In The Great Libertarian Offer, 1996 and 2000 Libertarian Party presidential candidate Harry Browne asked:

Would you give up your favorite federal programs if it meant you'd never have to pay income tax again?

It was a great question then, and it remains one now.

I wouldn't dream of trying to claim Harry Browne's endorsement for the World's Smallest Political Platform -- he's not with us any more and thus can't speak for himself on the matter -- but his "Great Libertarian Offer" was an inspiration to me in crafting the WSPP.

Specifically, Harry was an advocate of consistency, both as a matter of principle and as a hard-nosed pragmatic requirement.

He realized that the only way to get something you want is to offer the person who can give you that thing something they want.

In politics, all of us are in a position to give others what they want, and to get what we want from them. The question is whether we want to do so by trading in reciprocal respect for each others' freedom or by trafficking in mutual coercion -- raining blows on others while trying to dodge the punches coming our way.

Harry realized that the only way to build a large coalition dedicated to reducing the size, power and scope of government is to make everyone the same offer: Smaller government, if you'll have it. Smaller not just for you, but for everyone around you. Smaller not just with respect to the programs you don't benefit from, but with respect to the programs you think you do benefit from as well.

The WSPP does not require a patterned, formulaic, "evenly distributed" approach to reducing the size, scope and power of government. The program it drives can be opportunistic, utopian, or anything in between. What it does require of the organizations which adopt it is that those organizations' members keep their eye on the big picture: Always reducing the size, scope and power of government, never increasing the size scope or power of government.

How serious are you about reducing the size, scope and government at the points where it impacts your life? Are you serious enough about it that you're willing to do so at the points where it impacts others' lives as well? If so, then the World's Smallest Political Platform is a tool for working with those others to mutual benefit.

If you're serious about smaller government, join or create a WSPP-adoptive political party, or prevail on your party of choice to adopt the WSPP.