will be and the more freedom there will be, they (freedom and morality) are directly proportional.

I think everyone has intrinsic knowledge of Natural Law either subconsciously or consciously, and that those of us who are conscious of it are obligated by it to do our best to spark curiosity about it to those who don’t hold it in their consciousness.

Because it is more closely aligned with Natural Law than the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence is only words on parchment unless the meaning of them is understood and lived in the hearts and minds of people.

We should NOT be afraid of our government… they should be afraid of The people

I knew I wasn’t Democrat or republican … just me. A person that wanted to be left alone and to raise my kids as I saw fit… never voted before this year.

A lot of things have caused me to become anti-government. Hearing things from this platform reminded me of what we are about… where we should be and what we have become.

I’m very new at all the politics but this year had my full attention. My vision for the world…. where everyone gets along because everyone; Respects other’s choices.

A place where you don’t go to jail for driving to work… a place where you don’t buy your house and pay taxes on it every year… a place where you can be trusted to run your business without BS regulations and rules.

A place where I am free to choose whatever I want, when I want, how I want.

Agorist Voluntaryist

I’m Ancap/voluntaryist/Objectivist. I started at 14 as an undefined anarchist through 80’s punk culture, read the leftists but never liked them (Bakunin, Goldman, Proudhon, etc,) but found Thoreau at 16 and stuck to individualism ever since. 

I’m Swedish living in Spain, so if you refer to the US, I have no vision, just hope you are saved from socialism and keep 2A at any cost.

I’ve been living as an agorist for about 10 years now, never file income or taxes, no traceable contracts to my name to speak of, no debts, no rents.

So my answer should be “A hardcore small l libertarian” I suppose 😁

Proud Father, ASE Master Certified Mechanic, Entrepreneur, Iraq War Veteran.

I’m not a Libertarian.  I think that diplomacy should be prioritized and does better in most cases than our military can do.  We should have diplomatic relations with everyone, including self-determination groups but we should prioritize our friendships with those who share our views on human rights, rather than those with resources.

Liberty-the mother, not the daughter of order. -P J Proudhon

I have always been a libertarian. Like Voltarine de Cleyre said, some of us are just born that way. Growing up as an Army brat in the ‘50s and ’60’s, living around the country, and in Okinawa in high school during the Vietnam War, broadened my perspective of the world.

What kind of libertarian? ’60’s libertarian. Parts Old Right, New Left (just a tincture), 19th Century Individualist, classical liberal, laissez-faire to be sure,  but interested in social movements and people like Saul Alinsky, Emma Goldman, and others who want to push society freely in directions not beloved by certain pure market theorists….as in a cash nexus for everything. 

That does not mean statism. Not interested in violent social movements to affect change. But they should be studied to avoid them.

Former Director of Production at Newsmax

Former Director (company) at TheBlaze

Former video production manager at Christ Chapel Bible Church

Lives in Arlington, Texas

From Odessa, Texas

I came to be a Libertarian by way of listening to Penn Jillette on his podcast. I had felt like the republicans were changing back in 2012 and I vowed to not settle again.

Then when Trumpy Trump came on the scene I saw the total transformation of the party and I was done. I couldn’t vote for Gary Johnson but knew where I was heading in terms of party affiliation.

I think from this point forward the party needs to grow from the bottom up. We need more quality candidates at the local level and build upon that. If we can’t elect Libertarians at the local level we cannot expect anyone on the national level to take us seriously.

This country is in trouble because we are so divided and I don’t see anything on the horizon to bring us together. Hell, I am not even sure another 9/11 type incident could do it.

I honestly am not sure how bringing us together is going to happen. People need to start thinking for themselves and quit listening to what CNN and Fox and all the other alphabets say and do the research. 

I have been involved in several biggish media organizations and know the belly of the beasts.

https://www.patreon.com/tirebiter

GT: A “self” determination group makes as much sense as a “libertarian” party. IMHO

JE: Some of us need to learn self-governance… we were taught to be “other directed” during our first years. Hence the group…

GT: But would people who don’t adhere to self governance join a group about the same?

JE: It is not a black and white thing…. IMHO. There are different levels of self governance.

GT: True, but your group is an echo chamber, no? Not to say echo chambers aren’t OK, many of the groups I’m in are such,but none have an agenda.

JE: It is a place where we can share our experience, strength, and hope.

GT: oh, ok

JE: At least that is my vision for it, we aren’t there yet…

GT: No

Send me another invite please.

JE: Some people believe in self-governance…. yet see the need for a libertarian party. Some people still fall into the “group trap.”