The explosive growth in
the number of converts to libertarianism since Ron Paul first ran for
president is one of the most exciting developments of my life. But I’d like
to issue a note of caution.
There are several ways a
young libertarian can distinguish himself. He can be an effective
communicator of libertarian ideas as a writer or speaker. He can employ his
unique talents — as an artist, animator, interviewer, or whatever — to convey
the libertarian message in new and compelling ways. He can become a
specialist in some area of scholarly inquiry relevant to libertarianism. Or
he can add to the edifice of libertarian thought by solving a longstanding
problem, critically reexamining an old question, or applying libertarian
theory to new areas as technology develops and civilization evolves.
I can think of people who
fit all these descriptions. What distinguishes them all is that they worked
very hard to establish their well-deserved niche within the community of
libertarian thinkers.
By contrast, people might
establish niches for themselves by devising their own peculiar version of
libertarianism, and claiming that their discovery alone is the real thing.
Not only is this method easier than the ones I described above, but it also
allows the creator the pleasure of rendering sanctimonious judgment on those
benighted souls who cling to plain old libertarianism, with no labels, no
caveats, and no apologies.
Might we gain the
sympathy of the left by parroting their language of egalitarianism and loudly
proclaiming our allegiance to the moral strictures of the state? It is not
absolutely impossible, I suppose. But I consider it far more likely that the
left will be amused at such transparent attempts at ingratiation, and go on
viewing libertarians with the same contempt as before.
Of course, it’s wonderful
to collaborate on important issues with people who have different
perspectives from ours. I should not be understood as opposing that. You
would be hard pressed to find a more eclectic libertarian website than LRC.
Mr. Libertarian himself, Murray N. Rothbard, was happy to talk with and learn
from anyone he could, as his wide-ranging library, owned by the Mises
Institute, amply attests.
But if we expect to trick
people into becoming libertarians, we will fail. And if we think libertarian
flirtation with egalitarianism is a good idea, we have already failed.
Yes, we do believe in
unfashionable things like the abolition of antidiscrimination law. If we
didn’t, we would not be libertarians. Bound up in the principle of freedom of
association is every defining libertarian principle: self-ownership, the
meaning of property titles, and nonaggression.
It’s easy to defend the
rights of people who are popular and whose views are in fashion. It is much
more difficult – thankless, even – to defend the rights of those whom society
despises. Libertarians need not endorse or actually be such people – I
know of no one proposing such a thing – but if we do not defend their rights
we are frauds.
Some of what we believe
may be hard for people to accept when they first hear it. But in the long
run, they are more likely to be persuaded by a consistent and principled
libertarian than by one who is obviously trying to curry
favor with them.
Consider the example of
Ron Paul. He gave straightforward libertarian answers to whatever questions
he was asked during his presidential campaigns. As we all should, he got a
sense of his audience and explained those ideas in ways they were most likely
to understand and appreciate. But he never backed down. Was he opposed to
antidiscrimination law? Yes. Did he dissent from the received version of the
Civil War, from which the regime derives much of its legitimacy? Yes. And so
on down the line of unfashionable answers to the thought-controllers’
questions.
The result? The single
greatest increase in youth interest in libertarianism in its entire history.
Ron always conducts
himself as a gentleman, of course, and his kindly demeanor, coupled with his
pure and unrehearsed remarks, certainly added to his appeal. But people were
drawn to him because unlike his focus-grouped opponents, he told them the
truth, and without shame or apology.
Libertarianism is
concerned with the use of violence in society. That is all. It is not
anything else. It is not feminism. It is not egalitarianism (except in a
functional sense: everyone equally lacks the authority to aggress against
anyone else). It has nothing to say about aesthetics. It has nothing to say
about race or nationality. It has nothing to do with left-wing campaigns
against “white privilege,” unless that privilege is state-supplied.
Let me repeat: the only
“privilege” that matters to a libertarian qua libertarian is the kind
that comes from the barrel of the state’s gun. Disagree with this statement
if you like, but in that case you will have to substitute some word other
than libertarian to describe your philosophy.
Libertarians are of
course free to concern themselves with issues like feminism and egalitarianism.
But their interest in those issues has nothing to do with, and is not
required by or a necessary feature of, their libertarianism. Accordingly,
they may not impose these preferences on other libertarians, or portray
themselves as fuller, more consistent, or more complete libertarians. We have
seen enough of our words twisted and appropriated by others. We do not mean
to
let them have libertarian.
As Rothbard put it:
There are libertarians
who are indeed hedonists and devotees of alternative lifestyles, and that
there are also libertarians who are firm adherents of “bourgeois”
conventional or religious morality. There are libertarian libertines and
there are libertarians who cleave firmly to the disciplines of natural or
religious law. There are other libertarians who have no moral theory at all
apart from the imperative of non-violation of rights. That is because
libertarianism per se has no general or personal moral theory.
Libertarianism does not
offer a way of life; it offers liberty, so that each person is free to adopt
and act upon his own values and moral principles. Libertarians agree with
Lord Acton that “liberty is the highest political end” – not necessarily the
highest end on everyone’s personal scale of values.
Libertarians are unsuited
to the thought-control business. It’s difficult enough trying to persuade
people to adopt views dramatically opposed to what they have been taught
throughout their lives. If we can persuade them of
the nonaggression principle, we should be delighted. There is no need to
complicate things by arbitrarily imposing a slate of regime-approved opinions
on top of the core teaching of our philosophy.
Libertarianism is a
beautiful and elegant edifice of thought and practice. It begins with and
logically builds upon the principle of self-ownership. In the society it
calls for, no one may initiate physical force against anyone else. What this
says about the libertarian’s view of moral enormities ranging from slavery to
war should be obvious, but the libertarian commitment to freedom extends well
beyond the clear and obvious scourges of mankind.
Our position is not
merely that the state is a moral evil, but that human liberty is a tremendous
moral good. Human beings ought to interact with each other on the basis of
reason – their distinguishing characteristic – rather than with hangmen and
guns. And when they do so, the results, by a welcome happenstance, are rising
living standards, an explosion in creativity and technological advance, and
peace. Even in the world’s partially capitalist societies, hundreds of
millions if not billions of people have been liberated from the miserable,
soul-crushing conditions of hand-to-mouth existence in exchange for far more
meaningful and fulfilling lives.
Libertarianism, in other
words, in its pure and undiluted form, is intellectually rigorous, morally
consistent, and altogether exciting and thrilling. It need not and should not
be fused with any extraneous ideology. This can lead only to confusion, and
to watering down the central moral claims, and the overall appeal, of the
message of liberty.
PLEASE DONATE
