Letter of Resignation from the Lake County, Illinois Chapter of the Libertarian Party

      The following letter was addressed to Alexa Maffei (interim chair of the Lake County, Illinois chapter of the Libertarian Party), Scott Shuey (immediate past chair of the chapter), Carter Mitchell (chapter treasurer), and other members of the L.C.L.P. (Lake County Libertarian Party).

     This resignation was intended to be effective immediately.

 

 

Subject:

Bad News (Please Read Carefully and Thoroughly)




Message:

Dear Friends:

            I regret to inform you that I am resigning from my position as Secretary of the Lake County of Illinois chapter of the Libertarian Party.

            I especially regret this because I was unable to fulfill my duties as Secretary for even a single meeting. I admit that this was a failure on my part, and I would like to sincerely apologize.

            I want you to know that my reason for leaving has nothing to do with ideological differences. I am relieved that the party platform still contains language endorsing “free markets” and does not contain the word “capitalism”. I could point to a number of ideological differences that I have with the party and its platform, but they are not significant enough to justify my leaving on any sort of permanent basis. My reasons for leaving have nothing to do with the extremely minor differences in ideology which I have with the party.

            I will always be a small-“l” libertarian at heart, so I cannot guarantee that I will never be back. I would be glad to attend an upcoming meeting of the chapter, if it regroups; however, my former campaign manager has advised me that I refrain from attending more than one L.C.L.P. this year, in order to avoid violating Illinois campaign laws which prevent candidates from attending nominating processes of more than one political party. This year, I will be seeking the Green Party’s nomination for Illinois State Representative, from the 60^th District (currently represented by Democrat Rita Mayfield).

            Unfortunately, this is not the end of the bad news which I need to impart to you in this letter. Please be advised that the information which follows below is sad and may be distressing.

 

            A number of you may remember that, several times over the last few years, I invited a young man named Ethan Winnett to our meetings. He was the chairman of the Lake County Green Party.

            I am sad to inform you that Ethan passed away in October.

 

            I cannot remember whether I informed any of you about this individually. But to those who are hearing of this for the first time now, I regret not informing you of this earlier (for example, in the e-mail which I sent to Scott, Alexa, and Carter on October 26^th, 2023). I believe that I was in too much shock to mention it at that time.

            Ethan was a great friend to me, and a close friend, as well as a passionate and outspoken activist. I’m glad that a number of you got to meet him before his untimely passing.

 

After the Covid-19 pandemic, and ensuing lockdown, made regular meetings of the Lake County Greens impossible, Ethan and I began holding unofficial “meetings” of the party, solely between ourselves.

On these occasions, he communicated to me the need to protect the environment; end the wars; and protect the rights of veterans, homeless people, and people in need of medical care.

I responded by stressing the need to pursue these goals at levels of government which are appropriate (given to the separation of powers laid out in the U.S. Constitution), in order to secure these freedoms on a permanent basis, rather than a temporary one (whereas the Democrats have opted to pursue temporary avenues which have proved useless and easy to reverse).

            Therefore, I am leaving the L.C.L.P. (either on a temporary or permanent basis, I don’t know yet) in order to fulfill what I perceive as a duty, to my late friend, to continue his legacy, and to make sure that the Green Party does not remain permanently dissolved in this county.

            While the L.C.L.P. has not met in approximately six to eight months, it has more members who would be prepared to reinstate meetings, as compared to the Green Party, which I am convinced will need my help in order to resume regular meetings and regain its footing.

            While I can only formally support one party at a time, I do not want either the Green Party or the Libertarian Party to die-out in this county, so I will do whatever I can to make sure that they remain in existence (outside of violating laws which may disqualify me from continuing my candidacy).

 

            As a supporter of the “Progressive-Libertarian Alliance” (which was spoken of by Ron Paul, Ralph Nader, and the like) since 2007, it has been my dream of uniting the two political movements which are the most steadfastly opposed to defeating the Democrat-Republican duopoly, which is controlled by the neoliberal-neoconservative alliance that puts on the pretense of being “centrist”. I know, as well as you do, that this is a lie, because the true center of American politics is not “between those parties”, but rather, lies closer to activism and decentralization, and farther from authoritarianism, than these parties have led us.

            The “Progressive-Libertarian” dream led to another dream; promoting the fusion of the Green Party and the Libertarian Party. Although this is an uphill battle – due to ideological differences, party bylaws, and election laws – I do not believe that it should be abandoned entirely.

