The people with whom we associated voluntarily, the organizations and groups to which we belong, communicate our values. Our associations define us because people assume we agree with and support the views expressed by group leaders.
The loudest voices, even if they are a minority within the group, define the other members.
Yes, you are defined by your words and actions as an individual. Your choices also define you, and you choose to be part of an organization, a group, a community.
Republicans are defined today by Richard Nixon and Donald Trump. They are defined by the nationalistic, racist, sexist, bigoted, and intolerant members of the party. They are defined by their leader and his supporters.
Defending Donald Trump is inexcusable. Sitting silently by while Trump advocated policies predicated on hate and distrust is inexcusable.
Silence gives evil power. Failing to shine a light on dangerous thoughts allows them to hide. We must write and speak. Sometimes, we must protest.
Republicans cannot now, after four years, merely apologize for not speaking up and taking action against Donald Trump. Republicans, you allowed yourselves to be defined by Trump and his vocal supporters.
Waiting out Donald Trump’s term was unethical. I wrote post after post calling out the dangers of Trump on other blogs — but I’m not a Republican. It was up to Republicans to rid their party of Trump.
Once it was clear the majority of Republican voters (and politicians) would support and defend Donald Trump, then the good and decent party members faced a choice. Many failed that test. They didn’t speak out loudly enough, nor did they leave the party to create something new.
I admire those who opposed Trump from within. I admire those who left the party and spoke out about why. Those who did nothing? I can only condemn.
I do know many kind, generous, and ethical Republicans. Yet, they didn’t speak out loudly enough or often enough during the last four years. They didn’t work to change the party. True, most were not party activists. Some said, “I’m registered as a Republican, but I’m not that involved.”
We must care about the organizations with which we associate.
Never stand beside the bigots and haters. Call on people to listen to the hate. Expose the hate. Be a voice for what is right. You cannot defend the rights of bigots without decrying their message or people will assume you support the hate-filled messages.
I believe in libertarian values. I’ll defend the rights of racists to speak, and of companies to deny racists a platform. Let the bigot speak… but I don’t have to sell the bigot a megaphone. I’ll be right next to that person (virtually, in print, in my artistic works) shouting loudly that the bigotry is wrong.
Why do I bother to explain what a libertarian-leftist is? Because if I do not define the terms, someone else will define the labels. Many define libertarian superficially, or outright incorrectly, seeking to discredit all libertarian thought. Too often, “libertarians” are caricatured as selfish, greedy, amoral corporatists. I take responsibility for defining the term. Those hiding behind “personal liberty” must be exposed by those within libertarian circles or we will be defined as others see libertarians.
Rejecting self-proclaimed libertarians who embrace the label, linking it to objectionable views and choices, I am defending my core values and beliefs.
Libertarians have a serious “alt-right” and “extreme left” problem in the United and States and elsewhere because individuals will use “personal freedom” to defend all sort of anti-social, destructive choices. The Libertarian Party in the U.S. shelters Ayn Rand acolytes, racists, and nihilists. It’s a party of outcasts and imagined Nietzscheans. (Friedrich Nietzsche has been twisted by many losers who don’t comprehend his works.)
I lean towards the libertarian-left, and that’s much harder to explain because it is a rare position in the United States. The Greens of Europe often align with libertarian-left parties. You cannot “own” natural resources. You cannot “own” facts or discoveries. You own yourself and your thoughts.
As a libertarian-leaning, almost classical liberal, I assume a responsibility to decry the worst among self-proclaimed libertarians and the Libertarian Party. If I accept a label, I actively defend the label from being co-opted by dangerous, horrible, immoral (or even amoral) people.
The European libertarian-left has its share of anarchists and nihilists. “Burn it all down” isn’t a solution to problems. That I must write a rejection of nihilism saddens me, but is my responsibility. Anarchy is a utopian ideal, the belief we can somehow all just get along without any governmental structure, without community bodies. Marxism, taken to its logical end, supposes anarchy, too.
As I write and speak on what it means to be classically liberal, I am defending the label from left and right. When I write on why capitalism (or socialism) isn’t the root of all evil, but merely a system for trade of goods and services, I’m defending a concept with which I associate myself.
Every group, every ideology, every belief system can be corrupted.
In choosing to belong to any organization, accept a responsibility to advocate within that group.
Most Republicans have failed to defend the Republican label. Or, maybe the label does now represent the values espoused by Donald Trump.