Why more libertarians don't run for office?

The following answer by Peter Schiff to question why not run for President, demonstrates conflicting nature of politics and freedom, difficulties libertarians face in participating in political elections, and the value of libertarian political activism in freedom education.

From Peter Schiff's recent Instagram Live Q&A: "Why not Peter for President?"

A lot of people ask me if or when I’m going to run for public office.

The simplest answer is that it's very hard to get elected by telling the truth and standing on principle. Most politicians win by lying and just saying what everyone wants to hear.

Source: Schiff Clips YouTube channel. Watch the FULL Q&A: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du3vQ-mNSM8

Transcript:

Question: Why not Peter for president?

Answer:

Well, there is a very simple answer to that question. And that's because I would lose, right. I mean, I'm not going to win. I mean, how am I going to become president? I mean, an election is an auction on the advance sale of stolen goods. So, I'm not promising to steal anything for anybody, so I'm not going to get a lot of votes. There's not a lot of people who want to vote for freedom. Right, because that's what I would promise. If I was going to run for office, I would promise to leave you alone. And most people don't want to be left alone, they want something for nothing. And I have a hard time lying about stuff, you know. So I wouldn't make a good politician, because I would tell the truth.

There's going to be some people that are going to vote for a politician that tells the truth. But not many. That's why politicians don't tell the truth. If you could be honest and be a successful politician, a lot more honest people would be in politics. The reason there are so many liars is because the guys that are telling the truth are the ones that lose elections. The way you win elections, ad the way you get reelected is that you lie. And yo are willing to do what is in the interest of special interest who is backing you or funding your campaign and you don't give a damn about the general interest of the country, you're not doing what's right for the country, you're doing what gets you reelected. So it's difficult for somebody that actually wants to do what's right for the country to get elected. Even if they get elected once, they probably won't stay in office because they'll lose. Because somebody else will give the public what they want, or tell the public what they want to hear, or do what they need to do to get special interest to back them and fund them, and then they end up winning.

So yea, it's not very likely that I would win an election. But it's more likely that I can win over people. I can get people to eject a lot of these big government programs and move more toward free market, libertarian conservative side of the political spectrum. I could probably win over people who want to follow my investment strategy, pursue it the way I invest my money.

Because, people here, people are tuning in to this Q&A, this is already a lot longer than a bumper sticker or 60-second campaigning. The things that I say don't necessarily work that well on a bumper sticker. And it's very easy, of course, for politicians to attack what I believe in, in soundbites. Because, oh, Peter Schiff wants to take away this, or he wants to deny you that. Yea, I want to take away what government gives you, but I want to give you back what the government took from you. And that's your freedom. Your liberty. Your self respect. And your prosperity. But explaining that takes a long time. It doesn't take a long time to try to vilify somebody who wants to restore freedom. Because you can't restore freedom without taking away all these programs But what the politicians don't tell you is that programs cost a lot more than the value that you get. So what you get from government, it actually costs you a lot more. What you lose, exceeds what you get. Except, you don't understand what you lost. The government always takes credit for what they give you. But they never accept responsibility for what they take away from you.