A First Political Victory
by Adam Reed
In most of the world, the results of political elections in the last decade have been grim. The collectivist-subjectivist left has suffered a few electoral defeats, but only to be replaced by an equally collectivist-subjectivist right: nationalist, religious, and as opposed as the left to individuals using their own judgment in the pursuit of their own happiness. The first significant exception -- and the first electoral victory for a political party that campaigned simultaneously against the socialist welfare state and against religious coercion, for freedom of science and freedom of production and trade -- took place in the February election in Israel. That party, Shinui, went directly from zero to the balance-of-power position as Israel's third-most voted-for political organization, with 13% of the vote.
In the current coalition agreement, Shinui obtained the abolition of Israel's Religious Affairs Ministry, a significant step in the direction of complete separation between religion and state. It now holds five ministries in the government, including Interior (law enforcement) and Science. Shinui's control of the Interior Ministry has already produced a dramatic reduction in the enforcement of coercive religious laws, such as blue laws prohibiting business on the Sabbath. Shinui's control of the Science Ministry means that Israelis are now free to do research with complete freedom, including areas of science prohibited to Americans: cloning, embryonic stem cells, medical applications of marijuana and heroin, and benefits as well as hazards of realistic sex education for children and teens. Shinui is also likely to win the elimination of welfare subsidies for large families, the biggest and most anti-individualist component of Israel's welfare state.
Like most democratic countries that inherited the British parliamentary tradition, Israel has two major political parties, currently Likud (nationalists-conservatives, 51%) and Labor (socialists, 20%). Unlike most such countries, Israelis frequently vote for smaller parties as well, and the top party usually cannot form a stable government without the support of the third-largest one -- the balance of power position. Although some 60% of Israelis are secular, many have been willing to sacrifice their freedom to socialist and nationalist agendas. In the past, it was the religious parties that held the balance-of-power position. They used it to enact and enforce blue laws and several other projects of religious coercion. They also were able to preserve welfare-state subsidies for large families, even after the socialist party lost power. In Israel, it is the religious who believe that "God will provide" when they breed without restraint, and it is their political parties which forced taxpayers to pay when God didn't.
Why did Shinui win when Libertarian parties throughout the world have been losing, failing and becoming irrelevant? Unlike Libertarians in other countries, Shinui did not proclaim an ahistorical utopian agenda. Instead, it set its sights on those current violations of individual rights that most directly affect the actual happiness of the average person. It was willing to trade success on key issues for postponement on issues for which it did not have popular support, such as nationalism and defense. Most of all, it was willing to treat its principles, which for the most part correspond exactly to principles of Objectivism, not as a floating abstraction but as a guide for understanding and using reality, including real politics and real history. Shinui can serve freedom-seeking people everywhere as a strategic example of what should be done and what can be accomplished.
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