Word: libertarianism
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Hence, by August 1969, when Young Americans for Freedom met in St. Louis for their ninth annual convention, libertarian YAFer's were on the verge of revolt. Approximately 300 of the 1200 delegates at the convention were members of a "Libertarian Caucus." From the outset it was apparent to them that the tone of the convention would not be one of libertarianism-of the 12 speakers scheduled, none was libertarian. The Caucus decided to hold a "mini-convention" of its own on the night of the opening ceremonies and invited Karl Hess to speak...
Despite the show of support for Hess's appearance-nearly a quarter of the delegates attended his discussion-the second day of the convention was also uniformly conservative in tone. The Libertarian Caucus quietly made preparations for the third and final day, when votes would be taken for the new board of directors and YAF platform. Among the platform proposals drawn up by the Libertarian Caucus were...
...final day of the convention, all the libertarian candidates were defeated and every libertarian plank was rejected. As the voting on the final plank-advocating active resistance to the draft-ended, an anarchist grabbed a microphone in the center of the hall. He asserted that it was the right of any person to defend himself or herself from violence, including the violence of the state, and took what was apparently a draft card from his wallet. Then, standing high on a chair, he brought a cigarette lighter to the card...
...traditionalists were too stunned to do anything but sit silently for ten or fifteen seconds. Then, with a scream of "Kill the commies!" irate conservatives rushed the anarchist dissenter. They were blocked by a group of libertarians, and pushing and swinging broke out. The convention dissolved in an uproar, and the libertarian traditionalist split in YAF became irreparable...
...radicals who seceded from YAF formed two organizations-the Society for Individual Liberty and the Radical Libertarian Alliance. Of the two groups, SIL emerged largest and most influential, taking a more centrist position than RLA. The two organizations formed the basis for most of the events on the libertarian right that have taken place since...