Every ideology has a goal that they wish to see accomplished. Generally, this goal is a particular form of society that they wish to reach. This ideal society will look different in every ideology. As there are differences in ideology, so there will be parallel differences in their views of what an ideal society is. The ideal society for a Marxist/Leninist is much different than an American Paleoconservative.
However, every ideology is faced with the stark realization that they cannot immediately achieve the society that they desire. There are obstacles in their way. These obstacles could be almost anything: a government hostile to your ideology, a constitution prohibiting certain aspects of your ideology from being put into practice, etc.
Naturally, these obstacles must be overcome. What this means in practical terms is that every ideology cannot simply institute every change in the world they would like to see at once, but rather, they are resorted to moving along towards that goal one step at a time. They must accomplish their goal piecemeal. Occasionally, there will be giant leaps, as in the case of a sudden coup d etat, but these are rare and the exception to the rule.
Libertarians are no exception. Libertarians have the goal of wishing to see government’s presence in society reduced to a minimum level, and even removed from society altogether. This is the goal, but there are obstacles to that goal: many people are not Libertarian, many governments are hostile to attempts to limit their power, etc. These obstacles must be overcome if a Libertarian society is to achieved.
Given that it is a new year, it is as good a time as any to take stock of the obstacles facing Libertarians today and ways to overcome them. Our focus will be mostly on the United States, as this is where the majority of Libertarians are concentrated, but much of the analysis applies worldwide.
The Situation: Circa 2021
The world today is one where the proponents of liberty have few allies. Ideas of freedom and limited government seem antiquated to many. Socialism, once a tainted and toxic label, has become more and more acceptable in the West. Government power of the populations of their countries is steadily increasing. The ideas of Classical Liberalism appear to be collecting dust.
The COVID-19 lockdowns have been unprecedented in the scale of the violations of rights that they have instituted into law. Many business owners have been forcibly closed down by their respective governments and forbidden to open. If the business owner has no other way to receive income to provide for his family, it was of no concern to the government. If the business owner opened his business against the orders of the government and refused to comply, they would be put in a cage. For many, it was illegal for you to provide for your family.
Business owners were not the only victims of the COVID-19 lockdowns. Some areas have imposed other restrictions, such as curfews. If you stayed out past a certain time, you may be stopped and question by the police. This could lead to a financial penalty, a particularly ironic consequence when unemployment rates are hitting all-time highs. In some areas, there was a limit placed on the amount of people that may in an enclosed area. One could not invite a large number of guests over for a house party without facing consequences for doing so. Furthermore, other citizens were encouraged to rat out anyone suspected of hosting large gatherings.
Governors of states and cities often held press conferences on TV and the population would then know what they were allowed to do that day. Could you open your business? Could you go back to work? Would you be able to pay for rent this month? Will my family be financial stable in the future? Turn on the TV and find out.
The Corporatism that has infected the West has been on full display during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first bailout to be passed by Congress was a bailout for Wall Street and the big banks. The bill passed with little fanfare, and little argument or objection from anyone in Congress. They apparently had no qualms with handing other billions of your taxpayer dollars to some of the biggest corporations in the world. Many of these big banks were the same banks that the Federal Reserve printed billions of dollars for in the aftermath of 2008. Much of the relief that was intended to be sent to small businesses was instead gobbled up by large corporations. Some were caught and shamed in the news. One can only wonder how many were not caught.
COVID deservedly takes the spotlight when it comes to violations of liberty in the world today. However, there are other important obstacles to be overcome.
The kneejerk reaction from many governments all over the world have been to resort to welfare to alleviate the economic consequences of the lockdowns. The result of this financial irresponsibility is that governments fall further into debt, many of whom have no way to pay it off. The United States, for example, has increased its own national debt by roughly $4 Trillion in 2020 alone. The US is long past the point where paying off the debt is feasible. Now the question is just how long can we keep borrowing money against the paychecks of our grandchildren?
The West has become more and more comfortable with the idea of the surveillance state. With modern technology, specifically the internet, becoming more and more prevalent in the lives of everyday people, the opportunities for mass surveillance become equally as prevalent. With the advent of 5G connections, this surveillance will only continue escalate in scale and reach. Governments will be able to access more and more information about many facets about your life. They may promise not to use this information for nefarious purposes. However, one would be wise to exercise a level of skepticism regarding a promise made by the government.
Central Banks continue to keep interest rates artificially low and distort markets. Ever since 2008, interest rates have never resembled anything resembling a normal rate. The Federal Reserve started to raise in 2018–2019, but soon brought them back down to near 0% as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Central Banks are nothing new, but the monetary era we find ourselves in now, where interest rates never go up, is certainly uncharted territory. The question is not if this irresponsibility will come back to bite us, but when.
Free Speech is increasing coming under fire, especially over the internet. Large social media companies, such as Facebook and Twitter, are increasing hostile towards any opinions that violate the narratives and propaganda that they wish to push. This was becoming increasingly brazen leading up to 2020, but has increased to levels that would have been considered unthinkable just a short time ago. If one questions the any of the official information coming from the WHO, you can have your YouTube channel deleted. When the NY Post Hunter Biden Story was released, Twitter suspended the accounts of whoever shared the link and prevented it from being shared on the site at all. This was obviously done because the story put negative light on Joe Biden, who was the preferred candidate of big business.
