A Good Talking Point For Libertarians

dredelstein · March 31, 2005, 2:22am

Great message!

Particularly relevant for our candidates and initiative optimists. Candidates and initiatives are important, but not as an instrument of "conditional optimism."

Thanks, Ron.

Best, Michael

lpsfactivists · March 31, 2005, 5:32am

Wow! I second Michael Edelstein's remark that Ron Getty's message is
terrific. Something like finding a journey itself rewarding, rather
than focusing only on the destination?

Marcy

--- In lpsf-discuss@yahoogroups.com, "Dr. Michael R. Edelstein"
<dredelstein@t...> wrote:

Great message!

Particularly relevant for our candidates and initiative optimists.
Candidates and initiatives are important, but not as an instrument

of

"conditional optimism."

Thanks, Ron.

Best, Michael

From: "Ronald Getty" <tradergroupe@y...>
To: "Libertarian Yahoo Group" <lpsf-discuss@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2005 5:53 PM
Subject: [lpsf-discuss] A Good Talking Point For Libertarians

> Dear Everyone;
>
> The following comes from the latest Advocates Libertarian

newsletter

> and is a point worth talking about and considering or thinking

about

> or actualizing.
>
> Ron Getty
> SF Libertarian
>
>
> PERSUASION POWER POINT #177
>
> Admiral Stockdale's Lesson for Libertarians
>
> by Michael Cloud
>
> Admiral James Stockdale was the highest-ranking prisoner-of-war

held

> by the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam War. He was imprisoned

in

> the "Hanoi Hilton" from 1965 to 1973. He was brutally

interrogated,

> repeatedly tortured, and threatened with death. Day after day, he
> was told he would never again see his family or America.
>
> During this ordeal, he set up systems for his fellow prisoners to
> communicate with each other. He helped his men find ways to

endure

> isolation, brainwashing, and violent interrogations. For eight
> years, he gave his men the way and the will to endure. His
> leadership and valor earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor.
> His experience taught him unforgettable lessons.
>
> One lesson was the danger of conditional optimism.
>
> One interviewer asked Admiral Stockdale, "What was the difference
> between the prisoners who survived and those who didn't?"
>
> "The ones who died were optimists," said Stockdale. "They were

the

> ones who said, `We're going to be out by Christmas.' And

Christmas

> would come, and Christmas would go. They they'd say, 'We're going

to

> be out by Easter.' And Easter would come, and Easter would go.

And

> then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And

then

> they would die of a
> broken heart."
>
> "This is a very important lesson.
>
> You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end --
> which you can never afford to lose -- with the discipline to
> confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever

it

> is." (Quoted in "Good to Great" by Jim Collins.)
>
> This lesson is vitally important to libertarians. It has an

enormous

> impact on whether a libertarian activist encourages others -- or
> discourages them. On whether a libertarian perseveres -- or quits.
>
> Consider a few libertarian campaign examples.
>
> "We're going to win a million votes for president," said an

excited

> Libertarian Party activist. "And this is just the beginning. Then
> we'll really catch fire."
>
> "I'm going to be the first elected Libertarian on my city

council,"

> said another. "Then they'll take our ideas seriously."
>
> "This time, I'm going be elected to the state legislature," said

a

> third. "I know what I did wrong last time. I know what I need to

do.

> And this time, I'm finally going to win."
>
> How about a few libertarian persuasion examples?
>
> "This libertarian book will change my brother's mind," said a
> libertarian. "It refutes every argument for government

intervention

> in the economy."
>
> "I'm getting a copy of that John Stossel special for my
> father-in-law," said another. "He'll finally see what I've been
> talking about."
>
> "Atlas Shrugged changed my life," said a third. "I bought a dozen
> copies for family and friends. I urged them to read it. When they
> finish it, they'll be as blown away as I was."
>
> All six of these libertarians are gone. They quit.
>
> Why? Conditional optimism.
>
> When you make your optimism dependent on something happening or

not

> happening, you'll be disappointed and discouraged. A lot.
>
> When you make your optimism conditional on what other people do

or

> don't do, you'll feel let down and cheated. Regularly.
>
> When you make your optimism contingent on what others say or

think

> or feel, you'll feel frustrated and angry and hurt. Repeatedly.
>
> Conditional optimism is fragile. Conditional optimism will break
> your heart -- and your spirit.
>
> We can and must apply Admiral Stockdale's lesson to our quest for
> liberty:
>
> Create and sustain our faith that we can and will achieve liberty

in

tradergroupe · March 31, 2005, 7:40am

Dear Everyone;

The article I re-printed from the Advocate struck me as being viable for Libertarians who are not conditional optimists or to be aware of becoming one by default. It reminds me of the poem Robert Frost wrote near the end of his legendary life. The poem speaks to Libertarians and the path they have to choose.

Ron Getty
SF Libertarian

The Road Not Taken
~ by Robert Frost ~

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

"Amarcy D. Berry" <amarcyb@...> wrote: