Did you ever think you would see the day when the political class would try to impose so many far-reaching decrees on our lives? The last two years have been difficult to observe. I’ll spare you the details that you already know. It seems that government officers in America at all levels have overstepped their authority, obscuring the truth, creating unwarranted fear, and threatening those who question. These tactics have been focused on manipulating our behavior, limiting our choices, and further diminishing our freedom to choose our own way of life.
This should be a wake-up call for libertarians. How did it come to this?
Maybe you knew the foundational truths, but neglected to prepare your mind for the task ahead. Perhaps you did not believe that you were worthy or able. When it was most critical that you be at your best, you failed.
Those who inflict these decrees on your life believe that they own you and your future. If you thought you were not up to the task of resistance, it is time for sober reflection.
Will you play a passive-aggressive game of faux compliance, believing that you can comply your way out of this madness? Or will you stand, fill the gap, and challenge those who disrespect your right to own your life?
We may not long for the spotlight, it is all too easy to remain in the shadows, but our job in the Libertarian Party cannot be done in the shadows. Our reason for existing is to be an open challenge to the political beliefs that have brought us to this place, to challenge actions as well as words. And most importantly, to challenge the ideas and change the minds of the individuals around us, and to do this with empathy, compassion and love.
This is exactly what Libertarian Party candidates are called to do.
Almost none of us want to be involved in politics. We take on this duty of challenging abuses of power. We shoulder this responsibility grudgingly, reluctantly, and it is a burden. But so what? Every day of your life you do things you do not wish to for the sake of those you love … every … single … day.
Being a Libertarian Party candidate is not easy. It is difficult. It is pointless to think otherwise.
Let me remind you of a moment long ago:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident …
…That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed …
… But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. …”
Have we lost the meaning of what it is to be American? Has there ever been a time when events in the world became “a long train of abuses and usurpations” of individual liberties more so than today? When does it end? How does it end?
It ends when you end it. It ends when you stand, and say No!
The philosophy of Liberty no longer carries the hearts of most Americans. Too many people believe liberty is lost forever, or not worth defending. But throughout history, at critical moments, someone, somewhere faced the seemingly impossible, and proved otherwise. That spirit lives within each of us—to transcend the impossible is the heart of what makes us human.
To be a serious, and sincere Libertarian candidate for any office is the expression of exactly this: we must face the “impossible” task because it is difficult, and because it is necessary, and because it is right.
Becoming a Libertarian candidate for any office means working through your fears and your limitations, turning to face the world, and giving your honest best. This is what the times require.
We must have candidates. We must be candidates. We must stand now.
