Libertarian Membership Pledge: Difference between revisions

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The '''Libertarian Pledge''', which all must agree to in order to join the [[Libertarian Party]], declares, "I hereby certify that I do not believe in or advocate the initiation of force as a means of achieving political or social goals."<ref>http://members.atlantic.net/~dwatney/reid/reid23.htm</ref> Supposedly, LP founder [[David Nolan]] created the Pledge in 1971.<ref>http://marketliberal.org/FixLP.html</ref> The Pledge statement has sometimes been mistakenly interpreted as prohibiting violent revolution, but it does not. It is actually a prohibition against supporting any government activities, except perhaps court, police, and defense functions, which are held by [[minarchist]]s to be necessary for opposing force initiated by others. [[Anarcho-Capitalism|Anarcho-capitalist]]s would go even further, to state that even those functions are an unjustifiable use of force, since citizens are forced to purchase those services from the government rather than choosing a private vendor of their liking. They see it as forbidding Libertarian officeholders from even accepting salaries paid for by taxes forcibly extracted from the people.<ref>http://libertarianmajority.net/no-1st-force-Pledge</ref> Thus, the Pledge means different things to different people. Regardless of its meaning, it is an important aspect of Libertarian culture.
The '''Libertarian Pledge''', which all must agree to in order to join the [[Libertarian Party]], declares, "I hereby certify that I do not believe in or advocate the initiation of force as a means of achieving political or social goals."<ref>http://members.atlantic.net/~dwatney/reid/reid23.htm</ref> LP co-founder [[David Nolan]] created the Pledge in 1971, and offered the following explanation for it in 1993.<ref>http://marketliberal.org/FixLP.html</ref>  
 
:"Interestingly, most people in the LP do not know why it was originally placed on membership applications. We did it not because we believed that we could keep out "bad" people by asking them to sign--after all, evil people will lie to achieve their ends--but to provide some evidence that the LP was not a group advocating violent overthrow of the gov't. In the early 70's, memories of Nixon's "enemies list" and the McCarthy hearings of the 50's were still fresh in people's minds, and we wanted to protect ourselves from future witch-hunts."<ref>http://lpedia.org/Document:Letter_20_Jan_1993_David_Nolan_on_Meaning_of_Membership_Pledge</ref>
 
Whether or not the pledge is primarily about keeping the party non-violent and opposed to terrorist actions against the government, or is itself intended as a statement of the [[Non-aggression principle]], has been disputed. Libertarians have variously argued that it is both, or only one or the other. <ref>http://marketliberal.org/FixLP.html</ref><ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20080424131135/http://reformthelp.org/party/pledge/fixingThePledge.php</ref>


A reference to the Pledge was made on April 17, 2001 when, in response to Timothy McVeigh's description of himself as a libertarian, LP national director [[Steve Dasbach]] said:<ref>"Libertarians rebuke Timothy McVeigh", Libertarian Party, LP.org, April 17, 2001.</ref>
A reference to the Pledge was made on April 17, 2001 when, in response to Timothy McVeigh's description of himself as a libertarian, LP national director [[Steve Dasbach]] said:<ref>"Libertarians rebuke Timothy McVeigh", Libertarian Party, LP.org, April 17, 2001.</ref>
:"Timothy McVeigh is not just a mass murderer; he's a very confused mass murderer. Besides having no appreciation for the value of human life, McVeigh apparently has no understanding of the meaning of the word libertarian. Just to set the record straight, real libertarians wholeheartedly reject the use of force to achieve political or social goals. Real libertarians see violence and try to prevent it, see problems and organize cooperative solutions, and see government abusing its power and work peacefully through the political system to protect our rights."
:"Timothy McVeigh is not just a mass murderer; he's a very confused mass murderer. Besides having no appreciation for the value of human life, McVeigh apparently has no understanding of the meaning of the word libertarian. Just to set the record straight, real libertarians wholeheartedly reject the use of force to achieve political or social goals. Real libertarians see violence and try to prevent it, see problems and organize cooperative solutions, and see government abusing its power and work peacefully through the political system to protect our rights."


There have been many proposals to change or eliminate the Pledge. The Pledge has been criticized for allegedly allowing only pure anarchists to join and for stopping members from advocating incremental changes towards freedom.  <ref>http://reformthelp.org/party/pledge/fixingThePledge.php</ref>.  However this is countered by noting that the architect of the Pledge, [[David Nolan]], was not an anarchist at the time and surely did not create a Pledge that would exclude himself.  Another criticism of the Pledge is that it does not prohibit the use of force for goals other than political and social ones.<ref>http://www.rayrob.org/library/RFR/Libertarian_Pledge/Pledge.htm</ref> Contrary to that assertion, it is stated that the Pledge was intended to be an include-all, but is a statement regarding governance-a position affirmed by [[David Nolan]].  The early Party would have consider all issues concerning the state to fall within the broad categories of "social" and "political." Ray Roberts proposed changing it to, "I believe force should only be used to protect life, liberty and property from attack."<ref>http://reformthelp.org/party/pledge/positive.php</ref> This would have the flaw of leaving the door open to force one person to defend another person and be contrary to the individualist statements of the [[Statement of Principles]]. Another proposed Pledge is, "The Libertarian Party will always stand for more liberty and less government on every issue. As a member of the Libertarian Party, I will NOT attempt to change this."<ref>http://blog.360.yahoo.com/knowinghumans?p=171</ref>  While this is accurate to a point, it could be used to to exclude minarchists at some point since there are certainly areas in which they would not agree to less government and would defeat the primary purpose of the Pledge which is to assure the government that the Libertarian Party is not a terrorist organization.
There have been many proposals to change or eliminate the Pledge. The Pledge has been criticized for allegedly allowing only pure anarchists to join and for stopping members from advocating incremental changes towards freedom.  <ref>http://reformthelp.org/party/pledge/fixingThePledge.php</ref>.  However this is countered by noting that the architect of the Pledge, [[David Nolan]], was not an anarchist at the time and surely did not create a Pledge that would exclude himself.  Another criticism of the Pledge is that it does not prohibit the use of force for goals other than political and social ones.<ref>http://www.rayrob.org/library/RFR/Libertarian_Pledge/Pledge.htm</ref> Defenders of the pledge respond that the Pledge was intended to be an include-all, but is a statement regarding governance-a position affirmed by [[David Nolan]].  The early Party would have consider all issues concerning the state to fall within the broad categories of "social" and "political." Ray Roberts proposed changing it to, "I believe force should only be used to protect life, liberty and property from attack."<ref>http://reformthelp.org/party/pledge/positive.php</ref>  


