Has the Liberty Movement become a Bowel Movement?

[Peace&Freedom]

The liberty movement is simply taking a break, and perhaps de-coupling itself from being (or becoming) simply a personality cult around Ron Paul. There was a movement before Paul's GOP campaigns caused it to make a quantum leap in terms of further growing as a national grassroots network, and the movement will continue after the time of the Pauls as well.

And it still has some flaws to overcome---its too-often expressed hostility towards religious conservatives who could be its biggest voting bloc, its similar estrangement of 9-11 truth, and the distraction with the "reform the GOP" effort that is siphoning off much of the energy of the movement (trying to cast out Satan from within Satan's house).

 

[Anti Federalist]

You would think the anti-political approach members would be all over this effort. They're all talk.

Bite me.

I donated $200.

You?

 

[Anti Federalist]

The liberty movement, or whatever it is, has not become shit... but it may have become exhausted. Enthusiasm, especially the shared brand seen in groups, has peaks and valleys. Give it some time, and the 'movement' or whatever (that is to say people who value liberty above almost everything else) will be back with a vengeance. Ron Paul retiring was not a grave blow, but it removed a common thread.

A common thread that some people insist on breaking.

 

[matt0611]

I donated. I think its a worthwhile cause. Ben Swann is pretty great. Hopefully this gets funded.

 

[Bastiat's The Law]

Bite me.

I donated $200.

You?

I find it a self-aggrandizing to publicly announce donations, so I choose to keep that private.

 

[Bastiat's The Law]

I think the liberty movement is just turning the page, some faster than others. Things will begin to heat up again, especially when we realize how much muscle we can flex when we put our minds to do so.

 

[Occam's Banana]

And [the liberty movement] still has some flaws to overcome [such as] the distraction with the "reform the GOP" effort that is siphoning off much of the energy of the movement (trying to cast out Satan from within Satan's house).

I am not persuaded that this is true (the "siphoning off" part - not the "trying to cast out Satan" bit, which is separate issue altogether).

It's very analogous to a critique you'll often encounter in open source circles. The argument is that there are "too many" Linux distros or "too many" command shells or "too many" variants of this, that or the other open source project - and that the existence of so many separate & distinct projects devoted to the same general purpose "siphons off" support and development from the "better" or "more worthy" projects. One of the problems with this criticism (apart from its question-begging & inherently subjective assumptions regarding what projects are to be considered as "better" or "more worthy") is that it presumes without evidence that the efforts that go into, say, creating yet another command shell program would have gone into improving and advancing an already-well-established command shell (such as `bash`). But this is an extremely dubious premise. The very fact that new command-shell projects are started (despite the fact that command shells such as `bash` already exist) indicates (by the demonstrated preferences of the participants) that the premise is false.

As it is applied to the "reform the GOP" project in the liberty movement, this "siphoning off" criticism presumes (again, without evidence) that the resources of those who prefer the "reform the GOP" strategy would have gone into supporting some other particular project(s) (were they to eschew the "reform the GOP" approach). But - as is the case for open source projects - this simply does not follow.

This alleged "siphoning off" phenomenon is NOT a "flaw" in the liberty movement - any more than it is in the open source movement. In fact, if anything, it is one of the greatest strengths of the liberty movement (and the open source movement). It is an inherent & inescapable feature of spontaneous order & decentralized organization. And as frustrating as it might be (especially for those who have preferences for "projects" other than those that seem to get the most attention & support), it truly *is* a feature - not a "bug" ...

 

[Occam's Banana]

You would think the anti-political approach members would be all over this effort. They're all talk.

I donated $200.

I find it a self-aggrandizing to publicly announce donations, so I choose to keep that private.

So let me get this straight. You pompously & self-righteously accuse "non-political" people of being "all talk."

But when "non-political" people (AF, in this case) show you that you are wrong, you accuse them of "self-aggrandizement."

WTF kind of mealy-mouthed "damned if you do, damned if you don't" bullshit is that? SMGDH ...

 

[jtap]

I find it a self-aggrandizing to publicly announce donations, so I choose to keep that private.

I didn't feel super comfortable announcing my donation but the thread to keep track of how much was donated by rpf people got me to break my rule.

 

[Anti Federalist]

I find it a self-aggrandizing to publicly announce donations, so I choose to keep that private.

Soooo...let me see if I have this straight:

If you donate to cause xyz, you find it is self-aggrandizing to post what you have donated. And that's cool.

But if other people, who think differently about things, do the same thing, then they are all a bunch of no-good cheapskate blowhards.

Got it.