Fwd: Letter to the LNC
Valerie Sarwark
From: Kyle Varner <kylev...@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Jun 14, 2021 at 9:57 PM
Subject: Letter to the LNC
To: <valerie...@lp.org>
Dear Members of the Libertarian National Committee,
Tomorrow night, you’ll be meeting to discuss a matter with far reaching implications for the future of the Libertarian Party. As a member since 1999, and a life member since 2016, and someone who has donated over $100,000 to the party, its affiliates and its candidates, I’d like to offer you my perspective on what the LP means to me, and the stakes associated with the decision you are called to make.
The Libertarian Party has stood for the principles of individual liberty and limited government, and done so consistently since its founding. It has been a vehicle for the promulgation of a splendid vision of humanity with peaceful mutual cooperation as the organizing principle of society. It is the intellectual heir to and modern champion of great thinkers of the liberal tradition such as John Locke, Frederic Bastiat, Adam Smith, Ayn Rand and more, and our project is to translate the ideas of the liberal tradition into public policy that makes the world more free, more prosperous and more secure.
Central to the liberal intellectual tradition is the idea of moral equality among human beings, eloquently expressed in the Libertarian Party platform as, “we condemn bigotry as irrational and repugnant.”
There exists a wing of thought that often finds itself adjacent to libertarianism, but which doesn’t condemn bigotry as irrational and repugnant. Instead, at best, it cynically views bigotry as a tool which it can use to bring about some type of populist, anarchocapitalist revolution. This school of thought was founded by Murray Rothbard, and he lays out the strategy in explicit terms in his essay “Right Wing Populism: A Strategy for the Paleo Movement'' (attached for your reference.) He begins the essay by praising the Gubernatorial campaign of David Duke, goes on to praise Joe McCarthy, and lays out his strategy simply: to be politically successful, libertarians must craft a hate-filled narrative designed to appeal to poorly-educated white voters. He lauds David Duke’s ideas, noting, “it is fascinating that there was nothing in Duke’s current program or campaign that could not also be endorsed by paleo-conservatives of paleo-libertarians.”
Rothbard’s proposed strategy, when stripped to its essence, is to prey on common but vile collectivist prejudices to create a populist movement capable of advancing a few libertarian policy priorities.
Throughout the latter part of his life, Rothbard worked diligently to introduce this program into a variety of libertarian spaces. I offer as an attachment to this letter a memorandum which he wrote to the Libertarian Party’s 1988 Presidential Candidate Ron Paul regarding libertarian messaging about HIV/AIDS. The memorandum is a spectualar mixture of libertarian ideas with repugnant sentiments, concluding by stating “Therefore, AIDS children should not be allowed to attend public schools…” For more evidence, I direct you to the infamous Ron Paul newsletters, which represent a clear, real-world application of Rothbard’s strategy.
If you’ve wondered why the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire’s twitter account has been full of offensive posts that tangentially link libertarian ideas to repugnant sentiments, this is your answer. It is the Paleo strategy, the extension of Murray Rothbard’s life’s work, that the Mises PAC intends to implement within the Libertarian Party. If you have any doubts, just remember what your own secretary recently promised on facebook: If you thought New Hampshire was bad, just wait till you see what Colorado comes up with.
It is no surprise that the Mises PAC has legions of young men expressing racial resentment: Rothbard spent the better part of his career cultivating this type of a movement.
Tomorrow night, you’ll be making a decision about the future of the LIbertarian Party of New Hampshire. Advocates of Rothbard’s right-wing populist strategy will try to distract you with arguments about procedure and delegates. What you’re really voting on is whether the Libertarian Party will be captured by a right-wing populist movement that seeks to mix racism, homophobia and a variety of other repugnant ideas with libertarian policy proposals in an effort to propel their candidates to power.
I condemn bigotry as irrational and repugnant, and I love the ideas of the liberal tradition too much to see them mixed with bigotry in a cynical attempt to launch a populist uprising. I’m also well-enough read in human history to understand that a freer society cannot be created by means of any populist movement. From Cesar to Mussolini to Hitler to Chavez, populism has time and time again proven that it is a road to hell. In fact, we had something very close to a Rothbardian uprising in the United States in 2016, and anyone who thinks our society is freer as a result is either a fool or worse. I will not be a part of that, or anything like that. I submit to you that no decent human being would.
I’ve long been distressed watching the hostile takeover of the LP happen in real time. As I watched states fall into enemy hands, I found myself contemplating my life without any attachment to the party with which I have identified since I cast a vote for Harry Browne as an alternate delegate in 2000. When I heard about what Jiletta Jarvis did in New Hampshire, it gave me hope that the good people in the LP can beat back this bigoted invasion.
The sad truth is that a Libertarian Party that is welcoming of bigots is not welcoming of me. A successful Mises PAC takeover of the LP would mean the end of my involvement in the party, and I’m not alone. The vast majority of this party rejects bigotry as irrational and repugnant. If their recent twitter threats are true, decent people who want to stay will likely be expelled.
If the LNC does not take a firm stand against this hostile takeover, we are extremely likely to lose our party--and in a decade, we’ll be facing questions about why we were involved with “that white supremacist organization.”
The future of our party is at stake. Will the LP continue to be an organization that spreads the good news of freedom, or will our organization devolve into a hate group?
I’m going to fight like hell with every last fiber of my being to keep bigotry out of the party, and I hope you will too. You were all elected to be more than administrators. You were elected to be leaders, and today more than ever in the history of my involvement in the Libertarian Party, this party needs strong moral leadership.
I urge you to say no to racism, hate, and bigotry, and say yes to a Libertarian Party that is decent, inclusive and capable of leading the United States on the path to greater freedom, prosperity and peace.
Sincerely,
Kyle Varner, MD
Libertarian Party Member since 1999
Libertarian Party Life Member since 2016
Former Treasurer of the Libertarian Party of Hawaii
Caryn Ann Harlos
Caryn Ann Harlos
Joshua Smith
Valerie Sarwark
Laura Ebke
Jared Hall
Jared Hall
Region 3 Alternate
“For me, politeness is a sine qua non of civilization.”
-Robert A. Heinlein
Caryn Ann Harlos
Caryn Ann Harlos
Valerie Sarwark
Dustin Nanna
Caryn Ann Harlos
Caryn Ann Harlos
Laura Ebke
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