Author: Patrick Baird
One of the points of contention between libertarian pragmatists and radicals is whether all elements of a coercive state must be eliminated or whether some degree of mutually beneficial government is always necessary. I think this debate is fine as a rhetorical exercise, but since we are very, very far away from even reducing the growth of government - at all levels - I believe the argument is very close to a waste of time.
If libertarians are going to achieve any meaningful reduction of the state or expansion of freedom, then they can’t afford to divide themselves before they even fight the battle. The pursuit of liberty is not a zero-sum game, it is a linear progression from total state coercion to an ideal anarcho-capitalist state. There is no reason that the two factions (or three or seven, or however many libertarian factions can be identified) can’t work together through the vehicle of the Libertarian Party, to first stop the growth of government, then begin scaling it back.
To help illustrate this principle I’ve come up with the parable of the Liberty Wagon Train.
Imagine a wagon train assembling at the take off point in St. Louis, back in the days of the Old West settlers. The wagon train was initially planned by a small community of anarcho-capitalists in Wisconsin appalled by the prospect of having to live under the tyranny of the fledgling state government, led by Governor Jedidiah Walker. To fund their venture, the anarcho-capitalists sold shares in the wagon train to a group of minarchists in a nearby settlement, who joined them on the trip to St. Louis.
Upon arriving in St. Louis, however, they are informed that they will need at least a dozen more wagons if they are to make it to their destination of the wilderness of Idaho. The plains Indian tribes are on the warpath that summer, but will not usually attack a wagon train over a certain size. Fortunately, there are many Irish immigrants in St. Louis waiting for just such an opportunity. Most of them are drunkards and ner-do-wells, but are likely to hold their own in a fight. A few dozen are signed on and the wagon train sets off.
As the group slowly makes its way across the plains, a few of the Irishmen prove too incorrigible to remain and either leave on their own or are forcibly ejected. Some, however, after listening to nightly sermons on the wisdom of the gold standard and the non-aggression principle, marry the daughters of the libertarians and agree to commit themselves to the cause.
Of course, along the way, debates and even fights break out between the anarcho-capitalists and minarchists, but the privations of the journey and the occasional sightings of Indian war parties keep the train together and progressing westward.
Eventually the wagon train leaves the plains behind and rises into the foothills of the Rockies, reaching the outpost of Denver. With the threat of Indian attack behind them, the group agrees to split, with the anarcho-capitalists continuing to Idaho and the minarchists settling on land in northern Colorado. Both groups lived happily ever after.
The lesson here is that, until we reach a condition of dramatically improved liberty and significantly reduced government, there is no reason for libertarians to fight amongst themselves. We should instead work together to advance the fortunes of the Libertarian Party and the cause of liberty in general. And picking up fellow travelers from the Republican and Democrat parties help us reach our goals, why not get them to join in too? If we are lucky, maybe many of them will absorb our sermons and progress to real libertarians.
The moral of the story is you can’t build your libertarian utopia in Idaho until you get started, keep going, and survive the battles along the way. For that, you may need a few heathens on your side.
One of the points of contention between libertarian pragmatists and radicals is whether all elements of a coercive state must be eliminated or whether some degree of mutually beneficial government is always necessary. I think this debate is fine as a rhetorical exercise, but since we are very, very far away from even reducing the growth of government - at all levels - I believe the argument is very close to a waste of time.
If libertarians are going to achieve any meaningful reduction of the state or expansion of freedom, then they can’t afford to divide themselves before they even fight the battle. The pursuit of liberty is not a zero-sum game, it is a linear progression from total state coercion to an ideal anarcho-capitalist state. There is no reason that the two factions (or three or seven, or however many libertarian factions can be identified) can’t work together through the vehicle of the Libertarian Party, to first stop the growth of government, then begin scaling it back.
To help illustrate this principle I’ve come up with the parable of the Liberty Wagon Train.
Imagine a wagon train assembling at the take off point in St. Louis, back in the days of the Old West settlers. The wagon train was initially planned by a small community of anarcho-capitalists in Wisconsin appalled by the prospect of having to live under the tyranny of the fledgling state government, led by Governor Jedidiah Walker. To fund their venture, the anarcho-capitalists sold shares in the wagon train to a group of minarchists in a nearby settlement, who joined them on the trip to St. Louis.
Upon arriving in St. Louis, however, they are informed that they will need at least a dozen more wagons if they are to make it to their destination of the wilderness of Idaho. The plains Indian tribes are on the warpath that summer, but will not usually attack a wagon train over a certain size. Fortunately, there are many Irish immigrants in St. Louis waiting for just such an opportunity. Most of them are drunkards and ner-do-wells, but are likely to hold their own in a fight. A few dozen are signed on and the wagon train sets off.
As the group slowly makes its way across the plains, a few of the Irishmen prove too incorrigible to remain and either leave on their own or are forcibly ejected. Some, however, after listening to nightly sermons on the wisdom of the gold standard and the non-aggression principle, marry the daughters of the libertarians and agree to commit themselves to the cause.
Of course, along the way, debates and even fights break out between the anarcho-capitalists and minarchists, but the privations of the journey and the occasional sightings of Indian war parties keep the train together and progressing westward.
Eventually the wagon train leaves the plains behind and rises into the foothills of the Rockies, reaching the outpost of Denver. With the threat of Indian attack behind them, the group agrees to split, with the anarcho-capitalists continuing to Idaho and the minarchists settling on land in northern Colorado. Both groups lived happily ever after.
The lesson here is that, until we reach a condition of dramatically improved liberty and significantly reduced government, there is no reason for libertarians to fight amongst themselves. We should instead work together to advance the fortunes of the Libertarian Party and the cause of liberty in general. And picking up fellow travelers from the Republican and Democrat parties help us reach our goals, why not get them to join in too? If we are lucky, maybe many of them will absorb our sermons and progress to real libertarians.
The moral of the story is you can’t build your libertarian utopia in Idaho until you get started, keep going, and survive the battles along the way. For that, you may need a few heathens on your side.