“Pro Liberty (note – no hyphen!) believes that all forced taxation is morally wrong. However, that does not mean that there will be no taxation initially under a Pro Liberty government….Pro Liberty will not “cut” state regulations, we will abolish them..”
Love this stuff. I’d say my agreement with JR is around 60%. Sadly, no mention of exactly when he hopes to be forming a government…
Off the top of my head (I’m listening to some loud music, sipping a rather nice Cotes du Rhone, about to sear a steak) it’s to do with the grand (perhaps even grandiloquent) rhetoric about “a Pro Liberty government”, and “abolish” state regulations. A teensy bit too 6th form for me, I fear. After the age of about 20 I couldn’t take Socialism seriously, and after 25 or so I couldn’t swallow “pure form” libertarianism. It’s really not very realistic, to say the least. I disdain “politics is the art of the possible” as a career politician’s excuse for not sticking to his principles but at the same time statements about political ideology, and more especially policy, need to be grounded in reality if they are to be taken as mature expressions of sincerely held belief.
I fear Mr Rigby’s statements, as quoted, cannot be so taken.
I think you’re missing that the whole thing was some kind of mock election. Neither James nor anyone in the party is under any illusions about forming a government.
If you read the interview, he’s asked what the party can realistically achieve in the next 5 to 10 years, to which he answers:
“Perhaps we can achieve some publicity, perhaps embarrassing the government and swaying a proposal in favour of liberty. We may achieve some council seats, and perhaps an EU seat if things go really well. But our main focus right now is trying to provide some support and co-ordination for the many libertarians in politics and in pressure groups. Put all the libertarians in the country in one place and they’d have a loud voice. The problem with libertarians, as you may know, is that organising them is like herding cats.”
Are there really “many libertarians in politics”? I’d like to think so. Right now, it seems pretty damned difficult even geeting UKIP’s ratings higher, so as for libertarians proper, well, good luck with that one. It’s true that I’m fairly disenchanted with the readiness of my fellow citizens to see very far beyond the State as a cargo-cult figure dispensing largesse & comfort…
For information, under all electoral systems they used in this mock election, I came fourth out of 13 candidates. Above me were The Contemporary Marxist Party (well organised), The Coalition of Independents (led by the site’s owner), and the United People’s Party (well organised). Only 123 people casted ballots. What I learned from the process is that those who are best organised get the votes..
Libertarian Home 
“Pro Liberty (note – no hyphen!) believes that all forced taxation is morally wrong. However, that does not mean that there will be no taxation initially under a Pro Liberty government….Pro Liberty will not “cut” state regulations, we will abolish them..”
Love this stuff. I’d say my agreement with JR is around 60%. Sadly, no mention of exactly when he hopes to be forming a government…
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What is the 40% you disagree about?
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Off the top of my head (I’m listening to some loud music, sipping a rather nice Cotes du Rhone, about to sear a steak) it’s to do with the grand (perhaps even grandiloquent) rhetoric about “a Pro Liberty government”, and “abolish” state regulations. A teensy bit too 6th form for me, I fear. After the age of about 20 I couldn’t take Socialism seriously, and after 25 or so I couldn’t swallow “pure form” libertarianism. It’s really not very realistic, to say the least. I disdain “politics is the art of the possible” as a career politician’s excuse for not sticking to his principles but at the same time statements about political ideology, and more especially policy, need to be grounded in reality if they are to be taken as mature expressions of sincerely held belief.
I fear Mr Rigby’s statements, as quoted, cannot be so taken.
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I think you’re missing that the whole thing was some kind of mock election. Neither James nor anyone in the party is under any illusions about forming a government.
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Ah a mock election, forgive me – I was preoccupied with the steak and the wine. We used to have mock elections in the 6th form, I dimly recall.
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Obviously your belly is of greater importance to you. Enjoy your wine and steak. If we need you, we’ll be in touch.
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My belly is frequently more important to me than my politics. That’s why this website is still “just a blog site” rather than a portal to awesomeness.
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If you read the interview, he’s asked what the party can realistically achieve in the next 5 to 10 years, to which he answers:
“Perhaps we can achieve some publicity, perhaps embarrassing the government and swaying a proposal in favour of liberty. We may achieve some council seats, and perhaps an EU seat if things go really well. But our main focus right now is trying to provide some support and co-ordination for the many libertarians in politics and in pressure groups. Put all the libertarians in the country in one place and they’d have a loud voice. The problem with libertarians, as you may know, is that organising them is like herding cats.”
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Are there really “many libertarians in politics”? I’d like to think so. Right now, it seems pretty damned difficult even geeting UKIP’s ratings higher, so as for libertarians proper, well, good luck with that one. It’s true that I’m fairly disenchanted with the readiness of my fellow citizens to see very far beyond the State as a cargo-cult figure dispensing largesse & comfort…
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For information, under all electoral systems they used in this mock election, I came fourth out of 13 candidates. Above me were The Contemporary Marxist Party (well organised), The Coalition of Independents (led by the site’s owner), and the United People’s Party (well organised). Only 123 people casted ballots. What I learned from the process is that those who are best organised get the votes..
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