Jun 22 2008
The Importance of Political Organization for Free-Market Activists
A weakness of the present free-market movement – which, fortunately, has been somewhat diminished in recent years – is its lack of organization and its often grudging but nonetheless existent embrace of other powerful organizations and agendas that undermine the cause of free markets – such as the platform and policies of the Republican Party during this decade. I think that many free-market advocates confuse organization with central planning; naturally, since they oppose central planning as an end, they also reject it as a means to fight central planning – and rightly so. But without organizations of their own, free-market advocates often passively drift under the influence of non-free-market organizations such as the Republican Party.
Organization, contrary to popular belief, can be decentralized and leave virtually all aspects of activism to the discretion of individuals. The primary benefits of having some kind of organization are as follows.
1. The ability to quickly share information and enable many people to discover what is the actual state of affairs.
2. The ability to exchange plans and share ideas with many people simultaneously, reducing the transaction costs of intellectual exchange.
3. The ability to take quick, coordinated action – as in mass voting for a particular piece of online content.
The Republican Party has a good system of organization – and even a propaganda network – which is why it has maintained a substantial following despite terrible policies and foolish leadership. If they wish to supplant the Republicans, free-market advocates need to develop an organizational network of their own – a decentralized, individualistic, but nonetheless coordinated one. I welcome your ideas for how this might be done and your participation in it.
Sincerely,
Gennady Stolyarov II
Editor-in-Chief, The Rational Argumentator: http://rationalargumentator.com
Writer, Associated Content: http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/46796/g_stolyarov_ii.html
Author, Implied Consent, A Play on the Sanctity of Human Life: http://rationalargumentator.com/impliedconsent.html
Author, A Rational Cosmology: http://rationalargumentator.com/rc.html
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