Know That Not Every Coach Is A Player
Know That Not Every Coach Is A Player
Know what jobs you'd actually be good at.
It’s the supposed-to-be-Tuesday post of the week! As always, my Tuesday post is the stream-of-consciousness list of my hit-and-run thoughts, links, In Case You Missed It and anything else I just think is worth your attention or required my response.
I am sincerely sorry, I’ll be venting about inside baseball about the Libertarian Party a bit this week because it’s been the headache of the past 10 days.
My Political Party is Going Through A Rough Patch
To put it mildly. Our Chair resigned, as did two other members of the National Committee, countless volunteers, donors, activists, even elected officials. I’m not thrilled about this. This all came to a head over a state affiliate (there were obviously big things internally preceding this, and I really don’t have the patience to write the whole story out at the moment, though I know I’m going to end up doing so eventually because I think most of the highly-interested parties are a bit too invested in a “team” to do any justice to the full picture.
Anyway, my greatest hits this week include a Letter to the Libertarian National Committee about the matter which you can read in its full length here and a few Facebook posts I’ll copy below.
Re: People Trying to Draft Me to Be LNC Chair
To the wonderful supposedly well-meaning people who ask if I would like to run for/be Chair of the LNC, I have the following responses:
Why do you hate me?
Do you realize that if I was Chair of the LNC I would have to spend an entire convention up on a stage running the business meeting instead of taking pictures of members and candidates? Photos are objectively a more productive and useful and valuable thing to do than be on the LNC.
I avoid zero-sum games in the movement as much as possible. I'm here for friends not enemies.
My political capital is best utilized in offering advice to others behind the scenes (and sometimes publicly). I'm able to be more objective and more solution oriented because I am not part of a faction fighting for control, nor trying to maintain it.
I am not that well versed in parliamentary procedure, anyone who has seen me run a meeting knows that I'm meh at it. I get into the flow around day two of our conventions but usually it's because I ask Aaron Starr for advice about procedure. Yes, that guy.
What I think that a Chair should do can be relayed to someone running for or acting as Chair, if they seek my advice, I don't need to be the one performing the action.
I don't do mornings.
I don't do that amount of work for free. There is only cost, and no upside for me.
Not every coach makes a good player. I’m not cut out for party office.
Thanks for considering me but please stop considering me.
Re: People Leaving My Party
No, I'm not leaving the Libertarian Party.
I'm a Lifetime member, I take that seriously. I fucking happy cried after Nick Sarwark put my goddamn Lifetime member pin on me. This party sort of conceived me, since my parents met doing LP activism in the 70s. This isn't a phase for me.
I will outlast all of you.
Yes, even *them* whoever *they* are to you.
I'll be here when some of you come back.
I do not need to be actively engaged in the shitty drama to stay a member, to collect petitions, to donate to candidates, to vote for candidates.
I have some years that I am more involved than others. I backed off a bit after Barr/Root in 2008. I waited the drama out. Most of the people I didn't like left. Fighting for power over an organization with no power gets kind of boring after a while. It happened in the '80s too. They come and they go. I stay.
I will outlast the drama du jour.
You do you.
Seriously Though
I just want to say to the non-Libertarians on my list that the Libertarian Party is only one facet of the wider Libertarian movement. There are incredible organizations like Feminists for Liberty (of which I’m on the Board, also one of our founders had a baby this week, welcome to the world Frederick). There are think tanks like Cato, The Advocates for Self-Government, the Foundation for Economic Education, Students for Liberty, AntiWar, and far too many other organizations to name in a single post. In fact, I should use one segment of this Tuesday (sometimes not-Tuesday) post to promote a different liberty org each week. Stay tuned, I’ll start doing that.
Philena
Update from last week, my friend Philena DID get hit by a truck on the 6th and she just got out of the hospital. She’s still recovering but no longer in a hospital bed. They may have found the guy who hit her. What kind of monster hits a girl on the side of the road with his truck and doesn’t even stop to make sure she’s okay? Leaves her to die? Yeah, I’m still pissed about it, and looking forward to whatever consequences are coming his way.
In the meantime, besides donating to her Cash App $philenacarter, you can be supportive by checking out her music. This is a short clip of her band performing Change by Deftones, which I love. You can find more of Stanley Ave at their website.
Freedom Fest 2021!
I’m confirmed as a speaker at Freedom Fest 2021! I’ve been attending Freedom Fest since 2012 (it’s actually where I first met Judd in person - he was speaking and I was an attendee). It’s usually in Las Vegas, but this year they moved it to Mount Rushmore, South Dakota (not my ideal situation but I’m open to new experiences). I’m speaking, taking photos, am on a few panels AND I’m hosting Friday night karaoke. We’ve got a great Feminists for Liberty panel as well! It’s all happening on July 21-24th in Rapid City. Tickets are available here and for $50 off, use the code Avens50. :)
In Case You Missed It
Each week I get a handful of new signups for this newsletter, and I’m tremendously grateful for them (you!). I often do not know if they went through the archives to check out my previous essays, and I’d rather not bother them (and some of you since the beginning might miss an essay here or there!), so this subsection each week will be at the end of my Tuesday post, so you can skip it if you’ve already seen it or read them all, but will present the long-form essays with a single sentence description in case you missed something and wanted to check it out.
Lead With Gratitude- I explain the game plan with this blog, and thank you for your support.
Choose The Better Story - My life philosophy about building your personal story and making choices.
Judge & Prepare To Be Judged - How “Judgement” does not equal condemnation, and being a discerning person isn’t actually a bad thing, but you should also know who you’re judging for.
Look Beyond Representation - Talking about “representation” as a woman - how its purpose is to eventually render itself irrelevant - let there be so much representation that nobody represents us, because we’re individuals.
Count It All Joy - Remembering a long lost friend, and how she taught me to love by letting go.
Appreciate the Mothers In Your Life - A collection of stories of my own mother.
Ask Yourself What You’d Kill For - Expanding on two concepts that explain my perspective on government & politics.
Lemon Tek Your Mushrooms - An essay about mushroom trips, and how to make them the very best.
Be Kind - An essay about how 30 minutes of my day saved someone’s life, and how I learned about it 2 years later.
Follow Your Heart - The story of me & the boy who convinced me to move to Los Angeles, and how he changed my life forever.
Appreciate the Fathers In Your Life - A bit about my own father and the kind of man he is.
I really am trying to finish the Libertarian Party of California’s convention photo album - I delayed this post a day working on it, but there’s been a lot of stuff coming up (including the LP drama). Look for a link by next week (it’ll be up on my Facebook this week).
This week I’m in the mood for Muse - been re-listening to Black Holes & Revelations.
Hoping to have another piece up for you by tomorrow - I really intend to keep Thursday as my essay day, I’m sorry last week’s was late.
