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Divided We Stand
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Without a doubt, libertarianism has grown tremendously throughout the past fifty years or so. An increasingly large number of people are becoming disenchanted with our country’s long history of a rigid two party system. Almost all major American elections today are characterized by voters voting for the lesser of the two evils. With Democrats constantly demanding a larger portion of your paycheck to fund a domestic welfare state and Republicans constantly printing money out of thin air so we can start more wars abroad, OOPS, sorry, meant to say spread freedom! It certainly shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that so many Americans are fed up.
Consider this past election season; a once obscure congressman from Texas rose to national prominence by running on a platform of limited government, lower taxes, bringing the troops home, civil liberties, non-interventionism, and a humble foreign policy. In case you’re wondering who this obscure congressman is, his name is Ron Paul. He had a hugely successful run for the Republican nomination that lasted longer than those of some of the Republican front runners including Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, and Mitt Romney. One might be amazed at how such an unknown figure could garner so much support. The answer is simple, freedom is popular. Ron Paul’s fan base was perhaps the most eclectic of any of the candidates’ who ran in the 2008 election. Ron Paul’s brand of politics included both economic and social freedoms, something that was popular amongst liberals and conservatives. He appealed to everyone from brothel owners to the “Joe the plumbers” of America. All of his supporters had one thing in common; a deep desire for the government to get out of their lives in some way, shape, or form. The phenomenal grassroots effort that took place was a demonstration of the sheer frustration with the two party system that is felt by so many Americans. Even though he ran as a Republican, Ron Paul’s message of peace, prosperity and limited government was so strong that it compelled staunch Democrats to vote for him. Although Ron Paul never received the Republican nomination, his candidacy helped spread some important themes of the liberty movement and it has inspired many to think about politics in a new light.
All that being said, why hasn’t a third party with a platform similar to that of Ron Paul’s successfully challenged the Democrats and Republicans? The answer might have something to do with the constant division amongst the different branches of classical liberalism. There’s the Austrian economists, the Chicago school economists, the minarchists, the anarcho-capitalists, the objectivists, the agorists and so on. All of them share the same core beliefs of private property, limited government, individual freedom (much like how almost all Ron Paul fans shared a common desire for less government) but it’s just these trivial differences that create so much division. Who really cares if Bob Barr doesn’t advocate getting rid of the IRS, or if Ron Paul doesn’t want a privatized military? Is it really that much of a big deal? Nobody is 100% libertarian. I, for one, am opposed to the idea of open immigration. But, that doesn’t mean that I don’t consider myself to be a libertarian. Almost everyone has one or two things that aren’t in sync with the basics of libertarianism. It’s time for libertarians of all stripes to unite so that our true potential can come to fruition.
Recently, Bob Barr snubbed Ron Paul by not showing up to one of his events. Ron Paul later endorsed Chuck Baldwin, the nominee of the Constitution Party. This type of behavior is what upsets me. I understand that some candidates are better than others, but, it makes no sense to snub a candidate merely because a few of his/her policies aren’t in harmony with the gist of the freedom movement. Some libertarians might be more radical than others, sure, but the key elements (less taxes, no more wars, smaller government) of classical liberalism have to take priority over the finer points (eradicating the IRS, privatizing the military, making it legal to own a bazooka and so on). It's safe to say that everyone who agrees with the more radical positions of libertarianism, probably also agrees with the more moderate ones. Government won’t get smaller overnight, it has to happen one step at a time. After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day.
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