With our elections on the 14th of September we began our affiliate’s second year of existence. Jen Mueller is now our Treasurer and Phil Denton is now our Secretary, so please lend them your support as they are excellent choices for those positions and will be excellent officers this year. Meanwhile, it’s time to discuss our vision for what the Libertarian Party of Warren County will do this year.
In our first year we put the fundamentals in place and established a foothold for our affiliate. I won’t pretend that we’ve built the perfect administrative system or that we have hundreds of members coming to our meetings, but we’re off to a strong start! It’s a good time to step back and look at the large picture of what we are doing. As we move into the new year, we need to consider the best ways to enhance liberty in our townships, villages, cities, and across Warren County in general.
We also need to show the way for other affiliates that are forming around the state. See the attached screenshot from the LPO website I’ve attached to this post. It shows only a dozen county affiliates in yellow. At the same time, over thirty counties are “forming” and marked in light gray. Affiliates are ramping up in those counties. My interpretation: The Libertarian Party is growing in Ohio and it’s a GREAT time to be involved here!
We’ve been looking at survey results and we are also open to member suggestions on what topics we should pursue. For my own efforts, there are at least two highly-ranked issues that I’ll personally pursue:
- The Right to Keep and Bear Arms. This basic human right must be respected. We need to prevent the use of cheap, underhanded tricks like the numerous exceptions in Ohio’s so-called “Constitutional Carry” legislation and red flag laws. Both have the function of denying basic rights to scores of people. Ohio’s code of laws is terrible, but the federal government continues to attack the right to keep and bear arms as well. Let’s pursue legislation to make several cities and even the entire county a gun rights sanctuary. Previous blog posts on the gun rights topic are found here and here. You will see more writing on this topic to outline an approach soon.
- Medical Freedom. Even the executive crook supposedly leading the current federal regime has said “the pandemic is over.” Threats to our medical liberty appear to be fading. However, we cannot forget the horrible totalitarian precedents set in the last few years. We need to pursue legislation ensuring that no executive uses a medical excuse or another “emergency,” no matter the scare, to suspend the Bill of Rights again! Take action while memories are fresh, before they try it again. A previous blog post on medical freedom is found here.
Time to Build Coalitions
We need to fight for change culturally. We can’t wait for Libertarian Party critical mass in order to pursue change. We need to build “coalitions of the willing” on specific topics with those that will work with us. Don’t concern yourself with whether somebody agrees with you on other topics, so long as they agree to support a common effort on the target topic. This means that we need to work with non-Libertarians (non-party members), as well as non-libertarians (people without our philosophy). We should expect to work with Republicans and Democrats without exclusions for MAGA proponents or socialists. By being exposed to our philosophy, some may move in our direction, but that isn’t necessary for our coalitions to succeed.
What You Can Do!
Please take action! There are steps that anybody can take to support the Libertarian Party of Warren County in our efforts:
- Come to our meetings. We meet at Doc’s in Lebanon on the second Wednesday of each month at 7:00 pm. We complete our business meetings quickly (30-60 minutes), and move onto the truly important business of our social. It’s a great time for open discussion on issues and to meet with like-minded people.
- Get involved! Do more than just observe. Join one of our emerging committees (perhaps even volunteer to lead one) and actively take part in the activism that is badly needed!
- Share your talents and interests! Let us know what you can do and what interests you. There’s a lot to be done and every unique set of capabilities can enhance liberty.
- Take our survey to share your views.
- Donate to the Libertarian Party of Warren County
- Join the Libertarian Party of Ohio