Quote:
The Libertarian Party should change its mascot from the Statue of Liberty to the porcupine.
Problems With Current Mascot: The Libertarian Party’s mascot, the Statue of Liberty, though honorable and accurate, is a poor mascot because:
1: The Statue of Liberty is not unique to the Libertarian Party. It has become an ambiguous symbol of patriotism, and it is used by private and political organizations throughout the nation as an American icon.
2: Even if we, as Libertarians, accept the Statue of Liberty as our mascot, the news media and non-libertarian public will not. Who, in America, would use the Statue of Liberty to represent an ideology which opposes his or her own?
3: The Republican Party’s Elephant and the Democrat Party’s Donkey are both animals, and can easily be portrayed on merchandise, campaign materials, and even non-partisan publications in similar forms.
New Mascot: The porcupine has already been selected by the Free State Project, and is already associated with libertarian ideals. For these reasons, I propose the porcupine for consideration as the official Libertarian Party mascot.
At first the change may seem frivolous, but as an advertising designer, I believe a change would have an infinitely positive effect on the party’s brand appeal.
To allow the public to view the Libertarian Party as a major party, or, containing the elements of a potential major party, the Libertarian Party should choose a mascot that is both uniquely libertarian, and can be portrayed in the same way as the Republican and Democratic mascots. This would allow cartoonists, comedians, and even serious commentators to praise and lampoon Libertarians in the same way Republicans and Democrats are already discussed.
Overcoming Obstacles: This kind of publicity, both good and bad, would help the Libertarian Party overcome one of its biggest obstacles: the fact that few people have heard of them.
Satirist John Stewart often complains about the news media’s one-dimensional political view. He complains that the media divides politics in to left and right, but he never mentions a viable alternative. He never mentions Libertarians, and many of his viewers, along with many viewers of other shows, and readers of political cartoons and editorials, never even hear of the Libertarian Party, even if they are already predisposed to libertarian ideology.
However small a step this mascot change would be, I would look forward to seeing the enormous effects it would have. And I someday hope to open to editorial section of the newspaper, and see a porcupine representing the Libertarian Party.
Change Mascot to Porcupine
Problems With Current Mascot: The Libertarian Party’s mascot, the Statue of Liberty, though honorable and accurate, is a poor mascot because:
1: The Statue of Liberty is not unique to the Libertarian Party. It has become an ambiguous symbol of patriotism, and it is used by private and political organizations throughout the nation as an American icon.
2: Even if we, as Libertarians, accept the Statue of Liberty as our mascot, the news media and non-libertarian public will not. Who, in America, would use the Statue of Liberty to represent an ideology which opposes his or her own?
3: The Republican Party’s Elephant and the Democrat Party’s Donkey are both animals, and can easily be portrayed on merchandise, campaign materials, and even non-partisan publications in similar forms.
New Mascot: The porcupine has already been selected by the Free State Project, and is already associated with libertarian ideals. For these reasons, I propose the porcupine for consideration as the official Libertarian Party mascot.
At first the change may seem frivolous, but as an advertising designer, I believe a change would have an infinitely positive effect on the party’s brand appeal.
To allow the public to view the Libertarian Party as a major party, or, containing the elements of a potential major party, the Libertarian Party should choose a mascot that is both uniquely libertarian, and can be portrayed in the same way as the Republican and Democratic mascots. This would allow cartoonists, comedians, and even serious commentators to praise and lampoon Libertarians in the same way Republicans and Democrats are already discussed.
Overcoming Obstacles: This kind of publicity, both good and bad, would help the Libertarian Party overcome one of its biggest obstacles: the fact that few people have heard of them.
Satirist John Stewart often complains about the news media’s one-dimensional political view. He complains that the media divides politics in to left and right, but he never mentions a viable alternative. He never mentions Libertarians, and many of his viewers, along with many viewers of other shows, and readers of political cartoons and editorials, never even hear of the Libertarian Party, even if they are already predisposed to libertarian ideology.
However small a step this mascot change would be, I would look forward to seeing the enormous effects it would have. And I someday hope to open to editorial section of the newspaper, and see a porcupine representing the Libertarian Party.
Change Mascot to Porcupine
Personally I think this is a good idea, while the change has nothing to do with policy and is only symbolic, with this the Libertarian Party can cut a niche in mainstream political culture through means of anthropomorphism, a device used by political cartoonists to represent Democrats (Donkeys) and Republicans (Elephants) in their comedic devices, be they praise or scrutiny.
The Statue of Liberty may be a perfect representation of libertarian principles... but it's a pretentious claim.
