Alt-Right “Useful Idiots” are Driving More People to Libertarianism. Here’s How…

By Wayne Pac

Libertarians come from many different creeds and perspectives. They have many different philosophies pertaining to the government and other topics. Many libertarians happen to dislike the alt-right vehemently. They believe the alt-right is merely a political group of racist people posting memes on the internet, and spouting racist remarks. Something that is not recognized most of the time, is the alt-right isn’t an actual political group, it’s a group of individuals that have an interest in trolling people. These individuals have chosen to rally behind a figurehead of the 2016 election under the guise of upsetting the establishment.

Trump isn’t the ideal Republican nominee that could have been chosen, neither was he the best. Trump is what is left for the Republican Party, and he happens to be a catalyst for the libertarian movement. Trump has managed to alienate many conservatives within the Republican platform, and in turn those conservatives have moved on to libertarianism.

A prime example of such conservatives would be Glenn Beck. He was a supporter of Ted Cruz during the Republican primaries. Beck felt very disaffected with the outcome of the Republican nomination and has since been much more open to the idea of the Libertarian Party having a voice. He expressed interest in Austin Petersen during the LP debates on Fox, and eventually came around to support Gary Johnson being in the nationally televised debates. There are many conservatives like Beck who feel very disaffected by the Republican Party, and see a better future in the libertarian movement.

On the other side of the spectrum, a lot of leftists were supporters of Bernie Sanders. Sanders lost the nomination for the Democrat Party, and threw in the towel for support of Hillary Clinton. This move on Sanders’s part disaffected a large populace of leftists that didn’t like the establishment, either. Gary Johnson is a figurehead that they find agreeable, and through him, many leftists are being exposed to the libertarian movement.

All of this points toward a more long-term goal. Johnson may not be a prime example of a libertarian, nor is he somebody that many would have wanted as the nominee. However, he is, just like Trump, a catalyst of something bigger. Trump has disaffected many conservatives to become a part of the libertarian movement, just as Johnson is exposing more of the left to the libertarian movement. In essence, Trump, whether or not people realize it, is the main man fighting on the Republican front.

In the Soviet Union, the Russian government had repeatedly referred to “the left” as “useful idiots.” These were people so stuck in their own bubble, were furthering the cause even though they didn’t know it. In essence the alt-right are the useful idiots for the libertarian movement. While they may not realize it, their obsessive trolling and satirical racism are disaffecting more conservatives to the libertarian movement.

The alt-right, while they are stuck in their own bubble of “can’t stump the Trump,” don’t know how to envision the bigger picture. The bigger picture will consist of a libertarian future, and the alt-right will either stay in their bubble and die off, or they will integrate into the movement of libertarianism. Movements don’t happen instantly, they take hold over time, and eventually they become mainstream if they are intellectually sound.

Movements are subject to scrutiny. Ideologies become warriors on the intellectual battleground of ideas. The libertarian ideology shows the most promise of becoming a champion of the arena.