Graduate Student Daniel Krawisz talks about government involvement in private corporations at the first meeting of Longhorn Libertarians.
Photo Credit: Cody Permenter
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“It’s all a big orgy up there,” is how engineering graduate student Daniel Krawisz described the U.S. government Sept. 6 at Garrison Hall during the first Longhorn Libertarians meeting of the year.
Several student speakers commanded the front of a small classroom, focusing on matters within the political and social views of the Libertarian Party, the largest third-party political organization in the United States.
According to the National Libertarian Party website, the founding principles of Libertarianism include opposing physical force against others, opposing all attempts by government to limit freedom of speech, and opposing government interference with private property. Other stances include a strong support of a free-market economy, a repeal of the personal-income tax, and the privatization of most public services.
20-year-old history and government major Jose Nino was first to begin the meeting with an overview of influential Libertarian figures and the student Libertarian movement. Nino credited Lao Tzu, an ancient Chinese philosopher, as being one of the first to express Libertarian ideals. “He believed that government should be limited to the smallest possible inaction.”
Ron Paul, a current presidential candidate who switched from the Libertarian Party to the Republican Party before his 2008 presidential campaign, is also very influential in the Libertarian movement, according to Nino. Paul has energized the youth by advocating for auditing the Federal Reserve, bringing the troops home, and a free-market economy.
The two main youth organizations for young Libertarians are Students for Liberty and Young Americans for Liberty. According to Nino, Students for Liberty is focused on maintaining liberty on campus while Young Americans for Liberty is an activist group that is directly involved in getting Libertarians elected to public office. “Despite some of their differences in terms of strategy they are both interconnected,” Nino said. “Our generation is basically writing the next chapter in the Libertarian movement.”
Daniel Krawisz, 29, continued the meeting by explaining another tenant of the Libertarian movement- a free market economy. Krawisz criticized the U.S. government for getting involved with private companies, and forcing them to become de-facto governmental agencies. “Any company that is totally regulated by government or its only customer is the government should be seen as just another government department.”
Krawisz used the example of private military company XE Services, formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide, who’s only customer is the U.S. government. “Eventually we will reach a point of total socialism where all businesses are basically government departments that are being strictly controlled by regulations,” Krawisz said.
Students are drawn to Libertarianism for many different reasons. 20-year-old journalism major Molly Reynolds joined Longhorn Libertarians because she “didn’t like Republicans or Democrats.”
“Being Libertarian appealed to me because it believes in being socially liberal and fiscally conservative,” said Reynolds. Reynolds joined the group her freshmen year after seeing current members tabling on the West Mall. She is currently one of the only female members of the group. “I can tell the guys aren’t used to seeing a lot of girls around.” One of the jokes she hears often is, “If you want to meet a guy, then go to a Libertarian meeting because there are no girls!”
Reynolds says that although she is one of the only female members of the group, she has seen much more interest in women this year. “Everyone loves Ron Paul, so the girls are coming to that.”
Last year Longhorn Libertarians held an anti-war rally on Guadalupe Street, and hosted the Central Texas Freedom Forum for students. The anti-war rally received positive responses from Austinites. “It was pretty fun. We got a lot of honks and people waving peace signs, “said Reynolds.
The group plans to host another anti-war rally this fall with students from Texas State and UTSA. Reynolds thinks that non-Libertarians just don’t understand what the group stands for. “They think we hate people and hate children, but we just don’t want the government to deal with them.”
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