To LPUK or not to LPUK?
Just had an e-mail* from LPUK to tell me that my membership of that party has expired - apparently an admin error meant they forgot to send out a renewal reminder.
Now, I'm in two minds as to whether I should sign up for another year of membership. On the one hand, they are the only party in this country that I could be a member of, since they are the only party that truly challenges the statist status quo. On the other hand, I don't have the time to be an active supporter and, with the best will in the world, there is little danger of them being credible political contenders in the near future. Plus, I'm not as well-off as I was when I first joined and while the membership fees are far from exorbitant, I still don't have much money to spare. So I'd thought I'd ask the readers of this blog for their thoughts.
It is worth stressing that I'll decide what to do myself pretty much on a whim in the not too distant future: this is not a democratic exercise where I follow whatever the majority of any commenters think I should do. And it is also worth pointing out that I'm not looking for other parties to join; no other party is Libertarian, and you can take your entryism and shove it where the sun don't shine.
But anyway, let me know what you think. If you so wish.
*Actually, it may well have been ages ago on the grounds that the e-mail went to my blogging account which I only infreqently check, and ended up in the spam folder which I almost never check.
Labels: LPUK
posted by The Nameless Libertarian @ 1:37 pm
16 Comments
16 Comments:
Increase your donation, and make it monthly.
The party contains a lot of raw talent and is developing quickly but what it really needs is a full-time co-ordinator - part project manager, part journalist, part web guru - to really get things going. A few hundred small monthly donations would pay that person's salary.
Speak to Andrew about his "Golden Circle" concept.
The Open Rights Group did this, taking monthly donations from a founding 1000 before they even formed, and look at them now.
Well, I'm not sure I can afford to pay more (if I decide to pay at all).
That said, it would be a good step forward to have a proper, full-time co-ordinator. My impression is that there is a tendency (as there often is) to prioritise ideological debate over creating a meaningful infrastructure for the organisation.
Well I think you should rejoin :)
You should also update your email address so that emails are sent to a current email address then they wouldn't get lost.
You could also write some stuff for the new website.
Oh, the e-mail address is the current one - it is the one for this blog. But it gets so many updates and unsolicited press releases that valuable stuff gets lost in there. Particularly if the spam filter randomly decides it is worthless (while sending stuff that is clearly spam into the inbox).
Still pondering the membership - so far it's one "rejoin" and (via Twitter) one "don't bother". Right now I'm too tired to think, so I'll leave any decision (pretty much about anything) until tomorrow.
Well, your dilemma caused me to revisit their website.
Their number one economic policy is (still) to do away with income tax. I decided to read no further as I have other things to do this weekend (and for the rest of my life).
This policy, IMHO, is seriously wrong: a tax on income is practical and reasonably fair as one of the main methods of taxation. This is particularly as the collection method does it at a time when people get the money on which they are being taxed, so have money to pay the tax.
So, I'd say give them a miss now, and you should have done so before too.
Best regards
Yeah, Nigel, I'm pretty sure that your faintly patronising comment will make me more likely to rejoin LPUK than not. Good work there, then.
TNL
Hi NL,
I was a member of the Libertarian Party in the States and am thinking about joining LPUK but I do have my reservations. What's the point of joining a party that is so inactive? Perhaps it would be better to join the Tories. I mean, Daniel Hannan found a home there. Wouldn't it make a lot more sense to try and take over the Conservative Party or at least have a big impact on setting their agenda like the Tea Party has done with the Republicans?
Just to comment on the "inactivity".
This is a fair criticism, the party was pretty much dead last year and I don't blame people if they choose not to renew their membership...
However, this party is as grassroots as it gets at the moment. There may be a "party leader" and other "official" positions, but everyone who works for it is going so put of their own free time... No paid staff etc.
The party is coming alive this year again..
New website is being polished off (very time consuming to design the backdoor system behind the simple exterior),
We are going to be announcing campaigns (including participation in the Rally Against Debt),
Ultimately members need to understand that with membership comes a responsibilty greater than with other parties... You need to become an activist!
I personally am:
Designing leaflets and flyers,
Helping organise for the rally against debt,
Assisting in website improvements
And more...
Libertarianism has to be more than the blogosphere in the UK.. It needs activists! Get involved, volunteer to set up a regional branch (assistance will be provided), volunteer to leaflet your area (leaflets nearly designed) etc
It's no small task building up a political party from scratch and practically zero political experience... But in this also rests our virtue... We are not politicians, but simply people who came together to campaign for liberty (and it is worth fighting for).
Join the party and get involved, volunteers won't be turned away but at the same time understand that efforts have to be coordinated to an extent.
