Students For Liberty Condemns Extremism
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The alt-right has no place in the libertarian movement, and Students For Liberty (SFL) condemns their ideas and will combat them where they arise.
In light of recent events such as the tragedy in Charlottesville, Virginia, SFL is making it clear that National-Socialists and their collectivist mentality must be stopped. As the international leader in the youth libertarian movement, SFL is dedicated to supporting free speech, condemning acts of violence, and to promoting peace, love, and liberty. National Socialists and Communists are antithetical to those ideas.
SFL CEO Dr. Wolf von Laer said that “having come from Germany, I know the issue of National Socialism first hand and understand that any form of fascism is dangerous and disgusting. They have nothing to do with liberty. However, these National Socialist groups do have a right to speak and when they do, they are their own worst enemies. We can expose these despicable ideas for what they are – irrelevant and dangerous.”
“Despite Germany banning National Socialist hate speech and pamphlets, we still struggle with National Socialist violence and terror. Making it go underground makes these bad ideas even more appealing to people. I was born in Germany, a country with a history that has shown the world the absolute barbaric nature of National Socialism in practice. National Socialism and the people standing up for this genocidal, tribal, white supremacist, and conspiratorial worldview eschew the values that Students For Liberty and the Constitution of the United States uphold: that people are created equal and that liberty is the best system to achieve a peaceful society. It is critical that we don’t pick sides between the extreme left or right, but instead defend our free society from its foes on all sides,” von Laer said.
SFL is the pro-liberty voice for those who condemn violence. The violence which has erupted between Antifa and the Alt-right has left the majority of Americans without a voice. With increased polarization in American politics, many focus on being “anti-left” or “anti-right.” SFL is neither and instead advances a positive political message by being pro-liberty and pro-peace.
“Almost every ideological group thinks they are treated poorly by the majority of society. It’s the victimization mentality. By using violence against fringe ideas such as National Socialism, one simply confirms National Socialists in their self-belief that they are victims and need to fight back. If we support stifling free speech, especially with violent means, we are in fact supporting the same policy of censorship put forth in Nazi Germany and Communist Russia,” von Laer said.