I also think you were unnecessarily negative about Harry Browne's chances in November. Browne is popular in one very large constituency outside the Libertarian Party, the Internet. He actually leads in several totally independent Internet straw polls, and is a close second in several more. And this is without the deep pockets of a Forbes or Perot, or the incessant free media exposure Clinton and Dole enjoy.
Browne is popular on the Internet because netizens already appreciate liberty. They've watched the Internet double every year for the past seven years without any government aid or direction. They've experienced freedom and they like it.
How big is this constituency? At the end of March there were an estimated 12 million computers hooked up to the Web, and there should be 20 million by November at the current rate of growth. Figuring 1.5 voter per computer (to balance two- and three-voter families against non-U.S. and underage segments), and 50 percent of them for Browne, and 50 percent of those actually voting, that's more than 7 million votes right there. As for Browne's "ludicrous scenario," what's ludicrous about getting back to basic constitutional law, especially the 10th Amendment? What's ludicrous about vetoing bills that increase big government and then daring Congress to overturn the veto while millions of its constituents watch? What's ludicrous about carrying out the will of the people who voted him into office? Unusual, yes, but ludicrous? Yes, Harry Browne is a long shot right now, but there are still almost five months to November and anything could happen, especially after the debates.
Dick Crawford
Napa, CA
Regarding Mr. Gillespie's piece on Harry Browne and the Libertarian Party, his contention that the U.S. government will "piecemeal" itself to a libertarian society is surprisingly naive and based on flawed logic. By his contention that since government beefed up on a piecemeal basis it can just as naturally beef down, he must think big government is like the man who gradually ate his way to obesity and acknowledges his excesses and the fact that he must lose weight. A more correct analogy to big government is to compare it to the AIDS virus: a parasite that gains strength as it saps more and more of the vitality of its host.
The mainstream political parties will never voluntarily give up any material portions of government power no matter how fervently Mr. Gillespie "hopes" the process "works in reverse." They continue to push collectivist economic initiatives like family leave, and increasing the minimum wage, and seize on opportunities to consolidate more power through agendas like the anti-terrorism bill.
I find it disheartening that a magazine purporting to support "free minds and free markets" would cast the only political movement dedicated to those same principles in such a negative light. I regret that you've been seduced by the mainstream political parties and thereby have abrogated your own ideals.
I just received an e-mail press release from David Nolan and Harry Browne berating REASON for having the temerity to point out the obvious, i.e., that once again the L.P. hasn't a snowball's chance in hell of winning major political office in 1996. I was particularly offended to have Browne, who explained 25 years ago why playing election politics was a waste of time and effort, present himself as offended when his own reasoning is used against him.
I have subscribed to REASON for about 15 years. Have I always agreed with your positions? Of course not! Could you be a better magazine? Sure! However, I learned a long time ago not to criticize someone's work unless I was willing to step into their shoes. I find REASON enjoyable and informative; if Harry Browne and Co. feel it isn't serving the interests of libertarians, why don't they start another magazine and run REASON out of business? To me, that's the free market solution, not wasting my time sending me polemics about how REASON has done them wrong.
Ideological movements in American history do not usually triumph by overt victories. The Socialist Party never won an election, but we have nearly everything they wished for in place today. We libertarians (note the small l) will win eventually because we have reality on our side, but this doesn't mean that a Libertarian candidate will occupy the White House anymore than that the fall of Communism required U.S. troops to capture Moscow. You can lose all the battles and still win the war. I plan to vote for the L.P. candidate, but that doesn't mean I expect him or her to actually win office. As for REASON, please keep fighting the good fight. There's room for everyone on this battlefield.
Bill Howell
Belmont, MA
Nick Gillespie replies: Judging from the volume of mail it generated--well over 100 responses, including personal letters to me--"Uncompromising Position" struck a nerve with readers. The response was mixed, but there is no question that the story "disheartened," "appalled," and "disgusted" a fair number of readers (and a fair number of people who admitted they had not and would not read the piece out of principle!). I, in turn, have been somewhat disheartened by responses that misinterpret, misconstrue, or simply miss the gist of my story.
Essentially, I made the following observations: 1) Harry Browne is not going to become president of the United States. 2) His insistence that he can win the election hurts his ability to communicate libertarian ideas because voters are more likely to write him off as out of touch with reality. 3) The Libertarian Party has not developed into a broad-based popular party, and there are reasons for that. 4) Because libertarians tend to think in terms of systematic consistency, and politics (as opposed to philosophy) is characterized by compromise and half-measures, there is inherent tension in libertarian proposals for political reform. 5) Libertarians will have to convince people on an issue-by-issue basis that their ideas are valid and worth adopting.
Some of these points are arguable, and some are perhaps disagreeable, but they are hardly "slanderous," as Tomas R. Estrada-Palma asserts without support. And, contrary to Dan Litwin, the story is factually accurate. Commenting on my story's opening image of the L.P. "invading" Washington, D.C., for the party's convention, Litwin writes, "The L.P. headquarters is�in Washington, D.C. How can one invade 'enemy territory' while on one's own turf?" I am relieved to know that the use of metaphorical language is the extent of my empirical blunders. Mr. Litwin might have also noted that Harry Browne has never been known to struggle between Scylla and Charybdis (indeed, the candidate may well have never even been to the Mediterranean).
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