Become a Fan of ALS On Facebook (and also why social media is important)
To those of you who doubt the importance of social media in spreading a political message, here’s a great little YouTube clip that I’m sure shall convert you:
In any event, the ALS now has an official Facebook “Fan Page”. Become a fan of the ALS here!
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Why would I want to associate myself within an Australian micro-party that once ran the wife of an exmurderer to promote gun liberalisation and now brands itself (on fb at least) with another countries icon for liberty? It’s like you’re basically conceding that libertarianism is unaustralian.
‘Cause ALS has nothing to do with LDP? Just saying.
Mitch, you are confusing the LDP with the ALS.
Lady Liberty is a near-universal symbol of liberty throughout the world. Take a look at the UK Conservative Party’s old logo, or have a look at the statue the students made before the Tiananmen disaster.
If you don’t like liberty, that’s fine, but your arguments are lacklustre.
As Tim says, the ALS is not the LDP. Yes, they both have an “L” in their acronym… but the other letters are different. I’m surprised you got them confused.
And no LDP candidates were married to an “exmurderer”, or a murderer. You are perhaps thinking of Lisa Milat, who is married to somebody who is related to a convicted murderer. She is a lovely lady and there is no reason why she shouldn’t be allowed to be involved in politics.
It is true that the statue of liberty is a French statue (with a copy also given to America), but I think it is fair to say that it represents the generic idea of “liberty”.
Mitch,
Was your smear intentional or unintentional?
Mitch, even if a woman was married to a man convicted of murder, it is unAustralian to assign guilt to her! What happened to the concept of ‘the fair go’?
And I agree that we need an Australian symbol of liberty- why don’t we adopt a bird as a symbol? A Black and a White Swan, together, maybe? Or a wedge-tailed Eagle, biggest Eagle in the world?
I came here to make another point- why don’t we use something like ‘Second Life’? We could portray different libertarian versions of Sydney as it could be in the near future ‘When We Win’.
I didn’t assign her to guilt (so drop the hyperhole), just making the point it was politically stupid.
“Cause ALS has nothing to do with LDP?” That’s like saying the Menzies Institute or IPA have nothing to do with the Liberal Party.
Regardless, my point about the SOL still applies to the ALS. I like the idea of the Swans. Fact is, though, the US is currently considered around the world as meddling and arrogant and the statue of liberty, however ironically, is a symbol associated with that since ‘liberty’ is basically what they claim they’re exporting in places like Iraq.
Do you have any examples of it being a “near-universal symbol of liberty throughout the world” that’s not an old logo or an event that happened two decades ago?
And Mark, it was intentional. You guys are the best platform for Australia to make any serious right-wing policy (things the Libs won’t touch, such as abolishing or even a long term freeze in the minimum wage) a reality. Yet both the ALS and the LDP are doing a horrible job of it. In case you havn’t noticed, though he still posts here your best chance at a successful senate candidate has already given up on both.
A better symbol would be the Cassowary. This large, flightless, bird is a vegetarian with a strong territorial instinct- it rams anything it thinks dangerous! It has been known to break bones!
Can’t really understand your point Mitch. The ALS is a community of libertarians, and it does that job fine. And the LDP has been by far the most successful libertarian political party in Australia for the past 40 years.
The LDP and ALS are different organisations, with different goals and different people involved. Both are libertarian, but that doesn’t mean they should be assumed to be the same.
“A better symbol would be the Cassowary.”
I think the Bilby better summarises Australian Liberty: practically exinct.
The Statue of Liberty doesn’t really evoke “Liberty” in any case. It long ago evolved into something different – the symbol of the American dream of prosperity, as it was the first thing in America most immigrants saw.
That’s a nice thing too, but doesn’t really evoke any sense of Liberty to the average person.
The best symbol is still the Eureka Flag. It’s Australian, it’s much loved, and it’s a good design.
Mitch,
“Yet both the ALS and the LDP are doing a horrible job of it.”
Join up and make a difference. We need all the help we can get (obviously, if you didn’t like our candidates). It isn’t easy, costs money and wears you down.
If you’re the best man for the job, throw your hat in the ring. It’s not a posturing, it is a plea.
Your point about the statue of liberty would be relevant if our target audience was rabidly anti American. But the symbol is actually Roman. What you’re saying could only be verified by market research.
Which we don’t have the money for. Join, donate and be vocal.
America exporting liberty? On the news they talk about exporting Democracy. They don’t want us to enjoy liberty here at home, like hell they export it. Democracy has been the big buzz word for top US imports though. The icon isn’t called “The Statue of America” or “The Statue of Democracy”, it is the “The Statue of Liberty”, a world heritage site. To Americans the more personal meaning of the statue is immigration and a symbol of New York City.
Oh well, I’ve always seen John Humphreys as the public (and most successful) face of both, and it turns out he’s also the official founder of both. I suspect they’re only made of different people because one started in Canberra and the other is set up to work on a national level much easier, but in the long term (when both are national) we all know they’ll both be made up of the same people.
This thread is about social networking Mark, so your target audience is Gen Y’s like myself. We don’t have to be rabid (more hyperbole) to be anti-American. We don’t even have to be anti-American to find something identified as a American icon off putting as a representation of an Australian organisation. My point stands.
And no, I’m not getting into organised politics at 20. I suspect most of those my age who do join Young Labor/Liberals do so with an inflated sense of self-importance, seeing themselves as a possible future PM, more so than for genuine ideological reasons. Might donate one day though.
“And no, I’m not getting into organised politics at 20.”
Fair enough. I’ll wait until you lose your patience with the stupidity and arrogance of wowsers and economic planners.
Yeah, LDP and ALS have a large membership overlap, but not the same. And never will be, because not every libertarian wants to join the LDP. (Though don’t ask me why). And opinions cab be expressed on ToF that don’t match official LDP policy and vice versa. Incidently, I assume, without closer study, that the IPA has no official ties to the Liberal Party. If un-officially, some of them walk in the same direction, that is just a sad comment on the socialists that they let join the IPA.
As regards Lisa, most LDPers get upset about the slurs, because she is a really nice, hard working party member. And entitled to run for parliament, even if a relative of her husband has been convicted of serious crimes. If and when we have a massive oversupply of candidates to run, I suppose a pre-selection committee may weigh all kinds of factors before making a final choice, but at the moment anyone who is a party member and willing to run pretty much gets endorsed by default. Especially when they take it seriously, like Lisa, and actually spend large amounts of time doorknocking, letterboxing, and campaining generally. If all our candidates were of her calibre, the party would have nothing to complain about.
Mitch – you can join the LDP without “getting into organised politics”. Membership entails signing a bit of paper that helps the party get registered. Signing that membership form to help the LDP get around the electoral bureaucrats would be a fantastic donation. Cheaper for you also than a cash donation.
Mitch – as someone who is both on the ALS Board, and a member of the Liberal Party (not the LDP!), I somehow think I’m a rather good example of how the the ALS has a very broad membership base, and is certainly not one and the same as the LDP!