Online Toxicity in the Libertarian Party
By: Resa Willis
Liberty is the state of being free within a society from oppression and force imposed by authoritative entities. Those wishing to advance the ideals of liberty face formidable challenges, such as the enormity of the old party system, engrained collectivism and statism, and seizing the platform to spread the evanescent messages of our forefathers. However, the voices and advocates of liberty face another troubling complication. Transgressions against the cause also occur from within. We are our own illness.
While it is healthy to engage in robust debates on philosophical approaches and application of the ideals of liberty, there appears to be an undercurrent of counterproductive behavior occurring on social media platforms. Let’s examine the Libertarian party from the lens of the seven deadly sins, in order to more effectively understand the destructive nature of the actions occurring within our own ranks.
Pride
Pride is commonly regarded as the root of all sins, and can easily be argued as the root of the Libertarian party’s downfall within social media platforms. Pride is a form of arrogance, in which those employing this trait look down condescendingly upon others. They see others’ ideas and existence as inferior, and remain unwavering in a sense of haughty superiority. We see this in the form of intellectually condescending remarks, inability to admit when philosophy fails to tread water when applied to reality, and a general application of superciliousness toward any who offer reasonable counterpoints. Pride being arguably the main cause of infighting, is certainly the sin that goeth before our collective fall. A prideful person is quick to cast aspersions upon others in an attempt to make themselves look better. These are the ‘trolls’ of the party. They do little to nothing for the cause. Instead, they sit comfortably behind their multi-keyed weapon, the coward’s choice of assault, and belittle those they perceive as beneath them. Curious enough, if one does spot a prideful troll out in the public, without the façade of the warm glow of their monitor, they often fail to match action to narrative.
Lust
In a party whose gender representation is inordinately imbalanced, women are the obvious minority. As such, they face a sometimes uncomfortable amount of attention from the opposite sex. Strong independent-minded females, which the majority of Libertarian women are, do not take well to unwelcome advances. These advances sometimes come in the form of genitalia sent to inboxes and outright insulting verbal intrusions of a sexual nature. Treating new females to the movement like a fresh piece of meat does nothing for the party’s image, nor does it assist with advancing relations within our ranks. Thankfully, the established females are adept at handling these occurrences, but it should remain unsaid that this should not be transpiring in the first place. The key to finding favor with a strong woman lies closer to mental engagement than forceful intrusion into her inbox. Reign in your sin, gentlemen.
Envy
Envy is a general discontent directed towards another’s status, abilities, accolades, or accomplishments. In this case, those who have been deemed as “Celebritarians” seem to garner a great deal of envy. For those deemed unworthy of the aforementioned attributes, we ridicule and attempt to cut them down a notch in any way possible. Reducing perceived status, minimalizing abilities, diminishing praise, and demeaning accomplishments are all manifestations of envy. This can be seen when an individual sweeps into the movement, turning heads, making waves, and disturbing the comfortable status quo. Envy is most commonly expressed in the form of name-calling, creation of vicious memes, and an inexplicable loss of logical support for statements bashing the target. Envy is often the pre-cursor to wrath, the next sin on our list.
Wrath
Uncontrolled feelings of envy, anger, resentment, or hatred can lead to wrath. The Libertarian bedrock is built upon the Non-Aggression Principle. Yet wrath is the sin that leads to the ultimate hypocrisy. In rare instances, one of our own will commit an egregious violation of the NAP against a fellow subscriber to this basic party principle. Digging into another’s past in an attempt to ruin their target’s reputation and livelihood is a prime example of wrath that has recently transpired in our party. Besides the obvious hypocrisy employed in this situation, we, as Libertarians, should not be judging others by standards such as one’s past, especially if no victim was created. This, the most shocking of sins, fits nowhere into our party’s philosophy.
Greed
There exist those who run for grand offices to promote the party and the word of liberty, and then there are those who only wish to promote themselves. This is one our prime forms of greed. We have too many wishing to make a name for themselves by being internet loudmouths and naysayers, and too little humbly doing the necessary work behind the scenes. Attention seekers and trolls exhibit this sin quite well, seeking all of the glory online, but possessing none of the guts to do what needs to be done offline for our cause.
Gluttony
Our modern day form of gluttony is overindulging on social media. While it is a useful tool for networking, it can become a stifling form of addiction. At best, we refer back to those who debate philosophy and application, but make no effort to actually apply these ideas meaningfully. At worst, we see those who indulge in all seven sins throughout their constant online interactions.
Sloth
Most likely, if you are reading this article, you are probably not one of the myriad employing this sin. Sloth exists at all levels in this party, but since the focus of this narrative is to expose the online arena, this is a simple sin to pinpoint. This is where we refer back to the trolls employing all of the seven sins, day in and day out, and doing nothing more, with no actual interest in advancing liberty.
The people employing these seven sins from within our party are the collective snake pit, and should not be tolerated. While many of them are impotent, offering a bigger hiss than bite, some are not as harmless. Allowing these snakes to inject their venom into those who are actively attempting to build the party can do us great harm, as we are already facing obstacles outside of the movement. There exist a rare few who have built up a tolerance to the venom over time, and can survive. These who are strong enough to resist the venom must stand up and do battle on behalf of others, even if means taking the hits to protect those who are doing the necessary work. We must stand in solidarity against the toxicity, because sometimes, just sometimes, it becomes very necessary to step on the snake.