Libertarianism in Perspective
Some general thoughts about libertarianism and liberalism after Independence Day.
Introduction
It is the weekend after the Fourth of July, the United States’ Independence Day1. Coincidentally, I have recently heard that the Liberal Democrats (the Libertarian Party's distant cousins and counterparts in Britain) have just received their best election results in a century. Good for them. When all is said and done, they will probably win more than 60 seats. Though the US Libertarian Party is ailing2, I can still feel a vicarious pride in the improving fortunes of the Lib Dems. Let me explain why.
Libertarianism and Liberalism
To me, libertarianism has meant liberalism for a long time. “Liberalism” (as used by Anglo-European speakers) and “libertarianism” (as used by Americans), each taken in their broadest sense, are roughly synonymous. When each is taken in a narrower sense, there are differences, but the differences are more of degree than of kind.
As I see it, liberals and libertarians fundamentally have a common focus on freedom, defined as the absence of coercion. Coercion comes in both hard and soft forms.
Hard coercion is force, which can be further subdivided into
aggression (direct, such as torturing prisoners) and
aggressive threats (indirect, epitomized by “Do something for me or I’ll hurt you”).
Soft coercion is fraud, which can be further subdivided into
individual fraud (direct, essentially, lying to others, whether) and
collective fraud (indirect, forcing or tricking others into lying to each other).
(I’ll leave it at that, as it is not the purpose of this article to precisely define either liberalism or libertarianism.)
Liberals in the Anglo-European tradition usually focus on opposing soft coercion—that is, on promoting individualism, rationalism, and transparency (including price transparency3). Libertarians in the American tradition usually focus on opposing hard coercion. However, a true commitment to liberty requires us to oppose both. Theft, for instance, can be accomplished through both force and fraud. If we focus only on aggressive action, then embezzling or phone scams, for example, would not be wrong.
Libertarians Should Focus More on Combatting Fraud
The American libertarian movement in particular could benefit from a greater focus on fraud (soft coercion). This is one area where the American tradition can learn from the Anglo-European one—and I would consider bigotry in the category of soft coercion.
I don’t think American libertarianism needs to be completely rethought, but we can stand to return to a tradition in which collectivism, superstition, bigotry, and irrational confidence were considered repugnant.
The idea of focusing on building clear communication and liberating minds is not so foreign to libertarianism as is sometimes claimed. The very first Libertarian Party platform included the words, “We, the members of the Libertarian Party, challenge the cult of the omnipotent state,” for good reason. What does it mean to “challenge the cult” except to counter untruths about the state with truths as best we can?
Closing Thoughts on Celebrating the Fourth of July
I believe that freedom is perhaps the greatest contributing factor to human happiness. This sort of freedom exists in the minds of the people. There may be no such thing as secret freedom—the illusion of incapacity is incapacity itself. That is to say, even if human beings are well treated—well-fed, well-educated, well off in material respects—if they cannot recognize their freedom or are afraid to exercise their rights, they will still be miserable. From this perspective, one of the worst, most domineering and inhumane acts is to teach people to believe that they are more unfree than they actually are, because that lie becomes reality (at least to a degree).
Our goal should be a society where people are as free as possible, which requires the people to be able to think and talk precisely and accurately about their freedoms (or lack thereof). This is why a holiday like the Fourth of July is important. We mustn’t assume this holiday can only be celebrated in an ugly, nationalistic, and jingoistic sense. I really do believe it can be a teaching opportunity, it can be celebrated in the spirit of cosmopolitanism, rationalism, and historical literacy. Now is an ideal time to remember that and to be honest with ourselves about the nature of freedom and our place in history.
This reflection need not be limited to Independence Day, either. Just about any excuse will do: Thanksgiving (originally commemorating the end of the American Civil War) and Juneteenth (Emancipation Day, celebrating the beginning of the end of slavery in the United States) are equally appropriate occasions for such contemplation.
This is a very common holiday. I read that somewhere in the world, someone is celebrating independence from Great Britain (or whatever its name was at the time) on average every six days. That’s one factoid that’s too good to check.
One sign of the failing fortunes of the US Libertarian Party (LP) is its diminishing funds from a lack of donors. Another is the sad fact that, for the first time in several election cycles, the LP will not have 50 state ballot access. The count currently stands at 36 to 40 states, I think, including important swing states. However, there are other indicators that show that outside of the dysfunctional Libertarian National Committee who allowed all this to happen, the party continues to grow, albeit more slowly than the recent historical average. In my inaugural article, I wrote that I believe the LP is beginning to turn itself around, and I stand by that. But that’s not what this article is about.
Transparency includes some things that one may not expect. For instance, I would argue that real prices are a form of transparency. This is one of those things that connect social and economic issues which are usually considered separate.