Do you wanna win?
Is libertarian philosophy geared solely to elections, or does it apply to all phases of life?

How do you look at the word "win"?

Is it for the dominant political party?

Or can a nonvoting low income person "win" many times?

I think the Libertarian Party of South Dakota (and those libertarians who are also registered Independents, Democrats and Republicans) need to get
ADDICTED to the word "win" and "winning"!

Not as a buzzword.

But as a word that pertains to our reality.

Here's a hypothetical?

If we could perfectly foretell the future, and KNEW in advance that the SD LP would lose EVERY election in 06, 08, and 2010 (for the next 5 years basically),
what would the function of Libertarian candidates running be?

To get libertarian information and issues out there to people?

To increase our number of registered Libertarians up to 2.5% of the voting population, so that ballot access would be AUTOMATIC with each Gubermatorial election?

To vocally support all good bills proposed by non-libertarians in the State Legislature?

These are well and good, even noble.

But let's go beyond noble....

To me, "winning" means: "We designed a gig and we did it!"

Here are the dictionary definitions of "win" (Merriam Webster):

"1 a : to get possession of by effort or fortune b : to obtain by work : EARN
2 a : to gain in or as if in battle or contest b : to be the victor in
3 a : to make friendly or favorable to oneself or to one's cause -- often used with over b : to induce to accept oneself in marriage
4 a : to obtain (as ore, coal, or clay) by mining b : to prepare (as a vein or bed) for regular mining c : to recover (as metal) from ore
5 : to reach by expenditure of effort
intransitive senses
1 : to gain the victory in a contest : SUCCEED
2 : to succeed in arriving at a place or a state"

So let's discard all the definitions that involve struggle and vanquishing opponents, and pick the better definitions of "win"-

1a. To get possession of by effort or fortune.
2. To succeed in arriving at a place or a state

OK, can we all gain possession by effort or by fortune (luck)? Absolutely!

Can we succeed in arriving at a place (Mud Butte or Sioux Falls, doesn't matter) or a state (of mind)? Absolutely YES!

So we CAN win every day!

Why Libertarian?

Because its a "winning" philosophy, and it is used by us, and all of us are winners?

If the SD LP looks at itself TODAY as Winners, and all Libertarians, regardless of voter registration affiliation or nonvoting status, look upon themselves as UNEQUIVICAL WINNERS, then every day will be a resounding success to us!

You seek first the consciousness and feeling of WINNING, and all these things (including public election victories) shall be ADDED to you!

Posted by sd2/libertarian at 2:11 PM CST
Updated: March 24, 2005 12:45 AM CST
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Extreme Inaugurations?
With "Extreme Makeovers" the current rage, why not have "Extreme Inaugurations"?

We have electors, who are the registered voters, voting for electors (they vote if they're not bored out of their minds) who then meet in Washington to certify whoever was elected President.

Now, according to the Constitution, all power resides in the people, not the electors.

So we know that not all people in the USA are electors. There are many under the age of 18 and many who choose not to register.

So the first remove is requiring that only electors (registered voters) get to vote.

The second remove is allowing them to vote for the 3 electors of South Dakota, instead of voting directly for President. Electors voting for electors? Not science fiction, but it's true!

The third remove is that these electors then have to vote for their candidate in December. Aha, the electoral college!

The fourth remove is that Congress can step in and change what the electoral college has "decided" in December. This can be done on January 6. In fact, this was done in 1801. Jefferson and Aaron Burr were TIED in electoral votes. Jefferson finally won after Alexander Hamilton threw his support to Jefferson! Burr came in second and became Vice President.

So what would an extreme Inauguration be?

An inauguration is a ceremony. Basically a ceremony celebrating power and possibilities.

There is another definition of inaugurate or inaugurating--I think we should use this definition:

"a : to dedicate ceremoniously : observe formally the beginning of b : to bring about the beginning of"
(Merriam-Webster)

Aha! There we are!

To bring about the beginning of!

That is what we can celebrate!

Just think, it was a dictionary that re-connected us to our power!

So there are many many millions of Libertarian minded people out there, unregistered, or belonging to the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian or other parties.

The best thing we can do as Libertarians is to inaugurate.....all Americans....even those who patriotically choose not to vote!

This could be a very simple ceremony.

It might involve playing some Elvis, Willie Nelson or Waylon Jennings music.

A spokeswoman, spokesman, or spokes-teenager then conducting the ceremony.

It could be as simple as:

Do you, Wilfred Watertown, seize the day, and declare yourself a free man, a liberator, and a lover of Freedom?

Wilfred walks up to the microphone. "Yes, I do..."

Then by the power inherent in the Constitution, Common Sense and natural law, I pronounce you a Liberator, right now, wherever you go, and always...

Something like that!

After the Inaugural Ceremony, all the Liberators could gather around and guzzle Kool Aid and tacos!

Does that sound like fun?

And besides the fun, it would show the destiny of a great idea: freedom is as freedom does.

An inaugural ceremony like this is protected by the First Amendment of free speech and peaceful assembly.

We are not inaugurating a President.

No, something far vaster...

We would inaugurate thousands of Liberators, libertarian minded people who live freely, and like Lysander Spooner and many others, all their days are consecrated by the freedom that God or the Supreme being gives us.

It would be fun, and the results would be staggering!

Alexander Martin

Welcome!
Copyright 2005 by South Dakota Libertarian Party

Paid for by the South Dakota Libertarian Party. Nathan Barton, Treasurer.