March 2024
Hello Liberty Lovers of Riverside County!
If you would like an essay featured in the Liberty Letter, or if you read or watched something awesome that you think should be in the Suggested Reading of one of these newsletters, reach out to us at admin@rclp.us and let’s chat!
This email may be too long for some email inboxes. If so, scroll to the bottom to find a link to read it in your browser. All the contact information you need is also at the bottom.
From the Chair
(This section has been at the end of the letter for over a year now, but we’ve heard from several people that they never scrolled down that far so didn’t know it was down there. These can be a little long, we get it. But remember you can always click through the email to read it in your browser, and the web version also has a comments section. Anyway, we’re moving this section up as a “welcome” from now on. Thanks for the feedback!)
In February the LP of California held their annual organizing convention. Three members of your RivCo Executive Committee were there, in addition to several other members from the county. I got elected to be the LPCA southern area coordinator, and RivCo member Wendy Hewitt was elected to a seat on the state judicial committee (an internal watchdog group). A shout out should also be given to county member Dawn Brosius, who also stood for a judicial committee spot, though she didn’t quite get the votes for a seat. In addition, a good half dozen or more Riversiders were selected to join the California delegation to the national convention in May. The county was well represented in the convention action. Here’s to doing the work!
The convention also included some very interesting panel discussions featuring LP presidential hopefuls and some fairly high-profile independent candidates. Building a coalition outside the duopoly isn’t going to be easy, but the conversations at the convention point in a positive direction. Michael Rectenwald and Mike ter Maat sat down with RFK. jr. to share a rigorous examination of private solutions to environmental issues rather than big government interventions. Charles Ballay, Jacob Hornberger, and Lars Mapstead were joined by Cornel West for a stirring debate about the perils of socialist policy and the pitfalls of incrementalism. The “POTUS panels” at the convention were GREAT viewing, and whatever phone calls got made and connections established to make them happen was time (and undoubtedly money) well spent. Libertarian Principles shine, even in real debate, and it was delightful to see. Check the Suggested Viewing section for links.
The panels at the convention also highlight an important part of being a libertarian: talking to other people about real principles. It’s way too easy for us to just talk to each other (and argue with each other), expending volumes of energy that could be put to better use.
We live in a world where real government atrocities are being perpetrated. Arguing with other libertarians is almost negligent in the face of the dangers presented by the state. We live in a world full of City Councils that are themselves full of cheating weasels who need to be opposed directly and passionately. Arguing with each other about HOW to do that interferes with us actually DOING that.
We ALL must go and do. Raise your voice for liberty in your community, locally. The future is local, and if you can’t or won’t talk about liberty with your neighbors locally, what difference do you think you’re ever going to make?
–Loren Dean
In the News: Gemini Junk
If you hadn’t heard, Google rolled out Gemini, its big entry into the generative AI space, right around the first of the year. Just a couple of months in now, it’s an unmitigated disaster. It was so bad it affected their stock price, which for a company the size of Google is an enormous problem. Do a websearch for “Gemini fails” to get a taste of the response. For a company that is supposed to be on the bleeding edge of this kind of thing, a failure of this magnitude is striking.
Note too that we said “do a websearch” there. While it is common to use “google” as a verb (like the way people used to use “xerox” to describe photocopying something) Google’s days as the top search engine on the planet may be numbered. And that’s an unmitigated good.
It is good because it means consumers will benefit as Google gets eaten by competitors. Libertarian free-market principles win; the invisible hand will rule whether people like it or not. Google has been perceived for a while now as the monopoly to end all monopolies. But the whole Google edifice is fracturing before our eyes, and there is every reason to believe that their stranglehold on websearching will be ending sooner rather than later. That may well lead to a cascade failure that radically alters both their market position and the state of play in the tech space writ large.
In a free market, monopolies can’t survive. Sooner or later, no matter how big a company gets, one of two things will happen. First, a new competitor emerges who can simply do the job better, and customers move. Second, the monopoly company gets complacent, and in their fattened laziness stop serving their customers anything of value. Most of the time, both those things are happening simultaneously to some degree, and it always means customers get better and better served. Only in captured markets can monopolists buy political power to suppress competition.
Happily, “the internet” as a marketplace is about as unregulated and uncaptured as it gets, and we see in Google’s failures exactly what it looks like when a monopoly starts trying to manipulate what it has instead of offering customers more. Mike Solana, writing at his indie outlet Pirate Wires, has some solid further thoughts on this based on his background as a tech-dude. The link to that article is in the Suggested Reading below. It’s worth your time.
The tech space is currently the greatest example of how free market competition drives innovation and value for everyone. Imagine how life could be if that same kind of competition existed around food, energy, or education. What are we missing because monopolists in those industries are using government to stifle competition? Food for thought.
Election 2024 Updates
Primary Day
5 March was the big day. If you did nothing else, we hope you at least voted against Proposition 1. But the year ain’t over yet, so stay tuned to what’s what and how to vote in November. Riverside County’s voting information can be found at the conveniently named https://voteinfo.net/ .
More Suggested Reading/Viewing/Listening This Month
Once again, here’s the link to Mike Solana’s article on Google’s AI implosion: https://www.piratewires.com/p/google-culture-of-fear
The streams of both days of the California convention are up at the LPCA YouTube site. Each day is about 12 hours long, which is a lot, but the best parts are the last 60-90 minutes of each day, which featured the aforementioned presidential discussion panels. Check them out here:
Speaking of streams, here’s the LP response to the state of the union:
https://news.lp.org/ is the website for the newly launched Libertarian Party news portal. What was once a periodic newsletter will now be a 24/7 web presence. Check it out, subscribe there for updates, and check out how to contribute yourself!
Calendar Notes
As always, bookmark and regularly check our website for the most up-to-date event details: https://rclp.us
20 April 2024: LPRC Q2 Central Committee Meeting. Looking ahead here in the county, we’re going to try and organize an April tax revolt shindig concurrent with our Q2 Central Committee meeting. At the very least, we’ll meet for lunch and complain about taxation, by which we mean theft (or extortion, or robbery, depending on your point of view). Watch the website calendar for details, as we’re trying to find a time and place where those so inclined can observe 4/20 in the way they prefer. If you know what we mean. After doing your taxes, you might be inclined, too.
23-26 May 2024: The Libertarian Party National convention. Under this year’s theme, “Become Ungovernable,” libertarians from all over the country will discuss and debate the issues of our time. LPN will also conduct its regular election of officers. As this is a big election year, this will also be the event where the LP nominates its presidential ticket for the general election. Find details here: https://lnc2024.com/
Voter Registration and Party Membership
If you vote, be sure your registration is Libertarian. Whether you vote or not, stay abreast of your registration details on the California Secretary of State page at this link: https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/cavoter
Being a registered Libertarian voter certainly allows you to call yourself a real libertarian. However, there is more you can do. You can join the national Libertarian Party as a “sustaining member" by signing the membership application statement and paying dues (currently a minimum of $25 per year) to the national organization. Note that while paying dues at the state level (California) makes you a local "central committee member," national membership is separate.
If you aren't a dues-paying member at all, you can join as a national member AND as a state/county member using a single online form:
Combined National/State/County Membership Form
Join us in taking a stand for a world set free!
Find us on the web at https://rclp.us
Email us at admin@rclp.us
LPCA Discord server: https://discord.gg/wfXzapGsTd
LNC Discord server: https://discord.gg/fxdH2bre