ליברטריאנים בישראל

Libertarianism is not very popular – neither in Israel nor in any other country in the world. While in some countries – for example, the United States of America – libertarianism takes an active role in the national debate, nowhere do libertarians constitute a political majority. On its face, this would imply that it is not possible for libertarians to achieve meaningful political change without a painstaking process of educating the entire public into accepting our political views.

Yet, if this were the only manner in which political change could be achieved, it would consign libertarians to waiting patiently for decades – perhaps their entire lives – until they can accomplish meaningful change. Should libertarians – in Israel or elsewhere – resign themselves to such a fate?

I would argue this is an underestimation. As we have seen from the work of other political movements at home and abroad, it is not necessary for a political movement to harness a majority – or to be popular – to score political successes.

A functioning democracy rewards not only political factions that possess a superiority in numbers – in a literal, popular-vote fashion. There exists a variety of mechanisms by which a motivated minority can influence the public debate. We know this both from Israeli and American history – a group of dedicated activists brought Goldwater the Presidential nomination. Several hundred peace activists persuaded Israel to leave Lebanon. American libertarians – though few in number – achieved a variety of victories in the past two years. It is libertarians, for instance, who made sure that the Supreme Court recognized the Second Amendment as an individual right.

How should we approach this? In practice, we must be aware of the concept of force multipliers, and apply it to politics. We all know – in principle – that a man who votes is far more influential than a man who doesn’t vote. Merely by showing up at the election you are already more influential than 50% of Israel’s population. But a man who votes once every general election is not very influential. At best, he chooses from choices that others provide him. His vote is one among three million.

Imagine now you joined a major political party, for example. If you voted in the primaries, then your vote would be one among thirty thousand – you would be a hundred times as influential as a person who votes only in the general elections. And there are other things you could do.

A group of up to fifty people does not require police approval to stage a rally or a protest. Imagine for a moment you held a small protest vigil in front of your local income tax office, handing out leaflets against the graduated income tax. How many people would hear about free market ideas that otherwise wouldn’t have? If you can get a local newspaper to cover your rally, that’s the same as several thousand shekels’ worth of advertising.

Write letters to your local newspapers. Many papers – Israel Hayom, for instance – publish letters from readers. Reader letters are another form of free advertising for our cause, and they allow your fellow citizens to be exposed to another worldview other than that of the newspaper editor.

The most important manner in which we can succeed is through active involvement in the political world. It is not suffice that you make posts on the Internet. It is necessary that you come out and stage protests, that you are visible and active. Every party, every political world-view, hinges on the need for a small minority group of activists to continue operating. The activists are to political movement what the special operations units are to the military – a priceless and unbelievably potent tool.

Even a single man, if he is creative and dedicated to his cause, can come up with an event or activity that’ll get media coverage or attract the attention of his fellow men to the cause of individual liberty. What is important is that we remember – like all progress, progress towards liberty is promoted through the actions of individual men.

Only thus will we regain the liberty that is ours by right.