ERIC HAS A COUPLE OF POINTS ABOUT THE AMISH... He says, "Certainly, they are fundamentalists.... purists on steroids (...) They pride themselves on not working within the system because of what they call principle." And the following: "For many decades they've been trying, without success to convert others to their way of thinking by means of example... the example their devotion to what they see as the truth." He must have liberals in mind when asking, rhetorically, "Do these conditions apply to some the political spectrum, as well, I wonder? To whom... to what group or groups, would all of these points within the political spectrum, apply?" Actually, it applies to libertarians even better, as there is really no living, kickin' libertarian party in power in the world.

Political power is antithetical to the libertarian thinking, therefore if a libertarian ascends to higher office, he ceases being a "true" libertarian. Indeed, some of my friends do not recognize democracy as a political system compatible with liberty, and refuse to participate on it by not voting in elections. I can understand this sentiment: European elections, particularly when EU-related, have an Orwellian spirit - for example, our Czech government routinely spends several million EUR on pro-EU agenda prior holding the referendum, easily securing the desired outcome.

However, if it is the libertarian way to avoid participating in the process, it's no wonder that libertarian thinking hasn't made it into the mainstream. Quite the contrary: Europe is slipping into a full-blown socialism every day. Even if one man cannot make a contribution big enough to change the course of history, it's still important not to sit still and watch the activist left to bring the old continent to its knees, so that the islamofascist thug will have an easy job a few years later. As we can see in Iraq, Lebanon, or Kyrgyzstan, "one man, one vote" can still do miracles. Democracy is not dead; it's that it's enemies on the left have poisoned it to the point when it looks like a bad parody with a sad ending.