I consider myself something of a libertarian and as such I find the ridiculous state of the Libertarian Party an absolute tragedy. It could be so much more but it consistently chooses not to be. It’s become the home of radical leftists who think they’re not leftists, anarchists, and angry weirdos.
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The Libertarian Party candidates consistently get less than five percent of the vote, and usually, because it’s the landing place of people who hate both the Democrat and Republican Party’s candidates. It’s a glorified recipient of protest votes, a quality it shared with the even more ridiculous “Green Party.”
But it could be so much more. In fact, it could easily become the most dangerous party in the running. All it has to do…is figure out what libertarianism is.
One thing I continue to state ad nauseum is that libertarians aren’t anarchists. Anarchists are anarchists. Libertarians believe in something like minarchism but understand the value of establishing basic laws that protect people and institute a set of rules that should be followed for a civilization to thrive.
(READ: Even Libertarians Draw a Line)
For instance, during the 2016 elections, one of the more serious Libertarian Party candidates, Larry Sharp, resigned from the party after vice-Chair Arvin Vohra posted to Facebook that an adult having sex with a 14-year-old isn’t the state’s business and that people who serve in our military should be seen as immoral killers. Sharp wanted Vohra removed from his position to which the Libertarian Party voted “no.”
Sharp spoke for many Americans about the LP when he resigned when he wrote: “The recent reaction from the LNC has clarified for me that Arvin does fit on the LNC. Clearly, the one who does not belong is me.”
At that moment the Libertarian Party stated two things. For one, it believes that there should be no enforcement of laws that stop adults from having sex with minors, an age group that, in its youngest years (pedophilia) can be physically and mentally damaged for life from the act, and in its later years (ephebophilia) can’t fully understand or comprehend the full weight of sex and the consequences and mental traumas that come with it.
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Children are a group that needs to be protected, yet the Libertarian Party refused to do so. I can’t support that, and neither can the majority of Americans.
Then there’s the awful way it views the military, which is just foolish from top to bottom. You can scale a military’s importance, but the world has changed. In order for a nation to remain safe, civilization needs a military to protect it, especially in a country like America whose enemies are powerful and hateful. While I agree that our history of interventionism isn’t a good one and we should stop being so quick to military action, our troops aren’t immoral, bloodthirsty killers. They’re oftentimes good people who selflessly want to serve their nation, including the people who hate them.
(READ: The Libertarian Party Would Be the Party of the Future if it Wasn’t for Stupid Stuff Like This)
Then, there’s the leftist infection in the Party.
During the 2016 election, when interest in the party was at its highest due to a strong distaste for both Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump, the party nominated Gary Johnson. I can remember writing about Johnson and the Libertarian Party during that time and the articles were always incredibly popular due to people’s increased interest in a third option.
Yet, as time went on, Johnson’s stances on more than a few issues were remarkably un-libertarian. For instance, Johnson seemed to believe that private businesses should be forced to bake the proverbial cake in order to avoid violating the liberties of the people, which would be a violation of the liberties of people.
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As Bonchie highlighted in his article, the Libertarian Party nominated Chase Oliver as their 2024 candidate, a man who is so far from a libertarian that I’m confused as to why he’s even included in the party in the first place. The man wants to trans children, enforce mask and vaccine mandates, have open borders, and more.
It makes Trump’s joke at the Libertarian National Convention about only getting 3 percent of the vote a bad prediction. I don’t see how it even gets that much for 2024. I don’t see how they’re much different than the globalists at this stage, and they’re the least libertarian people I can think of outside of tyrannical dictators in 3rd world countries.
This is not a serious political party. It hardly holds views that represent the very word it’s labeled as.
I could probably write a short book about all the ways that the Libertarian Party is a disappointing entity on the American political stage, but suffice it to say, the Libertarian Party…isn’t. It’s a joke with no punchline. It’s Monty Python’s “Camelot” but without the charming musical number.
It’s a bunch of hippies screaming angrily about fringe issues next to a man wearing a dress and makeup making arguments as to why he should be able to touch children, while an awkward kid who thinks he’s a “communist-libertarian” tries to convince everyone that more taxes for a Universal Basic Income is a great idea.
By the way, being pro-UBI was what the Libertarian Party’s 2020 presidential candidate Jo Jorgensensupported.
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I just can’t.
To be clear, I wish I had a viable path to making the Libertarian Party into something serious, but I don’t. I know it has to agree on the concept of American liberty first. It has to push out the leftists and anarchists. It has to understand that there is a value to rules and that there don’t have to be many to establish stability for a nation. I know it has to be concluded that the lowest possible tax rate is the best rate and that various departments in the government need to be shuttered for good. I’m talking about a real Javier Milei-like reduction.
I know it needs to kick out many of its current leaders and start nominating serious people who seriously represent the ideals of American liberty.
But how we untangle the Gordian knot that is the Libertarian Party is going to take a mind far more strategically minded than mine, and no, taking a sword to it won’t do the trick this time. Until then, my only choice is to drift toward the party that holds more libertarian values than the Libertarian Party does…the Republican Party.
But that doesn’t mean I’m giving up on libertarianism. In fact, I still think it’s one of the most inspirational and dangerous political philosophies in the world today, at least to the authoritarians that now seem to hide in every aspect of our society. I hold out hope that, ultimately, the Libertarian Party will become what it should be and begin dominating American politics, finally taking us out of our duopoly and giving us a real classically liberal party.
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Moreover, I’ll always push for the libertarian mindset to be dominant in both it and the political stage. It’s a philosophy that deserves to be there more than any other, in my opinion, and so I’ll never give up promoting it.
If you agree, I hope you’ll be just as supportive. Consider signing up for the RedState VIP program where I tend to write from a libertarian perspective quite often. Right now, if you use promo code “SAVEAMERICA” you’ll get 50% off your subscription price, making it cheap considering all the articles, videos, and podcasts you get with it.