The Libertarian Party platform is sometimes our enemies' greatest weapon. It leads the public to believe that Libertarians are revolutionaries and that our candidates, if elected to office, would support each of its statements tomorrow, leading to awkward and embarrassing questions and a general misunderstanding of our goals.

The Libertarian Party platform is also one of the greatest distracters for the movement, with the pragmatists and the zealots fighting each other and adherents of the various libertarianisms fighting among themselves over things that are often politically irrelevant. Debate is held under the mistaken idea that the Platform should be a grand Central Plan for Libertopia, that the details of policy should be spelled out, and that questions which aren't ready to be brought to the table ought to be settled for all time. The result is a document that simultaneously scares the public and alienates Libertarians.

Libertarians need a new platform on which to stand.

Our candidates need a document to which they can refer the public that won't embarrass them. Our supporters and potential supporters need something that will give them a general idea of our stances on questions of the day.

Barring significant change in the makeup of the Libertarian Party, attempting to change the Platform in any significant way, at this time, would likely be a waste of energy. Aside from those who see the Platform as a means to advance religious principles or as a playing field for philosophical scrimmage, we would also have to contend with the Party's commitment to a new, counterproductive format that commits plank writers to deductionism and Libertopianism.

It would be better, for now, for the Libertarian Freedom Council to write its own platform for libertarians, to be put up on a website to which candidates and activists can refer potential supporters.

I come to the Platform Project with the goal of creating such a Platform through collaboration with individuals who share my vision of a positive and political platform for libertarians, one that draws on libertarian commonality rather than underscores libertarian divisions.

If interested in such an effort, please send an e-mail to Dr. Tom Stevens (DrTomStevens@libertarianfreedomcouncil.org) and to myself (bkalafut at email dot arizona dot edu). The Platform Project is a Libertarian Freedom Council project; nonmembers are welcome to observe and provide input but only members are voting participants. More can be learned about the goals of the Libertarian Freedom Council at http://www.libertarianfreedomcouncil.org, and queries about membership can be directed to Dr. Tom Stevens.

To get started, I ask that members gain some familiarity with the platforms of the Democratic (http://www.democrats.org/pdfs/2004platform.pdf) and Republican (http://www.gop.com/media/2004platform.pdf) Parties and the Ten Key Values of the Greens (http://www.gp.org/tenkey.shtml), paying special attention to tone and style. It will also help to visit a few think-tank or issue-group websites or to pick up a copy of Reason; although we will not be spelling out detailed policy proposals or committing candidates to one libertarian solution over another, reading up on libertarian policy solutions will help you to see how to translate beliefs about ethics and economic theory into political positions.

Work on planks will begin in the near future; for more information, send me an email or join our Yahoo! Group (see below).

Ben Kalafut
Chairman
The Platform Project

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If you are interested in working on this project, please let Dr. Tom Stevens know by privately e-mailing him at DrTomStevens@libertarianfreedomcouncil.org