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Libertarians need to become Super Saiyans! I don’t know if you have ever watched Dragon Ball Z, but I think we can learn a few things from this childhood obsession of mine.
What is a Saiyan?
Many of the characters on the show are part of a race of alien warriors called Saiyans. What made the Saiyans unique and eventually the most powerful beings in the universe, was the way they recovered. Saiyans would lose battles, but every time they did, they became 10 times stronger. Then the next time you faced them it was a one-sided fight.
How do we become Saiyans?
Libertarians, we do our fair share of losing battles so let’s at least become stronger when we lose them.
We do that by taking a real look at why we lost.
We always assume it’s the strength of our arguments, but I’m hard pressed to think of an ideology that has thoroughly vetted and debated its ideas like libertarianism. Point being, our ideas are pretty solid, yet people still often embrace inconsistent and counter-productive beliefs of how society should organize.
The reality?
The difference is presentation. Instead of trying to change the values of every individual, we should craft the libertarian message to appeal to the values they already hold. This is not just a matter of how to verbally present the ideas but also the optics and perception of the messenger. I know we like to believe the message is enough and it should be, but why do we leave so much opportunity on the table.
So ask yourself:
– Is the messenger someone people would want to aspire to be (if I don’t want to be you in some way, why would I want to adopt your ideas)?
– Does their appearance communicate authenticity and authority to their target audience (no outfit works for everyone, but find the right uniform for whoever your talking too)?
– Does the framing of the ideas present them in a way that welcomes people to question their existing beliefs without judgement or presented as immediate judgement for being late to the game?
– Does the messenger have shared experiences or values that’ll help then connect to their target audience?
If we work we can:
– Segment: identify audiences of shared values and experiences.
– Find a messenger: find someone who can connect to that audience.
– Support: provide the support necessary for the right messenger to deliver the right message.
If we wonder why libertarian demographics such as women and minorities are so low in numbers, it might be because we are sending the same messenger, sending the same message to the same audience over and over again.
Some food for thought.
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Petty, I know, but “whomever you’re talking to” is less jarring than “whoever your talking too.” Sorry. Can’t help myself.
This article caught my attention in regards to getting stronger and I applaud the effort, however it misses the fundamentals and skips to more the “tips”. And truly when I read it, it appears like the author is torn between two models of activism…”education or mobilization models. To the authors credit there are good points in here to consider and to think about.
However its missing main meat. If your goal is to be the best debater in the country and increase your strength through arguing in such ways then go ahead and stop here, and you will do nothing to change your environment. But with the goal in mind, that is if it is to actually change your political environment, then there are real concrete things that must be done by anyone who is trying to organize or make an impact. These concrete things are not listed in this article and its missing some very key points.
There is a whole artform to picking the right fights to make you stronger as well…and if you are not growing your following, then you are not doing it right. It has not so much to do with winning or losing based on truth or fact, but more to do with increasing power through numbers.
Your dreaming if you think increasing your numbers of people you convinced that admit that you are so logical and we’ll said that they have finally seen the error of their ways and now they are finally libertarians because how can they resist such flawless and impeccable presentationof ideas from another libertarian without wanting to cash in their socialist card.
Libertarians must mobilize….they have not done so.
What kind of sports team is put together through trying to convince people to play a sport by going after people that don’t want to play sports??? This is the wrong way to win.
Go find people who believe like you and then use them!
I hope you do mean do these things in addition to what we are already doing?
I ran for city council and did very well though I lost. I framed my views as ” I favor…” And depending on what I get away with I would slide as far into Rothbardianism as I could. I made sure I challenged every individual I spoke to in one way or another.
I did find a few hard line progressives, and gave them what for…. But I’ll write more about it on my own blog tonight.
savingstapleton.com
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