Why the Libertarian Party of Minnesota is closing the Liberty Center

Within the next month or so, the Libertarian Party of Minnesota will close our storefront Liberty Center at 799 Raymond Ave. in St. Paul. It’s a big change that deserves some explanation.

Almost nine years ago, when I was State Chair, I convinced the LPMN that we should have a storefront office in order to grow and become more successful. The party was 29 years old then, and had always operated without an office, with a brief exception in the 70’s. During the years prior to 2001, the party had relied on a series of strong and very committed leaders and a small cadre of activists who spent excessive amounts of their time on party work. We operated with a post office box number rather than an address, and phone calls were taken at home by the Chair or Vice Chair.

Computer work was done from our homes. Meetings were held in a variety of locations. That mode of operation was very limiting, and didn’t create a very professional impression.

Opening the first Liberty Center, at 42nd and Nicollet S. caused a high point in party activity. Membership grew, volunteers at last had a place to work, and we had a public image on a busy street. Then the 9/11 attack happened, and the political focus of the nation changed. Some people began to believe that political competition was less important than supporting the President. Dissent became unwelcome… and we were all about dissent.

Party membership began to drop here and on a national level too, reducing income and activism. The change was gradual, and there were internal causes as well. We went through several years when party officers were not able to spend the great amount of time needed to keep an all-volunteer party moving forward. We suffered through a major theft and a break-in that cost us dearly.

As is always true, trying to maintain an all-volunteer political party is never easy. Turnover of activists and members is high. Activists (and contributors) help for quite emotional reasons, and because we are always fighting a steep uphill battle against the two entrenched and powerful parties, disppointment is a way of life. Successes are small, and defeats can make it seem as if progress is impossible. Emotional burnout is frequent.

The relationship between a small political party and campaigns for office is a strange one. Everyone expects a political party to run candidates, but the usual effect of campaigns actually makes it more difficult to keep the party moving and growing. Campaigns are exciting and fun. When we had active campaigns, all of the extra time and money of party supporters shifted to the campaigns and away from the party itself. When a campaign ends in defeat… no matter how successful a defeat… some of those who poured themselves into the campaign drift away, to again reconcentrate their efforts on their personal lives. Some will be dissillusioned and avoid politics again. While campaigns will bring a few new people to the party, very few stay after the elections, and the party struggles to get moving again.

This past election year was no exception, even though LPMN ran no partisan candidates. The Ron Paul campaign drew many of our most active party members to it, and they made their contributions to that campaign rather than to the party. Without question, Ron Paul has awakened many people to libertarian ideas, but he has done it as a Republican, and pulled many back into that party. Like many other Libertarians, I attended the Republican caucus, and even read Ron Paul’s statement to the group. The Liberty Center was Ron Paul headquarters before they opened a separate office, and we distributed a lot of Paul materials from there. As it became obvious that Paul would not get the nomination, I went back to working for the LPMN. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the Ron Paul movement did not end with the election, and the negative effect on the LPMN continues.

If and when the Ron Paul Revolution peters out, I do not expect that many of those who have invested time and money in it will turn to the LPMN or other state LP groups. Some will have damaged their personal lives enough, or become too disillusioned to continue political activism. It is ironic and sad that, in a time when libertarian ideas are more prevalent than ever, support for the party that has kept those ideas alive for 37 years, has decreased. LPMN, the 50 other affiliates, and the LP itself, were the core of support for new and successful movements such as the Ron Paul Revolution and the Free State Project (several of our most active members moved to New Hampshire to be part of the FSP), but the very success of those movements has left the party struggling.

LPMN has always been viewed as a much larger organization than it actually is. We have had a presence, and influence, that is much greater than our numbers should allow. We have operated with a few extremely dedicated individuals who are willing to fight the long fight to keep libertarian ideas in front of the public. While it is easy to get emotionally involved for a short time, it requires a serious committment to liberty to keep the fires burning when the bonfires go out. LPMN will continue, and you are certainly welcome to join and help.

Ignoring risk

Here we go again:

The health insurance industry offered Tuesday for the first time to curb its controversial practice of charging higher premiums to people with a history of medical problems.

Isn’t that nice of the insurers? They seem to be willing to insure even the least healthy of us, at no extra cost. Risk won’t be a factor. That is, of course, great news for those who have serious health problems. It’s magic, isn’t it? Unhealthy people won’t pay any more for their health care than the healthiest of us. Something for nothing?

Does this sound familiar? It should. Remember the federal government forcing mortgage lenders to ignore risk? Remember how they pushed lenders to give mortgages to people who couldn’t afford them? Remember how many of those people found themselves in foreclosure, changing the whole real estate market?

Ignoring risk resulted in families walking away from their homes because they couldn’t pay the mortgage and couldn’t sell for as much as they owed. Ignoring risk resulted in lenders going bankrupt, along with builders, developers, and many people who were related to that industry.

Ignoring risk is as patently stupid as walking blindfolded across a busy freeway, hoping that you won’t get hit.

Many who read about what the insurers are being pushed into doing will first think about all those poor souls with serious medical conditions who will now be able to get insurance at the same rates as healthy people. Even those who are uninsurable now will have access to inexpensive insurance. For those people, it’s GREAT news. Many readers will not think any further than that, and applaud the idea.

Let’s think about some facts. Insurers need to at least break even financially to stay in business (unless they get a bailout at taxpayer expense). If they take on unhealthy people at the same premiums as healthy people, their expenses will rise… a lot. Their only choice will be to raise the premiums… not on those people causing the expense, but on everyone.

One other inevitable result of ignoring risk will be that we will all have less incentive to stay healthy. Unhealthy habits won’t cost us financially.

Socialistic do-gooders have been pushing for many years for health insurers to take on high-risk patients. It appears that they’re winning, just as they did with mortgage lenders. But there is no free lunch. If unhealthy people pay no more in premiums than healthy people, then we’ll all pay equally, and we’ll all pay much more… that is socialism.

We will all become less healthy, and we will all pay even more than the outrageous levels being paid now. We will have the pleasure of knowing that everyone else is also in the same, sinking, boat. That is socialism indeed.