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"Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, March 20, 1999"
"OPH @ Vassar College"
Written by John
Reed
The New York Libertarian Party was invited to participate in The Junior State of America's Political Fair Conference, in Roosevelt Hall on Vassar's campus, the theme of this conference was "The Nature of Freedom: a Forum on Human Rights and Liberties" There were debates held by the high school students involved in The Junior State of America. In addition, the students got to hear from political professionals on certain topics. Don Silberger, our candidate for Lt. Governor, spoke to the students on personal freedoms. Our friend Don, ended up getting the loudest applause from the students.
In a nut shell, here's what JSA is about:
"Unlike other debate forums, the purpose of JSA is not so much to
train speakers as it is to train leaders. JSA debates are much more
geared toward the exchange of philosophical and political ideas.
Topics are designed to be thought-provoking, rather than just
controversial. All JSA events are student-run, and the student leaders,
elected by their peers, decide the focus and goals for the
organization. The Vassar event was being presented by the
Empire-Constitution Region, which comprises New York and Connecticut, and
included a mock trial and nonpartisan political activities in addition to
the standard JSA debate."
Before and after lunch, the students got to visit with the different political organizations that were able to make it to the conference. Representatives from the Green Party and NOW were also there. Out of all the organizations distributing literature, we had the most exciting table buzzing with enthusiasm because we had our Operation Politically Homeless kit with us.
Libertarians helping with the OPH Event were, Bonnie Scott (LPNY Web Master), Jason Gagnon (SUNY New Paltz -- University Libertarian president), and John Reed (College Libertarian Advisor). We were there from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM.
Thirty four high school students took the quiz.
Out of the thirty four students
quizzed:
27% scored
Libertarian
51% scored
Liberal
14% scored
Centrist
1% scored
Conservative
7% scored
Authoritarian
Every student that took the Quiz received a personalized Definition sheet for what Libertarian, Liberal, Centrist, Conservative, and Authoritarian means (from the Advocates Quiz/definitions site) and this flyer "TOWARD PEACE AND FREEDOM -The Libertarian Challenge Around the World" . This helped everyone understand that Libertarians are real and that there is legitimacy in libertarianism. For the students that scored Libertarian, we got their names and addresses to invite them to events this Fall and send them Libertarian information.
One illustration I used to show that the old one-dimensional political line is obsolete and the new two-dimensional Nolan Political Chart is much more reliable was to ask the students, "Hitler was to the right, Stalin was to the left, which side do you want to be on? On a two-dimensional political map, they both end up at the bottom authoritarian quadrant."
I'm glad we were there to inform the students of alternatives to the current two party system. These particular students are future leaders, since they are involved in political conferences so early in their lives, and at least 27% of these students know that libertarianism is a viable option. Of course, "liberty and freedom" should always be viable options to everyone.
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