The Libertarian Heathen

Gold is refined in the fire, and greatness is always born of struggle.

By: Ryan Ramsey

There is a bizarre notion in the Libertarian Party, that infighting is the reason we do not grow, and no bigger lie has ever been told. The vitriol between the Tea Party Republicans and the John McCain and Lindsey Graham types, is just as bad as our left vs right Libertarian fights. Certainly no worse than the  Bernie vs Hillary factionalism. That will NEVER change, and it is high time people give up the notion politics is ever going to be polite. We have actually come pretty far, it was not that long ago we might have been dueling with pistols.

Politics is another form of war. We are fighting for the salvation of millennia of progress, that is now under a full frontal assault by Globalists and Marxists, and any passionate person with the ability to make change will inspire some to brotherhood – and some to anger. It takes about 5 minutes of watching campaign ads from the major parties to dispel the notion we must be polite to compete. I think the people constantly whining and trying to make new rules to force polite discourse are honestly stunting our growth. Call it training for what you will face if your opponent hires Roger Stone – and a valuable lesson in politics – be smart enough to hire him first. Be a wolf or be prey.  You know what the only thing more annoying than drama is? People who whine about drama.

The reason the Libertarian Party has grown slowly is we focus on philosophy not political science. We work on the issues we are worried about personally, when what we should be doing is studying what the electorate is concerned with, finding where the Democrats and Republicans are weak, and focusing on those like a laser in our PR campaigns and outreach efforts. Handing out open border propaganda to Trump voters, rather than telling them how the Republicans kill open carry in Florida every year, or how the GOP has not put a balanced budget up since 1994 – THAT is your problem, LP.

People in North Florida, and most of the United States, care about gun rights and taxes more than the plight of migrants, or solar panel initiatives and gay pride parades, whether you like it or not. If we want to influence immigration policies, get elected on budget issues and guns. The gay marriage battle is over, they won the right to have the state divide their property if they break up and can now bow before the altar of government to have the state sanction what they do with their genitals. Now refocus on a right-wing populist message, and get Libertarian candidates elected, instead of making smug remarks about how dumb the electorate is, and how backwards thinking those Christians are, for being offended by your Satan memes on Easter.

We traditionally run underfunded campaigns with inexperienced staff for national offices like US Senate, rather than run for local attainable offices, that will build experienced teams, public support, and name recognition. In the past, we appear to want to be CEO and skip the apprenticeship, and the political class and the general public will never respect that. The idea of paying dues is as old as man’s first attempts to organize.

Build a solid foundation before you try and erect a political skyscraper. That is why I support our new LPF Chairman, Marcos Miralles, and what he is doing with his “First Step” program, which runs large amounts of candidates for smaller, attainable offices . Grow a thick skin, forget about “codes of conduct” and making NAP motions against people you think “make us look bad”, and whining about professionalism. I will listen to advice  from someone who has passed legislation and elected candidates, but not those who have been in charge for years and failed to do so. The loudest voices against infighting are those who played hobbyist, meeting in Perkins restaurant once a month for the last decade while the party stagnated, and attacked anyone with new ideas and charisma like hyenas. They need to step out of the way, as they are not actually opposed to infighting, they are just upset they have been on a losing streak, and their slimy backroom dealings are made public, causing delegates to quit voting for them.

We made great strides at the last LPF convention, and brought in new younger leadership, and it is already paying enormous dividends. We have more candidates in the few weeks since our Annual Convention, than we had on election day last November. We have an upcoming chance to change our perception in flyover country as a left-wing group of Democrat rejects, by moving our convention out of NOLA in protest of George Soros and his race pimps, and their campaign to malign Civil War veterans. We have less than a year until we can unseat the architects of our mediocracy, like Commissar Sarwark and his cronies.

Do you love liberty?  Don’t be polite if the situation calls for rebuke! Call them out, like I did to one of our At-Large directors in a recent EC meeting. He was so busy sabotaging other party officers for the last 24 months, and lately traveling around the state subverting the delegate’s mandate by sabotaging First Step, he didn’t notice his Treasurer from the affiliate he chairs embezzling money for over a year. BS prospers when you stay silent. Combine a program of shining a light on the cockroaches, with fielding candidates and building your affiliates, and you will build a team that can compete in a tough political landscape. If you aren’t ready for a fight you are in the wrong game. Fight to win, the future of this country and our children depends on it. If you can only muster a lukewarm effort and cannot handle conflict, step aside for someone with a more robust constitution.

If you want to be a big fish in a small pond, or use this party to inflate your ego in some SJW crusade…GO AWAY. If you are willing to study political science, and build a populist movement that takes 30% of the electorate into the party, and creates a paradigm shift that forever neutralizes the growth of government in the US, sack up buttercup, and join me on the battlefield.  We need to ENCOURAGE a vigorous and public debate, it will be more civil than the current cold war on social media. Only by confronting our differences will we build consensus and unity of purpose. A good fight is a great way to create a level of respect that cannot be achieved in any other manner.

It is 4th of July, get your Liberty or Death on, and start taking this serious, and we WILL win.

About the Author:

Ryan Ramsey is the founder of Jacksonville Open Carry, Director of The Florida Liberty Project, Host of Global Dissident Voices, Singer and Guitarist for the band “Lovecrime”, Florida Vice President of The American Guard, and Founder of the LP Veterans Caucus.

He currently serves as the Bradford County Chairman and the Region 4 State Representative for The Libertarian Party of Florida.