            That is why I will be looking into state laws regarding “electoral fusion” and “cross-ballot filing” and “cross-ballot nomination”. Nine states currently allow a candidate to be nominated by multiple parties. During my campaign this year, I plan to find out exactly which laws, in the other 41 states, prohibit a candidate from being nominated by multiple parties, and recommending that minor party and independent candidates in those states, run on platforms which include amending or repealing those laws.

            I would love to see the Green and Libertarian parties move closer together, to make it more likely that candidates in all fifty states could be nominated by both parties. Little would threaten the two-party duopoly’s stranglehold on the American political process more than this, and that is why I believe that electoral fusion should become an essential part of all minor parties’ platforms regarding electoral reform.

 

            Although the Green Party is currently officially socialist, I will be encouraging the party to adopt Georgism (also known as Geoism, the philosophy of economist Henry George) as its guiding economic philosophy.

I believe that promoting Georgist and Geo-Libertarian policies - regarding reforms to land management, the environment, taxes, and property rights – will help bring the parties closer together, solve the problem of double taxation by promoting a strict separation of taxes across the various levels of government, and simplify taxation and government in general in order to make civics easier to teach to our young people (leading to an influx of ordinary people into the legislative process).

Also, there is a movement to create a “Green Liberty Caucus” within the Green Party. It’s possible that Green Party by-laws will prevent this from happening, but if it does, then that movement will continue, as a bloc, a coalition, a Political Action Committee, or all of the above. The movement puts medical freedom and prosecution of state crimes as its most important goals, and I hope to help the G.L.C. attract more supporters, regardless of their current affiliation.

That is why I believe that the Green Party will be the most effective vehicle for the promotion of these goals; at least for the time being.

 

As I explained, I would not be opposed to attending future meetings of the L.C.L.P., but I must limit myself to only one official meeting during the year 2024. I would be glad to meeting any or all of you on a strictly social basis, however.

            And, as I also explained, I do not want to stop helping the L.C.L.P., and I don’t want to “go away empty-handed” (as they say on the game shows).

            That is why I have attached to this e-mail, the materials which will allow the chapter to continue its affairs, should it decide to re-group, and renew calls for regular meetings to take place, now that the primary season is upon us.

 

            Attached to this e-mail, you will find the set of L.C.L.P. chapter logos which were designed by Scott Shuey and myself, which remained to be voted upon, in our last official meetings. I would recommend that multiple logos be chosen, for different purposes (hats, T-shirts, refrigerator magnets, bumper stickers, and official chapter literature), due to their different shapes, and in order to avoid wasting too many of the proposed designs. Please note that the numbering of the individual logos do not match the numbering of the logos which is found in the image containing the nine best logos.

            I have also included the e-mail list of people who have been members of our chapter over the last several years.

            Additionally, I have included a document which contains the agenda which I planned to discuss, during the one meeting over which I would have presided as Secretary, but which had to be cancelled due to low attendance. Feel free to edit the agenda (namely, the highlighted portions) as needed, to suit the agenda of the next meeting that will be held.

 

            As some of you may know, Scott Shuey had to resign his post as Chair of the chapter early last year, and Alexa Maffei stepped-up as Interim Chair. Carter Mitchell remains Treasurer.

            Someone will likely need to volunteer to become Chair and/or Co-Chair – and to replace me as Secretary – at least for the time being, until meetings can be held on a routine monthly basis, at which time a more permanent resolution regarding chapter positions can be made.

            You now have the materials you will need to continue your operations. The ball is now in your court. I wish you good luck, and may the best party win!

            Feel free to invite me to whichever upcoming meeting, later this year, that you think would promote our mutual interests the most.

            And do not hesitate to reach out – via e-mail and/or phone – if you would like to chat, or meet with me on a social basis, or extend your condolences regarding Ethan Winnett’s passing. I plan to discuss, with his friends, how to honor his legacy, and perhaps set up some sort of memorial fund or foundation in his memory.

 

            Thank you for your support in my most recent campaign (2020), and thank you for being my friends. I look forward to speaking with you again in whatever capacity you please.

            Take care.

 

 

 

Warmest regards,

Joseph W. Kopsick

jwkopsick@gmail.com

618-751-3229

January 12^th, 2024

 

 

 

 

 

[Chapter e-mail list not included in order to protect the privacy of members.

Logos not included due to formal decisions regarding logos not yet having been made.

Agenda not included due to its not being current,
and due to its not being needed by readers of this blog.]

 

Written and published on January 12th, 2024

Expanded on January 16th, 2024