Les Libertariens Américains

[Freeman]

Pas ceux qui se font élire sur l'étiquette du LP en tout cas.

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J. Daniel Cloud

LP News Editor Nov 1, 2005

Libertarian city councilman relies on successes in his re-election campaign

Two years ago, Bill Lynn was elected to the city council in Davenport, Iowa, a city of about 100,000 near the Illinois line. Elections are held every two years, so Lynn is back on the campaign trail, looking forward to the election on Nov. 8.

In the Oct. 11 primary election, with three opponents, Lynn received 58 percent of the vote in his district -- his nearest opponent receiving about 30 percent -- so he is optimistic of his chances for re-election.

There are 10 aldermen in Davenport and as a Libertarian, Lynn is definitely in the minority. But the council seats (and elections) are nonpartisan, so party membership doesn't often enter into the Davenport political scene, he said.

In 2003 Lynn received only 14 votes more than his opponent, out of about 1,800 votes. But that was enough to defeat the incumbent -- "so I guess any margin of victory is better than none," he said in a recent interview.

Lynn reports that since he was elected the first time, the public has been very supportive of his stance on the issues.

Not so with the other aldermen and the mayor.

"They propose tax increases, and I oppose them," Lynn said. "The big thing now is adding fees, like stormwater fees. We already have the highest property tax rate we can, according to state law. I have generally fought the increases in fees, and to be blunt I've generally lost.

"But I'm pretty popular with the public. They are generally very supportive, unlike the other council members -- who have probably attacked me more than anyone else."

Davenport's mayor is also "not real wild about me," Lynn said, and he's one of the few people who have "tried to pin me with the Libertarian label. But that really slides right off. What the mayor is really confused about is what libertarianism means. He confuses 'libertarian' with 'anarchist.'

"In fact, one of my best supporters recently said, 'You're a Libertarian. That means you don't believe in government, right?' So I explained to her that we do believe in government -- we just believe in limited government."

Many times when the issue of libertarianism comes up, people are not making an attack, Lynn said. Rather, they're merely trying to understand exactly what the word means.

"I think one thing Libertarians do wrong is that we get defensive about being libertarian," he noted. "Many times I just say I'm not a Democrat or a Republican, and that's enough for most people."

For 11 years Lynn has been a professor of economics at St. Ambrose University in Davenport. He has a Ph.D in economics from the University of Illinois, and said he has been surprised how much of a benefit his background has been on the city council.

"I've actually been quite amazed," he said. "I never realized that I would use my knowledge of economics at every meeting. It has been very helpful for me."

Lynn's primary issue on the campaign trail the first time around was crime in the city -- "primarily break-ins and vandalism of vehicles," he said.

"When I was running for council last time, I suggested they adopt some new approaches to fighting crime. I am a big proponent of community-based policing. Just a few months ago we developed a community-based policing program, and the crime rates in the areas we've targeted has dropped like a rock."

With that in mind, Lynn said he is telling his constituents quite simply that he has kept his promise to reduce crime -- that his ideas worked -- and he's asking them to give him another two years to continue the job.

When you've done what you said you would do, not much more is needed.

Besides, advertising has proven to be nearly fruitless: "The wards are small enough in Davenport that TV and radio ads are really a waste of money," Lynn said. "Instead, and I think this is critical, I just go out and knock on doors."

Lynn has also sent out a series of three letters to the voters, defining problems the city has and explaining how they can be fixed.

Libertarians in office "need to be realistic," he said. "Too often we Libertarians tend to become ideologues. We need to make sure we concentrate on the real issues where we live -- like keeping taxes down and controlling government spending. I try to make sure I stick with issues that I can actually affect on a local level. Otherwise I'd just be wasting my time talking."

And doing his job is enough, for now. When a Libertarian is elected to office, other Libertarians often assume that he or she will soon attempt a move to higher office.

Lynn has no intention of doing so.

"I've had people ask me if I'd run for mayor or something, but I think I'm going to stay where I am for the time being. I'm still trying to accept the fact that I'm on the city council, that I got elected."

- Published in the November 2005 issue of LP News -

[Sarvok]

ça me parait logique que les libertariens qui se font élires au party soient plus minarchistes que anarcho-capitalistes !

Après il faudrait voire les réformes qu'ils a effectué pendant son premier mendat …

Au fait Freedom, sur un autre topic, tu disais que tu ne voulais pu votter. Je pense sincèrement voter pour Alternative Libérale en 2007. Je le vois plutot comme ça :

1. 80% de la population vote et tente de m'obliger à suivre les mêmes objectifs que eux. Ca peut donc être consiédéré comme une agression, et je peux me défendre (légitime défense ?).
   
2. Un parti politique se propose de réduire le poid de cette agression. Si je vote pour eux, je réduis le nombre d'agressions que je causerais aux autres. Et que les gens se causeront entre eux. En esperant le jour ou il n'y aura plus d'agression via la politique …
   

Sinon, comment penses-tu arriver à une anarchie capitaliste ?

[Guest jabial]

C'est tout à fait normal que par définition des libertariens qui choisissent la voie politique soient minarchistes, au moins dans l'action.

En ce qui me concerne, j'ai une devise : l'objectif à l'horizon, les étapes à pas de fourmi. Ca signifie que je refuse tout compromis sur mes buts (anarchie capitaliste) mais que je suis tout à fait prêt à voter pour des gens qui veulent améliorer la situation sans pour autant poursuivre ces objectifs.

[Freeman]

Alternative Libérale est le seul parti que je pourrais défendre et pour qui je voterais, comme le LP USA, c'est pareil.

Ne nous leurrons pas : rompre avec l'étatisme ( pour paraphraser les socialistes ) prendra du temps et de la patience, car une rupture brutale entraînerait des conséquences catastrophiques.

[h16]

Ne nous leurrons pas : rompre avec l'étatisme ( pour paraphraser les socialistes ) prendra du temps et de la patience, car une rupture brutale entraînerait des conséquences catastrophiques.

Allons, allons, ces conséquences catastrophiques ne seront peut être pas si inutiles… Comme le disait Goethe, "ce n'est qu'au bout des pires souffrances que l'humanité a posé les pierres blanches de ses victoires les plus décisives".

[Dardanus]

Allons, allons, ces conséquences catastrophiques ne seront peut être pas si inutiles… Comme le disait Goethe, "ce n'est qu'au bout des pires souffrances que l'humanité a posé les pierres blanches de ses victoires les plus décisives".

Raisonnement typiquement communiste.

Variante pétainiste : vous avez beaucoup souffert et vous souffrirez encore… (voix chevrotante)

Bref, on disait dans les ex démocraties populaires :

On ne fait pas d'omelette sans casser d'oeufs.

Seulement voilà, on a cassé beaucoup d'oeufs mais on n'a jamais vu la moindre omelette.

[h16]

Raisonnement typiquement communiste.

Variante pétainiste : vous avez beaucoup souffert et vous souffrirez encore… (voix chevrotante)

Bref, on disait dans les ex démocraties populaires :

On ne fait pas d'omelette sans casser d'oeufs.

Seulement voilà, on a cassé beaucoup d'oeufs mais on n'a jamais vu la moindre omelette.

C'était évidemment ironique. J'aurai du rajouter …