Libertarians In The News And Leading The Way

I know this is going to upset certain people. Those people who think libertarians should shut the hell up for electoral expediency or to promote some in the closet vision of what the political arm of libertarianism is supposed to be about. That's too bad, live with it. Here's the news of a libertarian who has spent years doing something rather than planning for electoral victory.

From the Washington Post we have the story of Starchild, sex worker, Libertarian candidate, sneered at and mocked freedom warrior of LP conventions. Yep, our Starchild. He's a character, a wacky freedom lover without peer and the bane of the Reformista tight asses everywhere. Oh, and did I mention he was a sex worker, too? Starchild has apparently taken up a new cause. Workers rights for the sex industry! Awesome!

Starchild, a 36-year-old former Army Reservist stood amid rallying sex workers in Las Vegas on Thursday and boasted of his bid for a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

"And that ballot is going to say 'escort/exotic dancer,'" he said, beaming.

I, and many other libertarians have said for years that the sex worker trade has needed a guild or even a (shudder) union-like organisation to protect them from the State and to look after their interests, (voluntary collectivism due to self interest is not necessarily a bad thing). Sex worker rights have been a key platform issue for the LP in the past, (who knows what the stance is now) and should be addressed as a standard issue. The sex trade is everywhere and these people are accorded no protections, in fact they are routinely persecuted by law enforcement. There's no reason for the sex trade to not be on candidates radars. Starchild is leading by example. Kudos!

"We just want the government off our backs," said Starchild, adding he used the conference to link up with other sex workers interested in restoring the "spirituality and dignity" the profession enjoyed in Elizabethan England.

"We're like courtesans," he said.

That's a solid, libertarian message, eh? And good old Starchild is running on the LP ticket. How embarrassing, eh? Nope. Not to me. Starchild is the exemplar of the Liberty movement. No staid tie and suit for him, fiercely independent and willing to be just who he is. If I lived out there, he'd get my vote in a heartbeat. I may not agree with things which he espouses or causes he embraces sometimes, but Starchild doesn't worry about crap like making people look bad, or electoral expediency.

There are some out there who will always point their fingers at Starchild and the others like him and issue their pod people like cries of "This is what's wrong with the LP! They accept people like him and everyone thinks we're all like him! Waaaah!". We should all be more like our Starchild. Perhaps not so flamboyant, (altho he does cut a daring picture in his Lady Liberty robes) but definitely with his conviction, courage and willingness to be who he is and not who some invisible hand at the polls would wish us to be.

Viva Starchild! Maybe his action will stand as an example, altho I suspect there are a few neo-libertarians who are even now rushing out to buy up all the copies of the Postthey can get their hands on.

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Starchild, Libertarian, Politics, Sex Workers