In the aftermath of January 6, censorship has only increased on social media platforms. Donald Trump has been banned off of Twitter, with his account having been suspended. Following suit, many other online platforms, such as YouTube, Facebook, etc., also banned Trump and his campaign from their accounts and pages. Even Stripe, a payment processor, is not processing donations to the Trump campaign. The degree to which someone can be purged from the internet at the behest of several large companies is nothing if not chilling. If they can do it to the leader of the free world, why wouldn’t they also do it to you?
We cannot list every offense to liberty in the world today, but these are the main offenders. These are the obstacles that Libertarians must overcome, and they are monumental. The task before us is not easy, and with if the current trajectory of creeping authoritarianism continues, it will only become more difficult. Even so, is there a strategy for Libertarians to be able to enact positive change in the world and restore the ideals of freedom and Liberalism?
The Strategy:
To formulate any strategy for Libertarianism, it would behoove us to examine first the successes of the past. What did Libertarians do before to achieve success and how might it be emulated again?
The most successful liberty movement of the modern age is undoubtably the Ron Paul presidential campaigns of 2008 and 2012. These campaigns introduced to many people the ideas of liberty and provoked a spirit of inspiration that has not been captured since. Ron Paul was magnetic, not only because of his down-to-earth personality, but because of his clear and principled ideas. Even political non-starters, such as monetary policy, became relevant because of his stances on the Federal Reserve. If you ask a Libertarian how they were introduced to Libertarianism, there is a good chance that it is because of Ron Paul.
What lessons can be learned from these campaigns? Unfortunately, we will likely never get another Ron Paul. He was uniquely attractive to voters, and we should not count on another candidate with his level of charisma coming around again any time soon. Instead, what we should take away from the Ron Paul campaigns is the importance of politics for Libertarianism. There is a tendency within the Liberty movement to look down on politics as being pointless, or just an outlet for bigger government. This should not be so. Ron Paul introduced Libertarianism to so many people because of politics. If he had just written a book or two instead of running for office, he would not have been nearly as influential.
Many Americans do not think deeply about politics or ideas about the best kind of government. This is not a slight against anyone, as the average person lives a busy life. They have to deal with a job, with children, responsibilities, etc. It is understandable that at the end of the day many do not have the urge to spend their small amount of free time reading about political theory. Thus, the main way to reach people about politics is through the political system. Even if the majority of people don’t care for politics, most everyone watches the debates, or at least knows what is happening in the election cycle. It is through these channels that ideas can be spread to the largest possible audience.
We must have a political element to have success. That much is certain. However, we cannot rely on politics alone. We must have other methods of spreading Libertarian ideas. Luckily, In the modern world we all have access to an excellent method for spreading ideas. This is the internet. With the advent of the internet and its prominence in the modern world, we are presented with an easy and inexpensive way to expose large amounts of people to Libertarian ideas. The revolutionary advance made by the internet is that it created a way for information to be copied at almost no cost at all. It also made it possible for that information to be easily transmitted. The full ramifications of this advance are only now starting to be felt in society, and it presents an amazing opportunity for Libertarians.
Use of the internet can take many different forms. Social Media is immensely popular in today’s day and age. Books and documents can be easily sent from one person to another for no cost at all. YouTube hosts many videos on Libertarian topics that can also be easily shared from one person to another. There exist many Libertarian podcasts which can be downloaded at an instant. Libertarians would we wise to use this recently acquired ability to promulgate Libertarian ideas as best they can.
Censorship on the internet is certainly a cause for concern in this approach. Libertarians and Libertarian ideas have been caught up in recent account purges on Twitter and Facebook, and these platforms certainly have no love or admiration for ideals of liberty and freedom. Domain-hosting sites can also remove entire websites if they wish. However, there has been mounting backlash to this censorship, and platforms with principled free-speech guidelines are becoming more and more popular. Libertarians would be wise to move to these platforms, as many that use those services would be more receptive than on mainstream platform to a Libertarian message. However, the censorship situation is quickly evolving before our eyes and the future of free speech and the internet is murky at best.
These are the two most important components to a Libertarian movement, although they are by no means the only two. It is important and necessary that books about Libertarianism be written, even very advanced and philosophical books. Likewise, it is imperative that we offer alternatives in education to counteract statist schooling systems. No successful social movement ever gained prominence based on one factor alone. Focusing on certain areas over others is necessary, but that focus should never be exclusive.
Authoritarianism and big government is on the rise all over the world. Socialism, once viewed as discredited, is now more popular in the West than ever. The powers of the State will only continue to grow from here. There is little cause for optimism in the near future. Nevertheless, this does not mean that Libertarianism is doomed to failure. With the rise of government power, there will always be dissent. There will be those looking for an alternative to the overreaches of the state. They will be looking for a different option. Libertarians are in the position to present to them the best option: the option of liberty.
