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10/02/2003 Archived Entry: "I STILL support the one and only FSP!"

EARLIER TODAY I MENTIONED THE WESTERN FREE STATE PROJECT. Some folks took that to mean I was wavering in my support of the original FSP. For the record: NO WAY. If I had my druthers, I'd ask every other group to hold off for a while, to give the FSP a chance to succeed before they begin recruiting. Despite claims that they're not competing, they are. And that could be catastrophic, not only for the FSP, but for the FSP wannabes, and for everyone who wants to see freedom restored in our lifetimes.

As long as FSP members remain committed to liberty for all and to *serious* reductions in the size and scope of government (even if those reductions aren't as deep as I'd prefer), and as long as they continue on track toward the 20,000 goal, then I support the one, the only, the original FSP.

For other people, who never joined the FSP, never would join, or never would go east, then the WFSP may be an option. That's why I mentioned the WFSP and will probably mention them again. I realize the FSP isn't for everyone, and that there are a lot of reasons many principled libertarians haven't joined it and will never join it.

But this is a key moment in history -- both America's and the FSP's. Jason Sorens and company have already worked wonders as cat herders. Now the job of getting 15,000 more libertarian supporters will be far harder than getting the first 5,000. The FSP needs -- and deserves -- more, not less, support now that the state has been chosen.

We libertarians have a sorry history of shattering every hopeful group effort by proclaiming that the other participants aren't "pure" enough to associate with, or by going off in a snit to "do our own thing" the moment any decision goes against us. That old, unproductive pattern is in danger of repeating in the wake of yesterday's state announcement.

But what's more important? Do "do our own thing" or to do freedom on a big scale?

We need the FSP as our best hope of freedom -- even if neither the state nor the people who chose it are "perfect" enough for some of us. Yes, we can have our lonely little circles of "purity" -- and we can smugly enjoy our own solitary principled perfection until the bulldozer of the state rolls over us. Or we can fragment into two or three or four separate FSPs, each competing for members from the same tiny pool of freedom lovers, so that NO project ends up getting enough people to make a difference in any state. Or we can make some god forbid compromises on tactics (not principles) and maybe, just maybe, restore one state to the American dream.

Should the FSP ever be taken over by people who don't love liberty (white separatists, perhaps, or moralists who want freedom for themselves but restrictions on everyone they disagree with), then I'd leave the FSP and shout that fact to the heavens. In that case, I'd be glad if a viable WFSP were around. But unless that happens, I will stick with the FSP and urge other freedom lovers to do so.

Posted by Claire @ 07:40 PM CST
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