Timac,
Don't do entryism, so the deeply socially conservative Tories are a definite no.
TNL
Max,
I have no problem with being part of a co-ordinated effort - I know from studying politics for years that this is the only way things get done on both a local and national scale.
Being an activist is perhaps not as easy as you make it out to be, though. Having been an activist for a major party, I know that a lot of what needs to be done is the hardcore pounding of streets and delivering of leaflets. Grassroots activity is fine, but it needs to be leading somewhere. Take the Howard Dean or Barack Obama campaigns in the US. They had a clear objective - the selection of a particular candidate. Of course, this is more difficult in the UK, where you don't have primaries. Therefore LPUK needs to select people it wants to be elected in particularly wards or constituencies in the UK, and then focus all of its efforts in those areas. Building up a national network should only come after building up some local strongholds.
Like it or not, flyers and websites are a minor part of the equation. Pounding the streets in a particular part of the country making your party known in that small area is actually what it's all about, and what you need to do - week in, week out.
TNL
TNL, agreed. But here lies one of the major problems the party has faced... Too many members have sat back and expected the party to magically produce activity...
They needed (need) to become activists and do the basics like just leaflet.
Something I came across rececntly which gives me hope for the party... Searched Facebook to see how many people in the UK would be targeted by an advert based on the following 5 key words/phrases:
Libertarian, libertarianism, any rand, Austrian economics, capitalism...
Result: just over 21,000 or so.
The party had huge potential to grow and be a real force for alternative politics in this country... It just needs to set up it's base and organisation/communication. After that things can flow alittle more naturally.
As I say, at the moment we are going through the efforts to make sure the structure is in place for Libertarians to flock to the LPUK and be greeted by something active... But it is a major hurdle, for any small party... Particularly when you consider how spread out around the country most members are...
That's why my view for growth and development is:
1. Have party communication and organisation set up (website, active coordinators, etc)
2. Have regional branches set up to atleast allow members to do something relatively local (even if just to meet up monthly for a pint)
3. Once 1&2 are set up... Organise regional marketing (be it leafleting the hell out of a targeted area or other).
4. Develop national recognition through national campaigns (rallies against debt, petitions against war etc)
5. Assuming party has the resources and membership to support... Target major elections (mayoral, Westminster etc)
There are plenty of things that can be done in between of course... But I think one of our major areas in the past wast spreading ourselves too thin and diving in the deep end prematurely (step 5)... and then the resulting failure does nothing but demoralise the membership.
As I say, I can respect your criticisms of the party, but I would love to gain more active organisers/activists/co-ordinators... Particularly those with previous political experience who can do a good job of things...
We need more of this sort of thing :)
@ Max Andronichuk
I meet people all the time who for all intents and purposes are Libertarians or at least classical Liberals without knowing it.
I'm still considering joining LPUK and what you've said has swayed me a bit. I'd want to be an active member of a commited group.
Well, I'm pleased that Timac has been converted. An pleasant and unpredicted side effect of this whole exchange.
As for your plan, Max (I'm not sure whether you speak on behalf of the party or not) - it has some potential but is still, in my humble opinion, missing a crucial element. You can't wait for particular areas to suddenly become hives for the party - you need to select particular constituencies and proactively create a party structure there. So choose an area where you think the party would perform well (for example, an area where much lower taxation would be appreciated) and start canvassing the hell out of it. Choose a PPC now, and have regular drives where party members go to that area to canvass. You could have more than one target area, but initially I don't think it would be worth having more than five. You also need to make sure that they are in areas where the message will be appreciated - no point in wasting resources at this point on an area where there is a high level of dependance on the state.
Then, over the course of years of raising the party profile, you'll start to see respectable results coming in for the party (which is something LPUK, with the best will in the world, has lacked to date) before finally getting an MP. This could take five to ten years, but it could also work.
Don't believe me? Check out Caroline Lucas for the Greens - now Caroline Lucas MP. They took one of their most credible candidates and poured resources into an area in Brighton likely to respond well to their messages, The result? Their first MP.
So talk of regional centres and of Facebook searches (careful with your search terms BTW) is all well and good, but it looks to me like the party is (again) trying to run before it can walk. There really is no substitute for the solid, boring work of building up a handful of strongly performing constituency organisations, Once you start to do well, the national will follow - including real attention from the national media.
TNL
...and then I read what Anna Raccoon had to say about the LPUK as it is at the moment.
Will not be joining any time soon. Sorry, Max. I'll still see you at the Rally Against Debt, I guess.
Oh dear. We're about to launch a right of centre cum libertarian site. This might be the first topic. I hope it resolves itself soon.
Timac,
Quite.
Not a hope of a renewal from me now.
TNL
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