On the Reno Reset
One of our organizers posting their thoughts on Reno and evaluating the write ups of others
Timcast already did a nice write-up, Reason, a lousy one, and the WaPo Third Party Watch blurb was fair, but I think more could be written about the #RenoReset from someone who attended as a delegate, but who is also new to capital “L” libertarianism and the Mises Caucus. Like many of you, I landed in Reno on Wednesday, the week of the national Libertarian Party Convention, not really knowing what to expect. I was exhausted from a prior week of travel for work, but didn’t have a connecting flight through Paris like Dave Smith did (thankfully). Also like many of you, I mostly knew fellow MiCaucs from Zoom meetings and training sessions, a few local meetups, and Discord. I was definitely looking forward to meeting everyone in-person, and all the events around the convention: comedy and live POTP on Thursday night, Tom Woods and Scott Horton speaking on Friday, and the Mises Bash on Friday night. I was also expecting a long weekend of parliamentary shenanigans on the convention floor, which is how it played out.
Background: I am definitely not an edgelord. I’m a normie who grew up in suburban Ohio (which is real, btw). I wasn’t reading Rothbard as a teenager but read The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. I’m solidly Gen X and have a military background (shout out to the LP Veteran Caucus). I would have called myself center-Left ten or fifteen years ago - that lame “socially liberal, fiscally conservative” tag. I approved when Newt Gingrich forced Bill Clinton to balance the budget. My red-pill was the combination of Edward Snowden's revelations and learning about cryptocurrency in 2013. I voted for Gary Johnson in 2016, but he didn’t create a lot of libertarians, and I still wasn’t calling myself one. Last summer I heard two separate Reason podcasts, one Soho Forum with Angela McArdle and a Nick Gillespie Reason Interview with (failed) comedian Dave Smith. So thank you, Reason, for finding the Mises Caucus for me! Finally, I found people who could unapologetically articulate the venality and corruption of the State, who were uncompromising in regards to COVID tyranny and in their opposition to foreign wars. I was reading Rothbard. I found The Great Scott Horton and the (very failed) podcaster Tom Woods. Maybe I downloaded some Hoppe from Mises.org. I was finally a libertarian.
Michael Heise was correct. The gist of the critics of the Mises Caucus is roughly this: “Your aesthetics and messaging are too edgy and offensive, and you will drive people from the Libertarian Party.” I’ll counter with the Mises Caucus’ strongest argument in the tradition of Mises, Rothbard, and Ron Paul: property and individual natural rights are the foundation of liberty. If we water down our message to pander to the duopoly, the LP is meaningless, rudderless, and will never have an impact in the real world. I recognized this principled message as soon as I heard it, and it was absolutely refreshing. I’m proof that the critics are wrong, as I wasn’t interested in some milquetoast version of libertarianism. At convention, I heard critics’ comments about the “hive mind” and “collectivism”, comments which don’t make any sense. Sovereign individuals, acting voluntarily together towards a common goal, is the very definition of community in the best sense. Atomized sovereign individuals fail.
I returned home from Reno optimistic, but also understanding that this is just the beginning and there is a ton of work to do. Maj Toure’s “Eye of Sauron” speech at the Mises Bash was a wake-up call. I thought Dave’s introduction for Dr. Paul was inspired and the best speech I’ve heard him give. Robbie the Fire saw me at the tail end of the line to get into The Alpine for the 7 pm show Friday night, and was kind enough to chat for a few minutes. I waited for crowded elevators with Justin Amash and Caryn Ann Harlos. Spike Cohen’s speech was 🔥. It was awesome to congratulate Angela on her win near the Monerotopia table outside the convention hall. No idols here, just people I have a ton of respect for with great ideas and integrity. On the other end of the integrity spectrum, I got a front-row seat to the Sarwark - Desisto show on Friday, as they were seated with our delegation. That was…interesting. To the rest of the Ohio delegation, Mises Caucus or not, it was great meeting you or seeing you again and I had a blast. Thanks for bringing me along. Now let’s go grow the LP at all levels, join your state and the national Libertarian parties, build county affiliates, establish single issue coalitions within our principles and without pandering, and help our Libertarian local and state candidates in any way we can. And as a failed comedian once said, let’s repeal the entire Progressive Era.