The Pledge is required by Section 5.1 of the national bylaws<ref>http://www.lp.org/files/pdfs/bylaws-2008.pdf</ref> and many [[state affiliates of the Libertarian Party]] also have bylaw provisions requiring it. At the [[Libertarian_National_Convention#2006|2006 Libertarian National Convention]], the [[Libertarian Reform Caucus]] attempted to repeal the Pledge but failed to obtain the necessary [[two-thirds vote]].<ref>http://allencountylp.blogspot.com/2006/07/2006-libertarian-national-convention.html</ref>
The Pledge is required by Section 5.1 of the national bylaws<ref>http://www.lp.org/files/pdfs/bylaws-2008.pdf</ref> and many [[state affiliates of the Libertarian Party]] also have bylaw provisions requiring it. At the [[Libertarian_National_Convention#2006|2006 Libertarian National Convention]], the [[Libertarian Reform Caucus]] attempted to repeal the Pledge but failed to obtain the necessary [[two-thirds vote]].<ref>http://allencountylp.blogspot.com/2006/07/2006-libertarian-national-convention.html</ref>

Revision as of 02:31, 2 October 2017

The Libertarian Pledge, which all must agree to in order to join the Libertarian Party, declares, "I hereby certify that I do not believe in or advocate the initiation of force as a means of achieving political or social goals."[1] LP co-founder David Nolan created the Pledge in 1971, and offered the following explanation for it in 1993.[2]

"Interestingly, most people in the LP do not know why it was originally placed on membership applications. We did it not because we believed that we could keep out "bad" people by asking them to sign--after all, evil people will lie to achieve their ends--but to provide some evidence that the LP was not a group advocating violent overthrow of the gov't. In the early 70's, memories of Nixon's "enemies list" and the McCarthy hearings of the 50's were still fresh in people's minds, and we wanted to protect ourselves from future witch-hunts."[3]

Whether or not the pledge is primarily about keeping the party non-violent and opposed to terrorist actions against the government, or is itself intended as a statement of the Non-aggression principle, has been disputed. Libertarians have variously argued that it is both, or only one or the other. [4][5]

A reference to the Pledge was made on April 17, 2001 when, in response to Timothy McVeigh's description of himself as a libertarian, LP national director Steve Dasbach said:[6]

"Timothy McVeigh is not just a mass murderer; he's a very confused mass murderer. Besides having no appreciation for the value of human life, McVeigh apparently has no understanding of the meaning of the word libertarian. Just to set the record straight, real libertarians wholeheartedly reject the use of force to achieve political or social goals. Real libertarians see violence and try to prevent it, see problems and organize cooperative solutions, and see government abusing its power and work peacefully through the political system to protect our rights."

There have been many proposals to change or eliminate the Pledge. The Pledge has been criticized for allegedly allowing only pure anarchists to join and for stopping members from advocating incremental changes towards freedom. [7]. However this is countered by noting that the architect of the Pledge, David Nolan, was not an anarchist at the time and surely did not create a Pledge that would exclude himself. Another criticism of the Pledge is that it does not prohibit the use of force for goals other than political and social ones.[8] Defenders of the pledge respond that the Pledge was intended to be an include-all, but is a statement regarding governance-a position affirmed by David Nolan. The early Party would have consider all issues concerning the state to fall within the broad categories of "social" and "political." Ray Roberts proposed changing it to, "I believe force should only be used to protect life, liberty and property from attack."[9]

The Pledge is required by Section 5.1 of the national bylaws[10] and many state affiliates of the Libertarian Party also have bylaw provisions requiring it. At the 2006 Libertarian National Convention, the Libertarian Reform Caucus attempted to repeal the Pledge but failed to obtain the necessary two-thirds vote.[11]

The current contributor newsletter now known as Liberty Pledge used to be known as Libertarian Pledge.

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://members.atlantic.net/~dwatney/reid/reid23.htm
  2. ↑ http://marketliberal.org/FixLP.html
  3. ↑ http://lpedia.org/Document:Letter_20_Jan_1993_David_Nolan_on_Meaning_of_Membership_Pledge
  4. ↑ http://marketliberal.org/FixLP.html
  5. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20080424131135/http://reformthelp.org/party/pledge/fixingThePledge.php
  6. ↑ "Libertarians rebuke Timothy McVeigh", Libertarian Party, LP.org, April 17, 2001.
  7. ↑ http://reformthelp.org/party/pledge/fixingThePledge.php
  8. ↑ http://www.rayrob.org/library/RFR/Libertarian_Pledge/Pledge.htm
  9. ↑ http://reformthelp.org/party/pledge/positive.php
  10. ↑ http://www.lp.org/files/pdfs/bylaws-2008.pdf
  11. ↑ http://allencountylp.blogspot.com/2006/07/2006-libertarian-national-convention.html
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