A Different Incarnation of The Delaware Libertarian -- the Obligatory Introductory Post You Don't Need to Read.

2013: one of my proudest moments in Delaware Libertarian history as my daughter Alexis (who was 17 at the time)
joined the Libertarian Party of Delaware and activist Chuck Mead-e garnering signatures for marriage equality.

From late 2007 to Spring 2014 I published The Delaware Libertarian, aided and abetted by an ever-changing cast of co-authors, at a time when blogs (at least in the First State) were the heart and soul of political activism on all points of the spectrum. Between 2011-2013, this blog was the second most widely read political blog in the State. If you care, there are over 3,500 posts in the archives covering (then) current political news on both State & national levels; lots of reporting on Libertarian candidates & party infighting; policy commentaries; analytical pieces; amateur science fiction; and a whole series on Thai Ladyboys and sexual slavery in Southeast Asia.

Then life happened, and all of us here got -- not quite bored, but at least uninspired -- and drifted off. One, disbarred from his livelihood after a government setup, ended up as Roger Stone's lawyer during the infamous Russia-Gate investigation. Another traveled the world on a shoestring as a mendicant monk (not kidding about that) who seemed never quite sure if he was a Christian or Buddhist or both kind of monk.

Me, I raised kids, wrote some books, got a new position, made better money, and got old. That last part happens only if you are lucky.

And now, approaching retirement (and really, really happy about that), I have dipped my toe back into the waters of Libertarianism because some days I don't really like what it has become.

The Libertarianism that first attracted me into its arms was a blend of advocating for civil liberties, small government employing a frugal fiscal policy, and a non-interventionist foreign policy. It was an American adaptation of a fairly radical (and, early on, leftist) political philosophy that had most of its original intellectual roots on the other side of the Atlantic -- John Locke, Adam Smith, Frederick Bastiat, Ludwig von Mises, and so many others. 

It was adapted within the concepts of the American republic, consistent in the largest measure with the values adumbrated in the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the 14th Amendment, all the way down through a lot of more modern thinkers (of whom one of my favorites is still Karl Rowe -- someday check out a copy of his "Neighborhood Power" if you can find it).

That libertarianism has been at the root of many of the most important moves forward in American society (and against most of the more prominent abuses of power) since the 1960s. You would not have marijuana and other recreational drugs inexorably being legalized across the nation or LGBTQ Americans finally being treated more and more as full American citizens without libertarians. 

In those days -- from the 1960s to the 1990s -- you found libertarians quite often in close association with the Republican Party, because they were part of the "three-legged stool" that Bill Buckley constructed that allowed politicians of such diverse views as Barry Goldwater, Howard Baker, and Nelson Rockefeller to exist in the same party.

Then, in the mid-1990s, as he launched his tactically brilliant takeover of the US House of Representatives by nationalizing House elections for the first time in decades via his "Contract with America," Newt Gingrich literally tossed Libertarians overboard in favor of Christian evangelicals. 

This would have been a boon to the national Libertarian Party if only it had not degenerated into feuding partisan groups, caucuses, and the hangers on of failed GOP candidates instead of organizing a competitive political party that could really "take power in order to leave you alone."

We had our ridiculous moments (and I participated in some of them --  let's be quite honest), including the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Presidential elections where the LP seems to have decided to cast itself as "Republican lite" until we got back to nominees in 2020 (Dr. Jo Jorgensen and Spike Cohen) who could actually represent libertarian ideas.

Sadly, however, I find that too much of what passes for Libertarian philosophy and ideas today has passed away from a strong grounding in principles, ideas, policies, and philosophies into a hard swing to the standard, Statist political right. 

An astounding number of libertarians managed to convince themselves that Donald Trump either was one of them, or at least a dependable fellow traveler. (How they maintained this delusion throughout his Presidency remains a mystery to me -- but for reasons I will eventually explain, that's probably not surprising.)

During the last several years I have watched too many libertarians cozy up to white nationalists and even white supremacists. I have seen active members of both the libertarian and "liberty" movements take bizarrely incongruent stands, both in terms of personal inconsistency and an apparent failure to understand history, libertarian philosophy, or economics.

Our litmus tests for libertarianism have now devolved into whether a business owner should be required to "bake the damn cake," "taxation is theft," calling non-libertarians "sheeple," or some other meme -- and that's where serious discussions generally both start and stop.

Yes, we have various intellectual libertarian outlets, from Reason to the Mises Institute, but they have increasingly become stodgy, doctrinaire, and assert their conclusions via jargon and straw man arguments rather that build a case for them founded on historical evidence, philosophical arguments, or actual data.

If you are wondering, yes, I am a self possessed egotistical prick who is willing to lecture at the drop of a hat, but nobody is forcing you to be here.

In my humble opinion, we need to get back to looking at the world, at economics, and at Libertarian philosophy through a far more rigorous intellectual lens, and that's precisely WTF I intend to do here. Until I get bored again. I'd love to argue with those who disagree, but I am also realistic about how few people really give a damn about ideas, evidence, and data these days.

So no coverage of current politics unless it comes up in the byplay. I intend to stick to topics like debt, the actual structure of capitalism in America & abroad, issues of personal freedom, or to work my way into science, science fiction, and comic books (just because I like them and I own this blog).

But I must warn you of two more things.

I am one of those rarities known as a "Left Libertarian." Yep, we exist. In the beginning almost all libertarians viewed themselves (and were viewed by others) as leftists. Left Libertarians chiefly parted ways with Right Libertarians in terms of their understanding of the relationship between capitalism and markets; in the order in which they would dismantle the current political system; and a general tendency to be more heavily invested in personal freedom over economic issues. We respect property rights, but don't worship them as a totemic fetish.

Second, I am also in many ways a Classical Liberal, which is one foot just outside the Libertarian camp (and probably why I let my national LP membership lapse -- I don't like loyalty oaths). Classical Liberals can stand a bit more government than Minarchists, consider American citizenship as conferring mutual responsibilities as well as rights, and are willing to have that argument with you about negative versus positive rights. 

(I will show you sometime soon that you actually do believe in the existence of positive rights.) Classical Liberals will also question, from time to time, the negative consequences of both basing your entire political philosophy on property rights and/or the unvarnished worship of capitalism.

I don't actually care if you agree with me or not, but I am always looking for a good argument.

Beyond that, if it pleases you, consider this to be a public form of mental masturbation, and so look away, lampoon, and ignore at your pleasure.