Giving the Libertarians Their Due

At this crucial time in our history, the libertarians could be greater allies than not.

By guest contributor Ignatius of Florida.

I am a reformed libertarian. Not “reformed libertarian” in the sense that I subscribe to the theology of John Calvin and libertarians, though they certainly have and do exist, but “reformed” in the sense that I have moved beyond libertarianism. It would warrant another article to describe my problems with the ideology (hint: it has everything to do with it being an ideology rather than a worldview).

But as someone who has moved closer to what is popularly called the “Dissident Right” and away from libertarianism, I have seen the fights between the two factions.

A good litmus test, I feel, about whether someone on the Right is useful is whether he sees progressives or libertarians as a greater threat.

Now, that does not mean that libertarians or everyone who claims to be a libertarian should be immune to criticism — far from it — but it is best to realize that certain libertarians are more allies than enemies.

Corporate “libertarians” are caught up in advancing progressive social causes and paying lip service to corporate conservatives. By the standards of the godfather of libertarianism, they wouldn’t qualify any more as libertarians than Bill Kristol would count as a conservative.

It is understandable to see anyone right-of-center going after the Reason magazines and Cato Institutes of the world who try to play the modern age as the best of times: We can legally kill ourselves with gas pods! We can make the streets reek of weed! Child genital mutilation? That’s wrong, but not when the kid wants to be another gender! Our standard of living is higher than ever! Who cares if we can’t afford houses? We just have to tear down our society to build more!

The corporate libertarian tries to apologize away the destruction of civilization. He should be mocked. What we might call “Mises Libertarians” — those affiliated with our good friends at the Ludwig von Mises Institute — are much more realistic about the problems of our age: rising prices we are supposed to accept as normal; the wealthiest areas in the country being situated around Washington, D.C.; the propagandizing of our children; so-called “anti-racism” being an egalitarian crusade to discriminate against the successful; the funding of the rest of the world while we watch our domestic society crumble into riots.

The Mises Libertarians pay attention to these things. The libertarians that matter — i.e., those who aren’t degenerate losers who justify their drug addiction with a political ideology — belong to the Mises crowd.

The Mises crowd has always been friendly with such thinkers as Sam Francis, Ron Unz, Pat Buchanan, Paul Gottfried, and the like. These libertarians, the very ones who despise the so-called “Libertarian Party,” are not enemies.

They may concede some socially progressive policies on odd philosophical tinge, as even the author of Democracy: The God that Failed Hans Hoppe does on abortion, but they are not fond of the behaviors of, and actively advocate social discrimination against, degenerates. As I stated just a paragraph ago, they are not enemies.

This is opposed to the progressives who despise the American way of life. They despise Western Civilization. They hate Christianity. They are the dejects and rejects of society who despise the successful. As the ever-relevant Mystery Grove tweet explains:

Reminder: Communism is when ugly deformed freaks make it illegal to be normal then rob and/or kill all successful people out of petty resentment and cruelty. The ideology is all just window dressing.

So, when former Romney staffer Oren Cass from The American Compass spends all of his time attacking libertarians over trade policy and unions rather than the Left who want to gut all of society, you should ask yourself whether he has his head screwed on right. One can have disagreements with the libertarians on economic policy, but when you spend your time only countersignaling libertarians during the death throes of the West, you may be a bad-faith actor. Cass seems more intent on a policy or speechwriting job than keeping families from being destroyed.

The libertarians agree with us on the core of the problem: progressivism has hollowed out America. The 20th century was far from the victory of progress that progressive historians want to make it out to be. It was a century of warfare, of enforcing social progressivism at gunpoint, a century wherein every aspect of civil society was co-opted by government. The church, the extended family, and the community were rolled into the arms of government and mixed with social progressivism.

As the late Murray Rothbard once proclaimed: “We shall repeal the 20th century.” Libertarians, the serious ones at least, realize that we do not have to accept the current age of insanity as if we are always climbing towards progress. Libertarians are with us on decentralization which, as the great Auron MacIntyre explained in his speech at NatCon, is the key to overthrowing the Managerial Revolution.

We care for our communities, we care for our families, and we don’t need to abdicate our responsibilities to people who hate us. A proper society is a local one; that much we can agree with the libertarians on. For that reason alone they make good allies. Not everything they say is to be endorsed, but in a war for Western Civilization you’ll have odd bedfellows — and at least the libertarians don’t want you dead.