Party Dialogue

"Libertarians should oppose the vote in principle - they should oppose the mechanism by which political sanctification occurs. Political power is legitimized through the electoral process. The present voting system is based on the premise that fundamental rights can be gained or surrendered depending on the vote total. Libertarians must oppose this unconscionable process. We must oppose the political process itself--the mechanism whereby some persons gain unjust (but legitimized) power over others. The vote sanctifies injustice. If the libertarian message is to be truly radical--if liberatarians are to lead the fight, not only against this or that injustice, but against the political system that perpetuates and legitimizes injustice--then we must condemn voting altogether. A libertarian cannot use the vote for his own end, as if the vote were morally neutral. The vote is the method by which the State maintains its illusion of legitimacy. There is no way a libertarian organization can assail the legitimacy of the State while soliciting votes."  A classic column by George H. Smith.