Local Rights Alliance

The Local Rights Alliance is a political party in the Frontier that maintains that government at all levels - but especially the United Planetary Federation - has become too powerful and usurps the natural rights of individuals and local/planetary authorities. In particular, they object to laws that in any way tax or regulate corporations and businesses or interfere with trade on any scale.

Policies, Positions, & Tenets

The primary beliefs of the LRA are as follows:

1) All rights are the natural property of individual sapient beings, and not creations of any agreement, society or state. The primacy of this principle cannot be disputed.

2) The rights of sapients fall broadly into two categories:

a) freedom of person – to absolute control of one's own body and mind,

and

b) freedom of property – to acquire and to dispose of resources as one is able utilizing the efforts of body and mind.

3) Consequent to the above, the initiation of force against another sapient inevitably violates the victim's rights above. As such, force may only be initiated against another to protect one's own rights.

4) Rights of one sapient in no manner whatsoever impose any legal or moral obligation upon any other sentient other than that of respecting said rights.

5) On occasion, it is desirable for sapients to act in common cause. To that end, governments suitable to the furtherance of such causes may be instituted, provided that:

a) Such governments have only those powers explicitly granted to them by the consent of the individuals that form them.

b) Said individuals are free to alter the form of that government at their pleasure, alter its mandate, or disband it entirely as they choose.

6) Any government thus empowered must be as close as possible to the sapients under its jurisdiction in order to be better able to understand their conditions and to ensure their ability to properly oversee its actions.

Membership

The LRA has many active members and more support at least some of its positions on specific issues. The party has the most influence on colony worlds as well as worlds such as Pale, New Pale, Corpco, Kraatar and Lossend where the population is either sparse, primarily involved in basic agriculture/industry, or both.

The LRA is particularly popular among the well-to-do. Many wealthy people publicly support the party, including the CEOs of many Frontier mega-corporations. The bulk of its membership, however, comes from organizing among low-income, disaffected voters whom it courts by blaming the UPF, planetary governments, or both for ills ranging from unemployment levels to fluctuations in planetary climates. The central theme of the party's recruiting pitch is that the regulations of government itself is the source of their woes.

Activities

In addition to its ground-level organizing, the LRA furthers its goals by funding sympathetic political candidates at all levels of government and by endowing foundations and universities to write scholarly papers supporting the party's positions. It also bombards holonet viewers with paid advertisements pushing its message, a task made much easier by the support of K'zik Z'ken K'zrr, the vrusk owner of the Intersystem News Service media conglomerate.

The most recent campaign has the LRA calling for the convening of a new Treaty Assembly to rewrite the UPF Charter and Articles of Federation to remove nearly all UPF authority over planetary affairs. Virtually the only role remaining for the UPF would be maintaining Spacefleet against the Sathar threat, a cause which the LRA strongly supports.

Allies

The party's strong support for Spacefleet has gained it the approval of the Anti-Satharian League. In a surprising move, it has joined efforts with the Alliance for the Rights of the People (whom it ordinarily dislikes) on their anti-Star Law campaign.

Enemies

The LRA hates (among others) the Galactic Light party, the Synthfood Workers Guild, the Brotherhood of Spacers, and the anti-megacorporation activist group known as the Liberators. The feelings are mutual.

Controversies

Statements made by some LRA members and candidates that seem to support positions held by the Firsters, Kraatar Liberation Corps, and other controversial cadres with have drawn public criticism, as has the party's strong ties to the yazirian Family of One.

A major controversy sprang up recently over the comments made by Streel's Vice-President for Colonial Operations, Desmond Hargrove (a prominent member of the LRA) to reporters after Streel refused to allow a Council of Worlds investigatory committee access to the Streel-controlled world Corpco. The Council party, led by Councilbeing Dorothlas was seeking to examine conditions on the planet first-hand after allegations arose that Streel was importing large amount of slaves to support agricultural operations on Corpco.

Hargrove dismissed the allegations saying that the Corpco colony was a “shining example of a place where unfortunate sapients can find a fresh start in life.” When Councilbeing Dorothlas spoke about allegations made by the investigative news holoprogram “Eye of the Frontier” regarding the terms and conditions of the “fresh start”, Hargrove stated that any colonist who was unhappy would be permitted to leave “as soon as they pay off their indenture.”

It is also rumored that the shadowy group known as the Investors is a major source of the party's funding.

Local Rights Alliance

Headquarters: Roston City / Gran Quivera / Prenglar

Leader: Yozzuf Fuzinade, Chair of the Steering Committee (Yazirian)

Scope of Operations: UPF-wide

Major Offices: Point True / Pale / Truane's Star, Valentina / Clarion / White Light, Gozzorf / Kraatar / Tristkar