Libertarian International Organization

• Be advised: in the US progressives are in a growing civil war between increasing pro-libertarian/libertarian-receptives, and the totalitarian old 'new left' trying to hold on.  (Progressives are always 50 years behind Libertarians, conservatives 100 years as respective social accelerators and brakes of mass understanding.)
• The latest tactic is borrowed from the extreme right which faced a similar debacle with Libertarianism over the last decades and is now seeing conservative worthies praise LGBT rights and pot legalization: Claim credit for Libertarian proposals, smear Libertarians as not having them, then claim credit when things go right implying it was your view all along (or alternately claim that one is the 'true Libertarian' while then spring-boarding the lies to selling anti-libertarian proposals as 'Libertarian.')
• Just to show that in this repeat of the old claim they were the true 'libertarian communists/anarchists' the extreme left isn't even original but borrowing from the extreme right in this latest take--and that such things will fail because more and more people understand what both Libertarianism and libertarian tools are--an extreme right-winger recently tried to pass himself off as a 'Libertarian' at a conservative US conference ...the audience of mostly youth burst into derisive laughter. Who knows, maybe he'll go to the next Communist conference and claim he's a true-blue Communist? Check it out: https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/02/27/conservative-audience-laughs-former-nsa-chief-refers-unrelenting-libertarian/
•  We're happy to share credit and indeed do much via coalition work ( e.g. www.ERCPinellas.org ). As I have always said, I don't want Libertarians to legalize pot or privatize government agencies--I want (respectively) the conservatives and communists to ( and now they are). Libertarians like a voluntary and fair-process approach they would like  conservatives and progressives to use better, but always to their respective concerns. But not this--this extreme left tactic of claiming sole credit for Libertarian improvements  is a hijack of history for the unwary.
• Libertarians/LIO fans have led the way since  1969 on LGBT, anti-pollution, Greening, unrestricted unions, co-operatives, abortion freedom, middle-class tax cuts, and more the progressives of the day opposed. A recent example is fracking, GMO misdeeds, and that silly Canadian pipeline across the US seizing people's property: Progressives were in favor of them, Libertarians sounded the alarm, now progressives ( to be precise: the old totalitarian extreme left minority) claim they were against these things the whole time and it was Libertarians who opposed them (or, in an alternate narrative, Libertarians played a minor role).
• My favorite story: In 1969 at a workshop of leaders in NYC I alone was in favor of legalizing gay civil unions and even marriage--the gays were dead set against it as a distraction (or didn't understand the concept). They eventually became OK with me and Libertarianism promoting it, however, including through intermediaries a classic routine in the first Saturday Night Live showing a gay couple of the future. You hate gay marriage? Blame me. (BTW, for most persons 'm a staunch supporter of traditional marriage and no divorce.)
• So let's be clear: Libertarian-receptive progressives have done a lot, and will do more as the extreme left totalitarians die out from media and academia. Call them out at every turn, and in your comments link to this article.

--MG

( as always, this is offered for dialogue and is not necessarily the opinion of LIO/ its participants).