By Joshua D. Glawson
“California presented to people a new model for the American dream—one where the emphasis was on the ability to take risks, the willingness to gamble on the future.” -Historian H.W. Brands
In the 1840s masses of miners began expanding westward into California in search of gold initiating what would soon become known as “The Gold Rush.” By 1850 California became a state, and a little over 100 years later “Eureka” was made the official state motto and the state was nicknamed The Golden State. It was the hope for a new life, hard work in pursuit of wealth, property rights, and expansion into the wild unknown that enticed and encouraged these brave explorers and prospectors. Through their individual and collaborative efforts gold was struck, and with it came improvements, inventions, investments, and incentives.
Gold has been widely used as a commodity since around 1500 BCE. What makes gold special is that it is relatively scarce, it cannot be replicated, fire purifies it instead of destroying it, does not tarnish or rust, is malleable, is good for electrical conduction, and most people find gold to be an attractive metal. For many of these reasons, and more, gold was not only highly valued globally but it was also the backing behind most currencies, which is known as the Gold Standard.
The Gold Standard kept everyone, including governments, in check. It meant with any trade of a paper currency, gold could be acquired, and that value was on a global scale ensuring if the value were stolen or misrepresented it would be as obvious as the scales of Justice. Markets would self-correct and do what they must to acquire more gold, i.e. value. With the replacement of gold with fiat: which roughly translates as meaning an arbitrary authoritative sanction, the value was stolen in this debasing act. This debasement perpetuated the further degradation of currency, as well as the degradational value within one’s neighbor and as a further degraded subject of government. Ethically, ending the Gold Standard was disposing of the Golden Rule and replacing it with the arbitrary golden rule of thumb.
Gold has remained important for many people around the world, as a single commonly shared commodity widely traded. Around the 3rd Century BCE, the philosopher Archimedes was asked to measure the weight of a golden crown to determine if gold was stolen from the king. When Archimedes created a way to measure the buoyancy and density of gold, he yelled “Eureka!” It should come as a sinking feeling that many people no longer know the origins of this phrase and its use in the finding of gold in California, along with the discovery of the value of ideas and principles.
One of the foundational principles of the Libertarian Party is the return to the Gold Standard, literally and figuratively, even the color associated with libertarianism is yellowish gold representing classical liberalism and gold wealth. The Libertarian Party being “The Party of Principle” means recognizing Liberty and Justice in the face of an insidious population or encroaching governments, and upholding every individual’s rights to live peacefully and civilly with the inalienable right to Life, Liberty, and Property. We are so passionate about this that every person who joins the party signs an agreement that incorporates these principles along with a non-initiation of force, or non-aggression principle, clause.
There may be a long period of time before we can return to a Gold Standard in currency, but there are actions we can take today to promote the Golden Rule and remind the country what makes California “The Golden State” and why gold is the color of the Libertarian Party.
If people and governments can so easily stomp out these foundational principles and are not called out, what else can we expect? If we sit and watch, letting these infringements continue, are we really the golden standard for ourselves or others? When we acquiesce, are we not in some way obliging corruption? When there is little-to-no government check-and-balance or the path of getting there is so strenuous it is too difficult to bear, and we do nothing in response to injustices and iniquities, we forge despondency among our movement and our respective causes. When we do nothing, we are flaunting to the world that the lost principles really mean nothing.
That’s not what the Libertarian Party of California does- no! We see the wild and we are drawn to it. We see beyond the gold in them there hills because we understand its deeper principled meaning and what it represents on an individual level as well as a grander level. We recognize that we are each better when our values of Life, Liberty, and Property are protected, and to simply ignore ongoing violations without protest is to ignore a thief thumbing the scales for his own gains at the expense of us all.
The Libertarian Party of California needs more voices and more actions that push our movement forward. Not for the sake of the movement alone but with our principles and objectives in mind. We need more active members who run for local and state offices. We need help with websites, events, marketing, video, social media, and more. We need your talents and skills. If this movement and what we stand for mean anything, it is our place to rise or we risk continuing to see the degradation of Liberty and everyone’s rights. Now that the band of robbers knows this ghost town says and does nothing whenever they walk through and swindle, are we not enticing its perpetuation? It is high time we dust ourselves off and start actively voicing our protest, knocking these desperados off their high horses who dare to brazenly rob us of our gold. Let us return to the Golden Rule, and remind the rest of the world about our gold standard and what makes this the golden state.
