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How to lose new libertarians. A play in three acts...
I’m probably not a member in good standing with the Mises Institute crowd, so my advice may fall on deaf ears. I am not part of the “loser brigade,” just a concerned friend. Members of the in-group have to police their own to begin making the movement friendlier to new people.
The Rothbardian wing of the libertarian movement has been the dominant strain of libertarianism since I joined in 2007 thanks to the Ron Paul campaign. Like many others, I was inspired by Paul to label myself as a libertarian and the Mises Institute was my first stop.
I still hold in high regard the scholarship and contributions of that organization and Rothbard himself. Over time I realized the movement is bigger than one group of intellectuals that cross promote to give the impression that it’s not.
Here’s the reality: If people from the Rothbardian wing feel increasingly alienated from the libertarian movement, it’s because people are tired of taking shit from them.
No group, organization, podcaster, intellectual, or individual has the monopoly on what it means to be a libertarian. No one is immune from disagreement or criticism.
Libertarians rail against cancel culture but have developed their own form of it. Criticize someone from the “Mises crowd” like Dave Smith or Ron Paul on Twitter. All of the sudden, a few hundred anonymous Twitter accounts appear to mock appearances, name call, dox, and harass.
The movement has been afraid to criticize this wing to avoid the abuse from largely anonymous sources, but that’s coming to an end and they’re going to lose their position of authority because of it.
The libertarian movement will become more leftist as a knee jerk reaction to the reflexive anti-leftism of these anonymous accounts to spite them. It’s tarnishing the reputation of good intellectuals and podcasters as well as the label “libertarian.”
I’m less and less comfortable recommending the Mises Institute to new libertarians. It has nothing to do with philosophy and everything to do with the culture around their fan base. (I feel the same about the LP).
It’s become abusive and ugly for people like this woman, and I’m not willing to send someone into battle that’s not emotionally prepared for it.
