Happy New Year! Libertarians in North Carolina are more organized and more prepared for success than ever before. This is after the LPNC Executive Committee approved the recommendations of a strategic planning effort outlining key initiatives for the coming three election cycles. The results-oriented plan sharpens and focuses efforts in areas which are vital to strengthening our effectiveness in local, state and federal elections. 

See this overview video for more detail on the strategic plan. 

These resolutions were written by the late Harry Browne in 1998. They are as valid for 2015 as they were then. 

by Harry Browne

1. I resolve to sell liberty by appealing to the self-interest of each prospect, rather than preaching to people and expecting them to suddenly adopt my ideas of right and wrong.

2. I resolve to keep from being drawn into arguments or debates. My purpose is to inspire people to want liberty—not to prove that they're wrong.

3. I resolve to listen when people tell me of their wants and needs, so I can help them see how a free society will satisfy those needs.

4. I resolve to identify myself, when appropriate, with the social goals someone may seek—a cleaner environment, more help for the poor, a less divisive society—and try to show him that those goals can never be achieved by government, but will be well served in a free society.

5. I resolve to be compassionate and respectful of the beliefs and needs that lead people to seek government help. I don't have to approve of their subsidies or policies—but if I don't acknowledge their needs, I have no hope of helping them find a better way to solve their problems.

A Libertarian Christmas Classic

(Editor's Note: George Getz wrote "Will the Feds Bust Santa Claus?" in 1999, when he was Libertarian Party Communications Director. This and other libertarian Christmas classics were included in the Dec. 23 Liberator Online, the newsletter of The Advocates for Self Government.)

When Santa Claus comes to town, he'd better watch out — because the federal government may be making a list of his crimes (and checking it twice).

"Hark the federal agents sing, Santa is guilty of nearly everything," said former Libertarian Party press secretary George Getz. "The feds know when Santa's been bad or good — and he's been bad, for goodness sakes."

Does Santa belong in the slammer? Instead of stuffing stockings, should he be making license plates?

Yes, said Getz, if he's held to the same standards as a typical American.

From the The Liberator Online, newsletter of the Advocates for Self Government 

There are two significant Bill of Rights milestones to celebrate this week. Today (Dec. 5) is the 81st anniversary of the repeal of the 18th Amendment, prohibition. Dec. 15 is Bill of Rights Day, commemorating the day in 1791 when the Bill of Rights went into effect. 

Just three years before repeal in 1933, the “Father of National Prohibition” and author of the 18th Amendment, Texas U.S. Sen. Morris Sheppard, had said, “There is as much chance of repealing the 18th Amendment as there is for a hummingbird to fly to the planet Mars with the Washington Monument tied to its tail.” 

"I love that quote," said Sharon Harris, Advocates for Self Government president. "Those of us fighting to end the War on Drugs can take heart from it." 
 
When Sen. Morris made his declaration, Prohibition had been a part of U.S. law for nearly a decade. It must have seemed to many to be a permanent fixture of American life.

In a Cato Institute study "Alcohol Prohibition Was a Failure" economist Mark Thornton sums up the bitter fruit of this disastrous policy:

"Although consumption of alcohol fell at the beginning of Prohibition, it subsequently increased. Alcohol became more dangerous to consume; crime increased and became 'organized;' the court and prison systems were stretched to the breaking point; and corruption of public officials was rampant. No measurable gains were made in productivity or reduced absenteeism. Prohibition removed a significant source of tax revenue and greatly increased government spending. It led many drinkers to switch to opium, marijuana, patent medicines, cocaine, and other dangerous substances that they would have been unlikely to encounter in the absence of Prohibition."