LPQC NewsLPQC NewsThe Official Newsletter of the Libertarian Party of Queens County
Vol. 3, Num. 6, November/ December 1997
Intense LP Activity Flanking NYC on East & West
LPQC Celebrates Atlas Shrugged
Intense LP Activity Flanking NYC on East & West
The spirited work of Libertarian Party candidates and organizations on two sides of New York City is producing huge gains in our party's visibility.
To our east, eight libertarians are running for office in Nassau County. They are: Vincent O'Neill (for county executive), Daniel Conti (district attorney), Richard Cooper (county comptroller), Alfred Cooper (district court judge), Jim Harris (county clerk), and Steven Edmondson (county legislator).
Several of them have been crisscrossing the county to appear in candidates' forums. Vincent O'Neill was scheduled to be in a debate with the other candidates for county executive on October 29; that debate will be televised on November 1st. and 2nd. on News 12 Long Island,a cable channel.
Our candidates have been receiving good press coverage, including interviews with photos, in major Long Island papers such as Newsday. A phase shift may be occurring: the news media seem to be taking us seriously.
Our candidates' chances for electoral victory may be remote, but they are laying the groundwork for victories in future campaigns. "I'll be happy if we get one or two percent of the vote" says Jim Harris. "The hole purpose of this is to push for 1998, so we can get our candidates on the ballot with 25 signatures." Harris was referring to '98 Counts, the LPNY's project to get 50,000 votes for our 1998 gubernatorial candidate. That will qualify the LPNY as a "major party" under New York's election law and make it easy for our future candidates to get on the ballot.
To our west, Murray Sabrin's campaign for governor of New Jersey has become an LP celebrity affair. When Sabrin appeared at the New York City LP Convention in April of this year, his candidacy seemed like the longest of shots. He needed to raise $210,000 by August 31st to qualify for inclusion in the television debates, and by April he had raised $25,000. But his astutely targeted fund raising, his expert grasp of the issues in New Jersey, and his superb speaking ability earned him contributions of $240,000 by the deadline. At this writing (October 24), Sabrin has received approximately $400,000 in contributions, according to campaign aide Jackie Bradbury.
The first debate among Sabrin, incumbent Christine Todd Whitman, and Democratic candidate James E. McGreevey took place at Rowan University in Glassboro on October 18. It was broadcast on several cable channels. The second and third debates, on October 21 and 24, were broadcast live on airwave channels in New Jersey and New York.
The news media are treating Sabrin as a serious candidate. "They're referring to 'the three major candidates' and 'Whitman and her two major appoints,'" said Ena Wheeler, another Sabrin campaign official. The Asbury Park Press's October 19 report on the previous day's debate gave equal coverage to all the candidates and was matter-of-fact in its treatment of their views.
We libertarians in the city owe a debt to the Nassau and New Jersey candidates and campaign workers for the increased awareness of the party they're creating. Their work will make it easier to build and maintain effective LP organizations within our borders. Let's support them in any way we can.
By Jim Strawhorn
Things keep moving with the LP in the metropolitan area, but not always in predictable ways. As 1997 draws to a close, we see a broad pattern of improvement in advancing libertarian principles in Queens and beyond, but also some regress in light of lessons learned. Since the last issue of LPQC News:
1. Murray Sabrin's campaign, with some help from New York City Libertarians, surpassed by some $30,000 the $210,000 needed to qualify for matching funds and to participate in the New Jersey gubernatorial debates. At an NYC fund raiser held August 26 (organized by LPNY and LPQC members), Sabrin thanked the attendees for the assistance he received from across the Hudson.
2. The Ayn Rand tribute held October 18 was very well received and attended, with the distinction of being one of the most gender-even (about 50-50 male and female representation) of all our party meetings. We are thus considering returning to the China Buffet Restaurant for future special events.
3. The LPQC's previous decision to have speakers for all of our meetings has been modified. Confirming guests on a monthly basis was found to be too cumbersome a pace to maintain. A schedule of "program" meetings (all topic, no business) alternating with executive (mainly business) meetings is being developed, to find the right frequency for holding both. Our next few meetings, as elsewhere announced, will be back at our original location, Shaheen Restaurant in Jackson Heights.
4. The site for the next LPQC annual convention is tentatively projected to be Flushing Town Hall (the Main St. Flushing area) in mid-spring of 1998, after the LPNY state convention. We hope to combine the convention with a tour of the Bowne House, a nearby historic landmark said to be one of the birthplaces of liberty in early America. The LPQC hopes to confirm one major speaker, as well as the '98 LPNY gubernatorial candidate, for this event. Please contact us with your ideas for activities and festivities at (718) 670-3270.
Finally, I must thank our outgoing editor, Jim Strawhorn, as he turns his energies elsewhere, for putting out one of the best county LP affiliate newsletters in the country these last two years. No less than Bill Winter, National LP Communications Director, has noted this, and LPQC News has gotten similar kudos from upstate LP members and supporters. An enormous void has now opened, so we invite all county members who would like to contribute to writing, editing, and producing this publication to please step up to the plate and help us. May the future of our newsletter continue in the growth the LPQC itself has enjoyed, as we enter the New Year with Peace and Freedom!
By John Clifton
Whole classrooms of students blindfolded, walking around in the woods, hoping to learn about "trust." First graders forced to construct and then try out their own coffins. Eight-year-olds encouraged to turn in their parents if they smell marijuana in the house.
Attorney and author Bob Unger, guest speaker at our September meeting, believes government schools have forsaken the basics of education in favor of a social engineering program that has become increasingly bizarre. "They're trying to turn students into robots, conformists, and collectivists," he said. Quoting from a letter from a U.S. cabinet undersecretary toLabor Secretary Robert Reich, Unger noted that the "Government only wants a small cadre of elite, creative people." The rest of this country's citizens are trained in public schools to be meek, dependent, and too poorly taught to think clearly.
