According to an article in the New York Times, Brian Deese, a 31-year-old with no business degree, is in charge of dismantling General Motors and (in the words of the New York Times) “rewriting the rules of American capitalism”.
Yikes. Let me rephrase that: Yikes with a side of yikes.
For those unfamiliar with Deese’s background, the 31-year-old Middlebury College graduate not only lacks a business degree but also has zero experience in the private sector.
Even more shocking, Deese had never stepped foot in an auto assembly plant or spent significant time understanding the inner workings of the industry before his appointment.
Perhaps the most frightening aspect of this whole situation is the fact that Deese was the only person in the auto task force for the early part of the year:
“There was a time between Nov. 4 and mid-February when I was the only full-time member of the auto task force,” Mr. Deese, a special assistant to the president for economic policy, acknowledged recently as he hurried between his desk at the White House and the Treasury building next door. “It was a little scary.”
A little scary? Try a whole new level of scary.
Like me, you may ask how on earth this amateur rose to such a position of power. Prior to his work on various campaigns, Deese was a senior policy analyst for the Center for American Progress. After this work, he joined the Hillary Clinton campaign. Once Clinton’s hopes fizzled out, Deese jumped on board the Obama train and rode it straight to the top.
I’m amazed that Obama could not find a single person with experience in the auto industry. He couldn’t at least appoint someone with a business degree?!
Perhaps no issue is more contentious for libertarians than the seemingly eternal conflict between pragmatism and principle. Indeed, on blogs and message boards across the internet, bitter flame wars frequently break out between the dogmatic defenders of untainted libertarianism and those who seek practical means of advancing the cause of liberty.
Historically, the Libertarian Party has been dominated by members of the former group. The strong and unyielding ideology of these individuals may have driven David Koch, Ed Crane and “pragmatist” factions out of the LP. Due to the inflexible views and demands of the libertarian purists in charge of the party, Koch and Crane focused their efforts on the Cato Institute rather than the LP. Around 2004, “pragmatist” groups managed to gain power and alter the party’s platform in order to give the LP more mainstream appeal. David Nolan, founder of the LP, views such changes as “watering down” the platform and abandoning the principled foundation of the party.
In contrast to Nolan, however, many libertarians are more than willing to change the LP’s platform in order to win elections – some are even willing to leave the party altogether if it leads to libertarian victories at the ballot box.
Peter Schiff, the former economic adviser for Ron Paul’s 2008 presidential campaign, could be considered one of the “pragmatic” libertarians. Unlike those within the Libertarian Party, he seeks to further libertarianism outside the LP.
Recently, Schiff addressed the Libertarian Party of Connecticut and essentially argued for the abandonment of the LP. According to the speech, he envisions a libertarian takeover of the Republican Party at a time when the GOP is suffering from electoral losses and an identity crisis.
Weakened by the defeats of the 2006 and 2008 elections, the GOP is ripe for infiltration by libertarian-minded politicians and activists.
To determine whether we should agree with Schiff’s argument, we must consider two questions: 1.) Should we abandon the Libertarian Party?
In my view, the Libertarian Party has failed to adequately demonstrate its ability to get libertarians elected to office. In its 38 year history, there has not been a single Libertarian Senator, Libertarian Representative, or Libertarian Governor. In fact, only 12 Libertarians have ever been elected to state legislatures. For me, this is simply not acceptable progress, and I believe the party has had ample time to at least get 1 representative elected.
Furthermore, we have seen absolutely no success in the Presidential elections. The LP is consistently unable to secure ballot access in all 50 states which greatly disadvantages an already disadvantaged party. Some will respond to this argument by pointing out that the system is biased against third parties, and I completely agree. This is why we must gain power through the GOP so that we may change the rules.
Others may point out that the LP has had hundreds of its candidates elected to local offices. While I recognize the importance of controlling policies that directly affect one’s own community, I believe it is far more important to restrain the federal government Washington. If we can limit the federal government’s power, we can empower the people through their state and local governments. As a result, individuals can more effectively influence the policies which affect their lives and their communities.
As a side note, I simply do not believe that some LP members want the party to ever be relevant in politics. These people criticize and shun those who attempt to restore liberty through political action. They are keyboard warriors who would rather discuss whether someone can voluntarily sell themselves into slavery or whether we should burn 5 dollar bills or 10 dollar bills in front of starving children. These radicals seem content to have libertarian ideas fade away and die quietly in the corners of the internet – only to be discussed by this great, intellectual “elite”. We, on the other hand, desperately want to see libertarian views applied in our local councils and federal legislature because we want to preserve liberty for ourselves and our children.
2.) Are libertarians capable of reviving the libertarian remnant within the Grand Ole Party?
