May 18 marked the third quarter in a row that the University of Washington's main political clubs (YAL, College Republicans, Young Democrats and the International Socialist Organization) got together to discuss their views on certain policies. This quarter, the forum actually replaced the decades-old CR/YD debate tradition.

The topic? "Addressing the Deficit." Keeping it broad, each group had a chance to discuss their own position on the topic and their desired policies, and then the floor opened for Q/A. 

General ideas from each of the groups:

Young Americans for Liberty: Rethink tax policies/loopholes, cut spending by hundreds of billions of dollars, and question all graphs/government statistics.

College Republicans: Follow Rep. Ryan's proposal, end loopholes, keep policies local.

Young Democrats: End loopholes, have a progressive tax and focus on sustainable energy, education, etc. 

Socialists: It is the government's responsibility to care for its people, so we shouldn't be making cuts to social services like Planned Parenthood, Social Security, etc. The rich/poor gap is astounding -- there is room for more taxation.

If you have been involved in the liberty movement for more than four minutes, I'm sure you've run into one of us.

Now by "us" I mean a group of individuals who think that the state in all of its grandeur is immoral and therefore call for its reduction and even its abolition. There are many divisions within this group -- anarcho-capitalist, mutualist, voluntarist, and more -- but one commonality is a belief that politics doesn't work.  You'll typically hear, "we just need to educate enough people who think X about the rightness of Y and then we'll have liberty."  This is called the educational model of societal change, as opposed to the route of engagement with the political process. Many even go as so far to argue that the simple act of voting is an immoral tacit justification of the state.

Now, I'm not here to pick sides; I think both education and political action are important.  The truth is that to achieve true liberty, we must be willing to work together on our common goals.  I just want to layout some of my beliefs as to why even anarchists should get involved in politics.

Oftentimes, when I click on the National Tea Party Facebook page to see all the new posts, I see a consistent theme:  name-calling on the part of the neocons involved, also known -- as they were so eloquently called in an article I saw recently -- as the “Teaocons,” these are the people who have co-opted the Tea Party movement from what it once was, a small government, non-partisan movement of libertarian types who came from all over the Nolan Chart.  The original libertarian/constitutionalist types were against corporate welfare, the wars, current U.S. foreign policy, the Federal Reserve’s manipulation of the U.S. dollar, and other things that seem to be hallmarks of the neoconservative (calling someone a neocon, I do not think, can be defined as name-calling, as it is a recognized ideology) ideology in the United States.  

The fact that neoconservatives co-opted the Tea Party for their own candidates, who have no clear agenda for changing the status quo, has some to do with the name game they are currently playing.  The original Tea Party was opposed to policies on ideological and academic grounds; their grievances were based on fact and reason; and name-calling was not one of their hallmarks.

Recruit Your First Group of Leaders

In order to earn official recognition from YAL National, your chapter must recruit at least three dues-paying YAL members.

Whether you began the chapter formation process with a group of other like-minded people or not, you should always look for other leaders (students who share your passion to see a liberty-oriented group of students organized to impact your campus and local community are invaluable).

Look for Members in Existing Campus Groups

After petitioning the people you know on a personal level, explore other groups of people whose members might be interested in the creation of a YAL chapter.  Potential recruits might be found in college libertarian groups, College Republicans, and other politically focused organizations.

Ask Your Faculty Advisor

If you have already found a liberty-minded advisor, he or she may be aware of other students who share similar political ideas.  Ask him or her to connect you with these students.