We mostly operate as a think tank. I would best describe our views as green libertarian, but the proof is in the pudding as they say and the pudding here is localism. What we are really about is our Octolex. And hopefully you've read it. If you've been to busy/ too lazy/ never have/ never will that's okay because that just so happens to be our focus of this first newsletter. Aren't you lucky? Of course you are!

Anyhow, I want to kick off the roadshow by thanking our subscribers. Without you this whole spiel wouldn't be possible. I'm glad you are part of this endeavor and hope you find it enjoyable enough to stay a subscriber.

So let's get going shall we? As I mentioned before, this newsletter concerns The Octolex. Well, what is it? A great sea leviathan we wish to tame? No, not exactly. A film by Samuel Goldwyn about a secret society in Anceient Rome? Not really. How about this, you've heard of a deviated septum, when you get a deviated octolex, WATCH OUT! No, no. The Octolex is what we believe should be the basis for our little movement. Whatever it is. Localism, green libertarianism, radicalism. All that, really. And more. Want a simpler explanation? Read The Octolex! Or have it explained right here. See, I told you you were lucky...

Round 1- Minarchy
What minarchy means is minimal government. A government, in the Localist Party's eyes, should provide for the general welfare of its citizens. We believe the government should do a few things, provide universal healthcare and education, protect the environment from harm and to keep the people safe. And that's it. No corporate welfare, no HMO's, no War on Drugs. People should be free to live and do as they choose as long as it doesn't encroach on another indivual's right to do the same (see Round 5). Nor do they deserve to be taxed within an inch of their lives. The only taxes we assert should be on land value and excess wealth. So called Land Value Taxes and Millionaire's Tax. We believe this could fund government programs of nessecity. How they are enacted will be discussed later on, especially in Round 7.

Round 2- Slow Economics
The slow movement is going on right now, certainly in the arena of food production and distribution. Other slow movement ideas include handmade wares and cooperatives (see Round 8). At first glance, the slow movement may seem to be in conflict with the whole idea of minarchy, or minimal government. After all, how will government function without its blind trusts and corporate interests? Not to mention all the programs to keep the people safe and sound. Basically, we believe that slow economics fosters business. By making corporate monopolies obsolete inasmuch as we will favor slower means of production (not eliminate, but favor) there would be more businesses, not fewer. The only stipulation would be that they wouldn't be as powerful as they may have been in a former life. Enron and Halliburton would have to take cues from the local food co-opt and town-meetings. The libertarians should love this idea. Smaller business means more business and more business means more competition. And since the business structure would have higher variance, more political varoences would be effect. Meaning more political parties. Hopefully someday, ours.

Round 3- Bill of Responsibility
This is really Bill Maher's idea than my own so I would like to give him thanks by providing a link to his site. http://www.billmaher.tv What Bill Maher says is that in order for the Bill of Rights to be effective, we also need one for responsibility. Some ideas I propose are responsibilities with class 1 drugs. Responsibilities when it comes to raising children. And responsibilities in business practices.

Round 4- Co-Executive
Let it be said that in all fairness to the genders, we will require an opposite gender running mate in all elections. Men and women see things differently and should be represented equally. Every CEO, President, Prime Minister, Sultan, Tribal Chieftain and Patrician will require a female Co CEO, Vice President, Prime Minister, Sultaness, Tribal Chieftess, and Matrician to work alongside him. And vice versa. Male dominace of the species has gone on long enough. It's time we give the ladies their share of the pie. Not to say women will now domiante the spectrum. There's something to be said about the wussification of men in our society as well.

