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Economics: the study of choices in the use of resources, and the
consequences of those choices.
As political parties go, the Libertarian Party surely has many
times the number of members informed in economic principles, per capita,
than the Democrats and Republicans.
Unfortunately, they can be as bound by traditional thinking
as anyone else, and the imminent nominating convention season is
having me seeing red thinking of the misallocation of resources
surrounding them.
Clearly, "third parties" are not in the same ballpark as the
big two when it comes to fundraising; they're hardly
in the same sport. So a member of one might wish they would go about things
a bit differently. Here I am, faced with the decision as to whether to
travel to Atlanta next month for the national convention
of the LP. Because of my social nature, I'll really hate being there, even
more than I hated being at the state convention in San Jose
last month, if only because it'll be many times bigger. But I want to do
my part in assuring Aaron Russo the nomination for president, and to
cast my vote I must be present.
It seems that Mr. Russo has seized the front runner spot from Gary Nolan,
and by a wide margin, though the polling on April 30, 2004 is the only one
that counts. But if he takes the nomination in a walk, my vote will have
been unneeded, my anguish for nought, and my money spent on
airfare, room and board spent much less satisfactorily than if I had just
donated it to the campaign.
On the other hand, wouldn't I feel silly if I sent my geld off to
his headquarters, only to wake up to a beautiful Pacific coast morning
on the thirty-first to hear that he'd lost by one vote.
Decisions, decisions.
Hey, any noders in Atlanta?
And another thing. While the national convention in presidential election
years is in a different city each time, and I don't know how it's chosen,
it occurs to me that something nearer the West Coast might be nice. California
gets 226 delegates this year; the next highest is Texas with 76 (or 79).
One might wish that was given some weight in choice of venue. Oh, well.
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