Is Libertarian In-Fighting Good or Bad for the Movement?

Part One: Back to the Ideas

by Kelly Conley

Libertarianism is, and always has been, an intellectual movement. One of the most praiseworthy attributes of the libertarian devotee is his willingness to engage in debate, and to argue the merits of real ideas, to read books, to learn economics and history—and to recognize and expose lies and corruption. These of course are secondary characteristics behind the most important—to promote peace, free markets and non-aggression—these terms being synonymous to many of us.

Since the somber end of Ron Paul’s campaign for president in 2012, those most politically inclined in the movement have not had a truly high profile political leader. This is not at all a slight on anyone’s character, leadership or devotion to the movement, as we are fortunate and should be proud to have so many libertarian leaders and many more sympathetic to its cause in high-profile positions—including political positions—than ever before. But in the haze of campaign season and amidst an alien political conversation, it is easy to forget what an exciting time it is to be a libertarian. It can also be tough deciding which libertarian to follow with so many emerging leaders among us, each with nuances to his or her particular brand of libertarianism—some more, and some less intellectually oriented.

If you’re spending any time in libertarian circles, you’ve heard the term in-fighting. If you follow many prominent activists, you’ve seen it for yourself. You know what I mean, criticism of Ron Paul by Austin Petersen, criticism of Tom Woods by some other guy, ensuing Twitter scuffles, etc. Some have argued that it is ultimately a good thing, because it sharpens our positions. Others have argued that it is inherently a bad and divisive phenomenon which should stop. But maybe, for whatever reason, as a movement we’re just not busy enough. It is almost as though we’ve forgotten about such terms as spontaneous order and the division of labor.

Perhaps we’ve become so desperate to see liberty in our times, that some of us haven’t caught on that liberty must be a long term project. We will not see the death of statism in our lifetimes; we will be lucky to see its influence even slightly reduced. Maybe a thought experiment could help us find our way.

What if we were to imagine that building a movement—that is a well-rounded and effective societal movement—is much like building a house? How might we finish that metaphor? What parts of our movement are the windows, doors, plumbing, wiring, studs, insulation, etc.? Whichever way things are arranged, we have to remember two things.

Number one: our ideas are the foundation. Without our ideas, nothing else matters. Number two, we have to use our comparative advantages to appropriately distribute the vast amounts of labor inherent in our task. We have to build our foundation, then we raise our walls, build our roof and so on. Our movement can’t get too far out ahead of itself—not if it means compromise or diversion from our foundational ideas. We have a systematic and cooperative process ahead of us, we have a culture starving for our influence and we have to recognize our own jobs and get to work.

Intellectuals and academics should utilize the scholarly institutes available to them and unlimited free resources to sharpen, refine, catalog and disseminate our ideas. Teachers should cultivate curious minds in young students, as our institutes and marketers forge new pathways and methods for influencing our environment. Creatives should use their talents and skills to create a buzzworthy culture around our ideas—music, movies, plays, podcasts, Twitter feeds, blogs, businesses, whatever. Political activists should strive to interject the libertarian position into every political conversation, as it is being continually refined through rigorous debate.

Where this is going, if I’ve done a poor job of making it obvious, is that every task within the movement must revolve around the ideas of liberty. Like a house without a complete, sturdy foundation, we are nothing without our ideas. Any sacrificing of our ideas, whether for political reasons or otherwise, compromises our foundation and places our entire future as a movement at risk. Let’s get back to the ideas.

Please stay attentive, as Part Two will move us past the ideas and into the sphere of strategy: personal excellence and coalition building.

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