Libertarian

About me:

We never took an official tally. There was no sign-in sheet...but well over 100 people showed up that summer evening in Taylor, MI. And some stayed, preferring to sleep on our living room, dining room and hallway floors rather than driving home. I'm describing the Party party, the first Michigan Libertarian Party gathering.

Where did they come from?

Goldwater supporters. Karl Hess's rhetoric inspired many citizens in a country torn over the Vietnam War. Defining liberty and its defense becomes more than academic when you have a draft card in one hand and a rifle in the other. Later, many supporters became active in Young Americans for Freedom and College Republicans.

Objectivists. Ayn Rand and Nathaniel Brandon had split and the two sides didn't always talk with each other. Many people had awakened to politics through Rand's writings. Brandon's psychological insights fed the quest for a very personal freedom.

Austrian School economists. The clear logical writings of Von Mises, Hayek, Bastiat and other free market advocates convinced many people that politics was a useful tool in the fight to reverse the encroachment of socialism into our lives. The popular saying at the time--"If we can put a man on the moon, we can eliminate poverty"--terrified those of us who realized the havoc unlimited social spending could cause.

The attendees came out of curiosity and hope. They were generous with their time, money and ideas. We were not seeking power nor money nor control. We wanted to move the political spectrum and redefine the issues. We wanted the "govern" of government out of our lives.

Most members fit into more than one category. Many belong in all three. At the University of Michigan, I embarrassed my roommate when she was the Michigan Daily editor by questioning Tom Hayden, Jane Fonda's ex-husband, as the three of us hung around during the wee hours of the morning. During 1968, Pet McAlpine lent me his copy of Human Action and I couldn't put it down. At that time, I was the faculty advisor to the College Republicans at Wayne State University and attended lectures presented by the Students of Objectivism. A few years later, William F. Buckley opened his home to all of the attendees of YAF 10. I admired his graciousness and remember his comment, "Don't get discouraged if sometimes you feel like an ant farting into a windstorm."

Discouraged? The Berlin Wall has fallen, municipal services are being privatized, home schooling is becoming respectable, alternative medicine practitioners are challenging the FDA, more people believe in UFO's than Social Security's survival and Welfare is no longer automatically a "right."

The people and memories would fill a book. Rather than slight someone, I will mention only one name--James Hudler. He is more than deserving of an LP lifetime achievement award.

[Text from: Gathering in the Name of Freedom By Kathryn Augustin, Hostess, Libertarian Party of Michigan Founding Convention]