David McElroy

Why don’t libertarians win elections? Simple. Most people don’t want the things that libertarians promise. They don’t believe in the things that libertarians believe in. So the question is why libertarians bother to run campaigns.

This has been a question I’ve heard debated ever since I became a libertarian 20 years ago. It always seemed like a contradiction to me. When I was active in the Libertarian Party, it felt as though we weren’t clear on what we were doing. Were we trying to win elections? Or were we just trying to educate people?

Every libertarian campaign suffers from the same confusion. Some people try to talk themselves into believing the candidate can win, but more realistic people understand it’s not going to happen. Those people tell themselves that the campaign is worth it anyway, because they’re educating people and “spreading the message of liberty.”

Both groups are lying to themselves, but they don’t realize it. If they read what I’m saying here, they will be certain that I’m wrong. But if I’m wrong, I’d like someone to show me the successful libertarian campaigns that are changing people’s minds and then winning elections. Here’s a hint. You won’t find any.

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If you’re a high school, what’s the best way to demonstrate tolerance? If you said that the best way to be tolerant is to shut up those who disagree with you, you might already be qualified to be principal of Wolcott High School in Wolcott, Conn.

In April, Wolcott High set aside a “day of silence” to promote tolerance of gay, lesbian, bisexual and “transgendered” people. Student Seth Groody is opposed to gay marriage and didn’t like the school’s promotion of a specific point of view.

So Seth wore a t-shirt with a slash through a rainbow to express his disagreement. (The picture of the front of the shirt was provided by the family.) On the back of the shirt was a graphic with stick figures of a male and female, along with the words, “Excessive Speech Day.”

That’s all he did. He didn’t bully anybody. He didn’t disrupt classes. He didn’t hold protests. He merely had the gall to have a belief that was contrary to what the school wanted him to believe.

“Tolerant” school officials sent Seth to the office, forced him to remove his t-shirt and forced him to wear another shirt instead. In other words, they suppressed speech they didn’t like — in the name of tolerance.

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For those of us who still wander around the world feeling frustrated about poor grammar and spelling, it’s starting to feel as though we need to take this approach — and we’ll still be ignored as people continue to devolve into “txt spk.”

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