The Left Libertarian Alliance
by Robert Russo
As of March 21st the Alliance of the Libertarian Left has declared its presence in Richmond with a website at richmond.leftlibertarian.org. This is the group which operates Social Memory Complex, a blog to which richmondliberty.org owes much of its traffic and words of praise. The patrons of this chapter are planning their first meeting for May 1st for whoever wishes to attend. It is wonderful to see libertarians emerging from a new venue in our city, although as I will explain, I don't see this as a further divergence within our party but an opportunity to connect and integrate.
I believe Alliance bloggers themselves will admit the term "left" is not to emulate the divisions of mainstream politics by calling other libertarians "right", but is a perspective on libertarianism itself. (The first time I heard a non-lib speak of our party they described us as being "on the far left". To anyone who has seen the world's smallest political quiz, libertarianism is actually "up".) Basically the material on these sites focuses on the achievement of our lifestyle, culture and philosophy in ways that don't appear in most party discussions because the electoral process is not the means (i.e. libertarianism within the home, in business and around the globe), and for those who feel unrepresented by the idea that the LP should stick to "party line" issues because it leaves many stones unturned, whereas this site is for a more general audience. Quelle difference insignifiante!
Even self-declared Libertarian conservatives who participate solely to preserve their privacy and rights to defend it can serve these purposes in conjunction with every perspective and means that the rainbow of our philosophy can provide. With the prospects of election on our minds every discussion seems to be littered with the foolish political definitions of the two-party system, when we are outside that system (such as our state's Independent Green Party splitting from the national Green Party). The Green Party is a prime example of a group that is separate from ours for no good reason. Their political vision is not different, it's just focused on an issue that doesn't appear on any other platform. How do environmentalists who want to vote Republican make their case and also support their candidate? This is what keeps environmentalism and many other issues from reaching the big leagues. Those goals are a natural match with much of our political prescription.
It benefits the party and its candidates whenever the word Libertarian is spread by a group, prominent individual or news source to mean whatever esteemed context they hold it in, until we are a household name. We welcome this addition to the family of Richmond libertarian organizations. Stay tuned for updates on the details of the upcoming meeting. The main blog for the Libertarian Left is at leftlibertarian.org, with special mention of richmondliberty at blog.6thdensity.net/?p=647.
Question of the Week: If this column were extended to other sites (i.e. richmond.leftlibertarian.org), would you prefer to read more "cultural" pieces there and have this site stick to party issues like taxes and gun rights? Send your opinions to henrico@richmondliberty.org.
If you have topics of interest to Libertarians please let us know. We welcome your input!