Unger reserved much of his venom for current reading methods which have replaced phonics (sounding out words) with "whole language" instruction (memorizing words as if they were hieroglyphics). Calling whole language instruction the brainchild of "John Dewey internationalist dumbing down experts," he suggested that only a minority of children are bright enough to overcome these methods and achieve real literacy.
Unger also railed against educators who use the classroom as a soapbox to promote their liberal agenda. Children are encouraged to distrust their families and rely on the government for their well being. Even textbooks promote this agenda. "All these books have a pattern," said Unger, "and the pattern is that the parents are not to be trusted, that parents are evil, and the state, on the other hand, is nurturing and kind."
Children are also taught trust exercises, conflict resolution and situational ethics, practices which encourage group-think and discourage independence. "It's one thing to argue what is true," said Unger. "It's another thing to think their is no such thing as truth, and therefore, two plus two is whatever you want it to be."
Unger did not blame teachers, whom he characterizes as well-meaning but not bright or clear-headed enough to question the new education methods. He points to the Carnegie and Ford Foundations, which vigorously pursue these reforms along with the government. "That is why you want to have separation of school and state," he said. "This country was the most educated, literate nation on earth until the government got hold of the schools."
By Anne Kadet
LPQC Celebrates Atlas Shrugged
At our October meeting, we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the publication of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. Joan Kennedy Taylor, a prolific author and leader of the Association of Libertarian Feminists and Feminists for Free Expression, gave a speech entitled "The influence of Ayn Rand on Libertarianism."
LPQC member Hollis Wagenstein also presented some results of her search for information about Ayn Rand on the Internet; there's a great deal of interest in Rand on the "Net."
Taylor spoke about the development of Rand's career and philosophy, her own association with Rand, and Rand's enormous influence both on philosophy and politics.
As a youth in Russia, Rand became infatuated with the movies. When she came to the U.S. in the 1920's, her goal was to work in the film industry. She worked as an extra in Hollywood and later in a wardrobe department under Frances Hazlitt, whose husband, Henry Hazlitt, later wrote Economics in One Lesson. She became friends with the Hazlitts and developed a strong interest in philosophy and economics. She particularly admired the work of Ludwig von Mises.
As she wrote and became famous over the years, many of her devotees had a great deal of influence in politics and public policy. In the 1960's, 25 of them (including Taylor) formed the Metropolitan Young Republicans Club in New York City and supported the campaigns of Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon.
In 1967, several members of this group organized a conference in Washington on the draft; their work led to the establishment of the Gates Commission to study the matter and to the eventual end of conscription.
In the early 1960's, Rand stated that her political philosophy was libertarianism. But as her fame and influence grew, she became disdainful of people who seemed to be cashing in on her name by forming Ayn Rand clubs and the like. She also had well-known fallings out with John Hospers and Murray Rothbard, both of whom went on to become leaders in the Libertarian Party. Her unwillingness to support the LP may have been as much for personal as for philosophical reasons.
Rand followers were instrumental in establishing a number of influential organizations and periodicals, including the Cato Institute, the Association of Libertarian Feminists, the Institute for Objectivist Studies, the Libertarian Review, Inquiry, and the Libertarian Party itself. Rand's influence, not only on libertarianism, but on modern American thought, has been monumental indeed.
The speakers at the meeting-the setting (a nice restaurant), and the attendance (about 25) made this the best regular meeting the LPQC has ever had. We credit John Clifton for doing most of the work to set it up. If the LPQC continues to have such successful meetings, we may yet inspire libertarians in other boroughs to get started with active Party chapters.
By Jim Strawhorn
With this issue of LPQC News I conclude my service as editor and producer of the LPQC's newsletter.
This has been a difficult decision. I have received many rewards from this work, the knowledge that I've been doing my small part to spread awareness of the Libertarian Party, the pleasure of working with some extremely talented, dedicated individuals, and many compliments on my work. But the headaches I've gotten from relying on people who turned out to be unreliable have come to overshadow these benefits.
Producing a newsletter is a collaborative effort. It requires cooperation - and communication - among at least a handful of people. Members of voluntary organizations must realize that when they offer to do something, other people make their plans accordingly. If volunteers don't carry out their promises without warning anyone, they disrupt the work of other members.
In other words, if you say you are going to do something, then do it. If you can't, or decide not to, then tell someone as soon as possible. Otherwise you muck up the work of people who are trying to further the organization's goals
My misplaced reliance on people who don't follow these precepts has meant, several times and on short notice, that I've had to put in many extra hours to get the newsletter out. And it has led me to wonder whether individual responsibility is really a part of some people's lives.
Before signing off, I must thank the people who have been constant in their support and cooperation. Foremost is John Clifton. If John Clifton says he'll do something, you can count on it; it will be done. I also thank Bob Knipe, Brad Arter, Tod Ginnis, John Procida, and Siegie Kress for coming through and helping to make this a good little publication.
Through all this, I'm still a libertarian, and I'll continue to work for freedom in one way or another. I hope you will, too.
By Jim Strawhorn
LPQC News
Jim Strawhorn, Editor
Bradford R.Arter, Associate Editor
John Clifton, Contributing Editor
Elliott Werner, Web Site Editor
LPQC News is published quarterly by the Libertarian Party of Queens County. Subscriptions: included free with LPQC membership;$6/year to non-members. Deadline for articles is the second Saturday of the month preceding publication. Opinions expressed in LPQC News are not necessarily official positions of the membership or the officers of the LPQC. Please direct all correspondence to LPQC News, c/o Procida Realty Corp., 161-09 29th. Ave.,Flushing, NY11358; or call (718) 670-3270
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