The Jackson County Libertarian

Why I Joined The Libertarian Party.

By James Nall

As a young man living in California during the sixties, I let my hair grow long, and never thought much about politics. I used to go dancing and drinking at the Corral in Topanga Canyon near Malibu. It was pretty much the hang out for heavies in the Los Angeles area. I was no heavy, but my friends and I enjoyed the music, rock or rock-country mix. We had local groups like Geronimo Black and the Flying Burrito Brothers, but Janis Joplin was there one night when I wasn't, and the Rolling Stones played there on the way to the Free Concert in San Francisco, again I wasn't there.

Working at a job is sometimes a handicap, you missed a lot of nights out but at least you had bread to enjoy the times you were out. One night a movie was being filmed at the Corral, bright lights and the whole bit. The dopers were kept out of sight. Without the dopers and the arrest of the Satan Slaves for selling stolen cars, the place lost its atmosphere. That pretty much finished the Corral as being a cool place to hang out, it started looking like a bar in West Hollywood or some other nerdy place.

My friends and I started going to a bar in Santa Monica for a change of pace; at least they had neat stuff on the wall and free peanuts to eat. I went to the Oar House three times and got kicked out once and chased out once for pouring a picture of beer on a girl's head. Another thing, don't throw peanuts back at some girl who was throwing them at you, you may hit some big dude that chases you down the street until he runs out of wind.

But the absence from politics came to an end. After being stopped several times by the Santa Monica Police, forced to stand on the sidewalk with my hands on my head, my car checked for who knows what, with the back seat and personal items thrown about, enough was enough. The police went through all this just to tell me to get a haircut. As unbelievable as that was to me, down in Orange County a judge ruled a young boy had to get a haircut. Normally timid, I was rapidly becoming militant. I started hating a war I once served in, I regretted ever serving. The police were bringing about a change in me that might have been the opposite of what they intended. From a family of "I would vote for the devil himself if he were on the Republican ticket" I began voting a disgusting Democrat ticket, because I felt they still believed in personal freedom, and besides they were against the war.

My fling with the Democrats didn't last long; they were either socialist or didn't know any better. In California the Democrats were the SDS or environmentalists, commies or junk science liars to me. I think the radical environmentalists would rather lie than eat. I probably wouldn't mind their lies so much if they didn't include bio-diversity or some other term with every lie they tell. After listening to them I almost forget my Libertarian views of non-violence. Coming off the Democrat downer wasn't easy, years later I would find myself quoting their stupid beliefs. I'm cured now but the rest of the country seems strung out on that crap, even the Republicans are starting to sound like them.

I moved back to Missouri, finding it greener on the other side of the fence, and married Mary, my partner yet today. After years of quoting Democrat crap anyone would quit thinking about politics, but not me, I was still searching. I started hearing about a new political party, the Libertarians, they seem to believe the same as me. I thought, this is it! I have struck gold! The Libertarian Party is made up of mostly intellectuals from major college cities and towns. The only drawback is they are separated from natural libertarians who live in the rural areas. An example being the 8th Congressional District. The Libertarian Party supported the Right to Carry Concealed Proposition, the large urban areas defeated the proposition while the 8th district, mostly rural, passed it by a 70 to 30 percent margin.

I joined the Libertarian Party, became involved more than I should have. As a natural libertarian living in a rural area I see things a little differently than the intellectuals in the urban areas. I should also mention that I'm a leveler. I became the Bollinger County Chairman, Treasurer of the 156 legislative district, member of the 27th senatorial district, the 32nd judicial district, the 8th congressional district, the state committee and the executive committee. I resigned from all but the Bollinger County position, which I still hold on to today. I find myself uncomfortable with the position of an MOLP Executive Committee. I guess that being a leveler has something to do with that.

Overall, I think the Libertarian Party is the best party. It would be a much better party if it understood the natural libertarians in the rural areas. The things the Libertarian Party should focus on in the rural areas are property rights, gun rights, and other personal rights that are important to rural people. The party needs to remember that just because we live in the country, we can, and do think for ourselves. In fact, you are less likely to herd country people, deceive or scare them like it seems you can the folks in the cities.

Click to go to the Bollinger County Libertarians Web Site where James and Mary Nall's articles are featured.

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