Would you be willing to lose?

The following link contains an article by Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina:

http://www.cato.org/pubs/catosletter/catosletterv7n1.pdf

When I read the passage about “would you be willing to lose? (page 4)” I was struck by the elegance with which he describes a concept that I have struggled to enunciate.

“Too many people connected to the world of politics will only pick issues on which they can win, and that’s tragic. I would ask you to be willing to lose—to support candidates who very well may lose, to support causes that might lose—because we desperately need more fresh ideas in our political system.”

When people ask me why I am a Libertarian they usually include comments about wasting my vote or never winning a major political office. Until now I usually respond to those comments by saying that a small group of dedicated individuals can change the world. I often finish my case by saying that there were only 12 people present at the last supper, but that did not restrict the growth of Christianity. Now I will include Governor Sanford’s speech to help answer this question.

Governor Sanford is also correct about a much broader topic. Each one of us can make a difference. We need to have the courage to go from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.