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Witness Protection Libertarians

Published in Communicating Liberty - 2 mins - Jun 29
This article was featured in our weekly newsletter, the Liberator Online. To receive it in your inbox, sign up here. You’ve seen it featured in crime, courtroom, and police dramas on television. A powerful and dangerous individual or group has gotten away with force and fraud for years. Finally, the police and prosecutors find a witness whose testimony can put the thugs behind bars. Witness ProtectionBut the criminals will threaten or kill the witness or his family if he takes the stand. The only way the authorities can get the witness to testify is to protect him and his family. So the prosecutors and law enforcement offer secret relocation, new identities, and a new life to the person and his family — in exchange for his truthful testimony in court. Witness Protection. In our legal system, in certain cases, this makes sense. But it makes no sense for libertarians to act as if they were in the political equivalent of this program. Some libertarians blend in with mainstream or nonpolitical neighbors and coworkers. They rarely join in on political or economic conversations at home or at work. And, if they do, they keep their comments mild and bland. If they get libertarian email newsletters or social media, they keep it to themselves `Why stir up trouble?’ they think. `Why start an argument?’ The don’t put Libertarian campaign signs on their front lawns. They don’t put Libertarian bumper stickers on their cars. And they keep their libertarian books and DVD’s in the private areas of their homes. If they donate to Libertarian campaigns or vote for Libertarian candidates, they tell no one. Secrecy. Silence. Invisibility. Witness Protection Libertarians. But this does NOT make them safer. It makes Big Government safer. It delays the growth of the Libertarian movement. It hinders support for the cause of liberty. It keeps your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers from having warm and thoughtful conversations about liberty with someone they know and like and trust: YOU! Opt out of Witness Protection Libertarian policies. Opt into persuasive libertarian communication with The Advocates for Self-Government.
  Michael Cloud is a master of libertarian communication. He is author of Secrets of Libertarian Persuasion and Unlocking More Secrets of Libertarian Persuasion. The latter can be purchased by subscribers of the Liberator Online for merely $5.01 and FREE SHIPPING with the code “LIBERATOR14” at the link.

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