Round 5- Sustainability
Working towards petroleum independence is necessary to our sustainable future. We should look to new and reusable resources such as solar power and recycled material to run the infrastructure. Special benefits (mostly lessened taxation) will be given to companies that make longer lasting products and all companies will be held to a regime of recycling their old products once they wear out. Hemp will be brought back into use and cold fusion and super non petrol ceramics will be studied. The key is to share the earth equally as it it is everyone's and to stop the taxation of personal labor. We will get our monies from other sources, such as the rich and powerful. Social security is also about to be dried up so we will provide the option to the people as to what to do with it. The government will not mess with your money if you don't want it to. That money is the laborers' and should be used as deemed fit by them. Pull out or play is our motto.

Round 6- Diplomacy
The rich are a murderous caste. Only it's not called murder, it's called war. They have, for the most part stopped fighting over territory and instead have opted to fight for resources for the privledged. This must end. We need to stop policing the world and use the capital used on battle to fight poverty and corporate greed by way of free education and healthcare and taxation of the rich. Let them eat military rations.

Round 7- Bonus Round- Tribal Republic
Neither hierarchy nor anarchy has panned out. Let us focus on what we want rather than the meager options presented to us. The key is localism. Better to have a lot of powerful people than a few. If organization is outlawed only outlaws will organize. This is starting to happen anyway, on the right and the left. The right are becomming more war-like and the left are becomming more mob-like. To combat both war-like and mob-like, let it be proclamated that anyone and everyone organize tribally. Limits will be passed on size and money/power incongruity. The central nexus of a Tribal Republic is that power be organized from the bottom up. Lots of little pyramids are much better than a few big ones. Better the Amerindian model to the Egyptian. Each tribe will have tribal chiefs, chieftesses, elders and so on. To hear the tribes will be the local patrician/ matrician team, who will also be from tribes, and not necessarily the leaders of the ones they are spurned from. Tribes will be based on shared-value rather than creed. And something must unite us all into one unified vision. A principle we must all live by in order to suceed. I have an idea...

Round 8- Final Fight!- Cooperative Commonwealth
Once upon a time in Canada (I bet you don't hear that often) during the Great Depression, there was a great coalition formed between farmers, co-opts, unions, and radicals from coast to coast to ease their burdens. In seemed complex at first, uniting all these different factions, but later on it grew into a political party. It was known as the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation. Today they are known as The New Democratic Party and they hold 19 seats in the Canadian Parliament. My idea is just as complex, so it's bound to work... Like I said before, we need to do something that will work instead of just using the options presented to us. Legislation is continuously pending on breaking up monopolies into smaller subsidiaries, when really what is desired is for corporations to have less power. What should happen is worker control. I am firmly against the idea of a dictatorship of the proletariat running the government. We have all seen what happens in Communist States. Never to the benefit of the people. Just like capitalism, sad to say. Everything in the Octolex adds up to this. I am all for a market democracy, it needs restructuring though. In our proposed minarchist tribal society everything will revolve around the small scale. Decentralization is key. The cooperative commonwealth is based upon it and is the basis for our name, The Localist Party. All capitalistic ventures should be in the form of cooperatives. Cooperatives would then band together to form, eventually, an entire Commonwealth. Minarchy and the cooperative commonwealth seem to be in conflict, but not so. 1. We are tribal, local governance will shape how the system as a whole works. 2. We are based on slow economics, there are benefits to being small, namely less taxation. 3. The government will be neither socialistic nor capitalist, it will be about sharing the land in common. Only land owners and the rich will be taxed. No taxation on labor. Just land. And the proletariat merely run the corporate force, not the governmental. It is our sincere belief that taxation will be minimized for the poor and middle classes and beaurocracy will be minimized in this new sytem of liberty and harmony.

Well, that's it for this edition of The Localist Newsletter. I hope you found it as informative and entertaining to read as I did in writing it. I look forward to your feedback and suggestions to aid in future mailings and articles. Perhaps you'll get lucky and we'll post your comments on the site for all to gain wisdom from. See, I told you you were lucky!

In the meantime this is Lucas signing off for now and we'll be seeing you next week.

Have a good one!

Lucas C. Werner, The Localist Party http://www.geocities.com/ishmaelsword