Many of you no doubt view the GOP as a lost cause. For the past 14 years, I would have agreed with this assessment. After all, the participants of the 1994 Republican Revolution did not live up to their promises. Then, during the Bush years, we saw the rise of the neo-conservative faction and the resulting wars and uncontrollable spending. However, while I was disappointed with these developments, I see the potential to rebuild the GOP now that it has fallen apart. Now, we have an opportunity to reform this shattered and disheartened party as we see fit.
I sincerely believe that libertarians can infiltrate the Republican Party, take over important leadership positions, and revive its small government roots. Why do I believe this? Because it has already happened!
Many of you out there were alive to see Barry Goldwater, son of liberty, nominated for the Republican Presidential ticket in 1964. We were 1 person away from getting a defender of freedom in the Oval Office.
Currently, we have Dr. Ron Paul, a former Libertarian Presidential candidate, serving his 11th term in the House of Representatives. We likewise have many rising stars within the GOP such as Representative Jeff Flake and Governor Mark Sanford (perhaps future President Sanford). Now, we must “grow” the liberty movement by putting some other competent and respectable libertarian-republicans in positions of power.
In my view, the only way to accomplish dramatic change (I’ve really grown to dislike this word over the past 2 years!) in Washington is by an uprising within the GOP. I truly believe that many of the rank-and-file Republicans will be receptive to our message. After all, Ron Paul’s libertarian rhetoric is everywhere on conservative talk radio, Fox News, and Tea Parties across the nation.
We need only to take advantage of these conditions in 2010 to help ensure that liberty will have a voice. If we have enough voices defending liberty, they may even overcome the deafening sound of the talking heads and growing Leviathan state. We must turn to the GOP to do this; to do it Ron Paul style.
My social and political attitudes in this post and subsequent writings are not particularly popular or even tasteful to many in the zeitgeist of the 20th and 21st centuries. However, I sincerely believe it my duty as a Christian and American to warn my fellow citizens about the potential collapse of our government and society if we do not immediately pursue measures to fix our existing political, social, economic and religious systems. While these words may seem sensationalistic and even preposterous, my views are based on an honest and thorough assessment of history, culture, politics, and economics.
America is currently experiencing economic turmoil, moral depravity, political corruption, and religious hypocrisy. Indeed, our economy is failing, the public is abandoning decency, our government is becoming more intrusive, and our religious leaders are leading us astray. For many people, the appropriate response to these facts is to bury their heads in the sand and hope for the best. The more reasonable reaction, however, would be to determine an effective means of addressing these issues.
In my humble opinion, the current problems facing America are not simply political or economic in nature. Instead, the root of this predicament stems from a breakdown at the personal and local level.
As individuals, we have abandoned kindness, humility, personal responsibility, integrity, and morality in exchange for insensitivity, egotism, irresponsibility, corruption, and selfishness. Since we tolerate such moral failings in our own lives, we either ignore or excuse the similar shortcomings of our elected officials. We no longer hold ourselves or our representatives to traditional, universal standards of honor. Instead, we simply apply modern conceptions of decency which fall short of the Founders’ ideas about the obligations and character of an ideal republican citizen.
Further exacerbating the situation, we no longer seek help from our family, friends, neighbors, churches, or local leaders. Instead, we look to government to solve every single problem in our daily lives. As a result, we transfer power away from the individual, the family, the community, the local authorities, and the states and empower those in Washington.
This is our ultimate failing as citizens: we replaced our families, friends, and constitutional republic with bureaucrats and a Leviathan state. Under this American empire, the government coddles us from cradle to grave, discourages personal responsibility, threatens our rights, challenges local power, undermines the family, hinders success, weakens our economy, jeopardizes our safety, and attempts to replace God with itself as the ultimate dictator of morality and power. I believe we can and should do better.
In the hearts and minds of a remnant, there burns a desire for true liberty. These defenders of our God-given freedom know that our constitutional republic survives underneath the bloated bureaucracy. If we – the true believers – are to save our nation and way of life, we must REVIVE OUR REPUBLIC.
Through research, outside input, and my own thoughts, I hope to discover the best plan of action to confront the compelling issues of our time. I am not so arrogant as to believe that this blog will lead to any great change in our current circumstances. I do, however, believe that this blog could contribute to the existing discussion among Christians, libertarians, anti-federalists, conservatives, moderates, etc. about solutions to the aforementioned problems in America.
The purposes of this blog are as follows:
1.) To effectively establish the source of our country’s social, political, economic, and moral woes
2.) To explore various solutions to these challenging and complex issues
3.) To champion the proper, comprehensive solutions to reform ourselves, repair our communities, renew our churches, and revive our Constitutional republic
Additionally, I intend to make posts on my analysis of the Bible as I grow as a devout and humble Christian. I also plan to post book reviews and reflect on news stories.
