“The masses will never again accept the mindless serfdom of the Old Order; and given these demands that have been awakened by liberalism and the Industrial Revolution, long-run victory for liberty is inevitable.” ~Murray Rothbard
It isn’t easy being a libertarian. Sometimes I can’t help but wonder whether ignorance really is bliss. In certain aspects, life can be happier by not knowing certain things.
I don’t take that view of 2020 and 2021 where COVID-19 hysteria has dominated. While it is frustrating being a libertarian (when isn’t it?) and watching the world around you destroy itself, I believe most people are personally better off knowing the truth.
At least I haven’t been living in fear of a virus for the last 15 months. I can’t say the same for some others. My fear has been the hysteria and the resultant damage. But at least I have been able to live my life to the degree that society around me has allowed. I recognize that I can’t control the actions of governments and corporations that perpetuate the hysteria, but I can still live freely to the degree that it is possible.
Many libertarians are surprised when I say that I am optimistic with regard to the prospects for liberty, at least in the long run. Some think I am completely crazy for believing this.
To be sure, I have no way of knowing for sure. It is possible that liberty will be curtailed in the long run. It is possible that we could have a nuclear war that ends life on earth. So my optimism isn’t a guarantee, but I do believe that greater liberty is the more likely outcome over the long run. In 20 years, and more certainly in 40 years, I believe we will be better off than today.
I would be lying if I didn’t say that I had more doubts in 2020. It surprised me how easily the people were duped. It isn’t just a matter of buying into virus hysteria, although that is bad enough. If the establishment and its corporate media will lie to get us into a war, don’t you think they might be capable of lying about the severity of a virus?
But the worst part of 2020 is that people easily gave up their liberty. They thought it sounded reasonable when we were told we needed to give up life for two weeks to “flatten the curve”. Flattening the curve then morphed into living life so as to avoid death at all costs. Even if you thought the virus really was highly contagious and very deadly, it should never be an excuse to grant the state more power. And this was a degree of power that was staggering.
Governors and mayors now have the power to shut down society on a whim. People were told to stay at home. Businesses that were deemed “non-essential” were forced to close down for a certain period of time. Some businesses (if they haven’t permanently shut down) still face harsh restrictions.
The year 2020 wasn’t a good year for liberty in the United States or across the globe. At the same time, it may have sown the seeds for greater liberty in the future.
Open Communication
We live in a time where communication is wide open. Technology has enabled people to communicate on a scale that, at one time, was thought to be impossible.
Again, 2020 seemed to be a step in the wrong direction in terms of communication and free speech. We live in a politically correct world where the power elite tries to silence people. The term “cancel culture” is widely understood today.
There has been a conspiracy by big tech and other corporations to silence those who speak out too strongly against the accepted establishment narrative. Maybe some of this is to avoid bad public relations. Maybe some of it is due to feeling threatened by government action. Maybe some of it is just the existence of corporate executives wanting to appear to be in touch with the times.
They are mostly overplaying their hands. I don’t think most Americans seriously buy into the “woke” culture. I think most people, including many who preach it, know it is a farce.
I know that Google, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook, among others, have made a concerted effort to silence people because they don’t like the message. In the long run, I don’t think it will work, and I think it will ultimately hurt these big companies.
There are new platforms coming online all the time. These companies are still the top dogs when it comes to their services, but they are going to start losing ground. There are video platforms now that will take your video that was banned by YouTube for going against the establishment narrative.
I like to point out to people that these companies didn’t exist 30 years ago. Most of them didn’t exist 20 years ago. If you go back to 1990, how did you get your news? You either read the establishment newspaper, or you watched the establishment news. You may have had a choice of 3 or 4 networks to watch your evening news, and they mostly repeated the same things (as they still do today). Conservative talk radio was only getting started.
We have so many more options now. It is ridiculous. I know Facebook will prevent some of your posts from being seen. I know Google will not rank your site high in the search engine because you aren’t saying the right things according to them. But the lines of communication are more open today than ever.
In order to sell liberty, you have to sell the truth. In order to sell statism, you have to sell lies and propaganda. This is why politicians rely on propaganda to promote their wars, and also to promote their domestic policies.
Free speech is still mostly free in America. It is used widely. If you want to find an alternative view on most anything, it is out there if you look. You have to be a little bit curious. It is easy to get the official establishment narrative on things. If you want to find counter views, you have to be willing to look with an open mind. You will find something.
Shifting Opinions
Sometimes things are hard to see. Election results don’t always show shifts in public opinion for some time, especially when the people running are the same old thing.
One obvious sign of optimism was the election of Donald Trump in 2016. And regardless of how you view the election of 2020, Trump received far more votes in 2020 than he did in 2016.
Trump is not a libertarian. He isn’t really close to libertarianism on anything. But he did have a somewhat anti establishment message. He was probably the first person to win the presidency since at least the 1920s to not be approved by the establishment. The establishment didn’t care for Reagan, but they felt he could be controlled enough within certain boundaries. Trump was just a different being, especially with his mouth.
Despite the group effort by the media and all of the establishment organizations, they could not stop Trump from being elected president in 2016. Americans were told that they shouldn’t dare vote for such a man, yet many of them did it anyway.
Here is another aspect of Trump that is positive. He has dramatically shifted the Republican Party. Maybe it’s not all good, but in terms of foreign policy, it is a vast improvement. Liz Cheney is being shunned by Republicans. George W. Bush is no longer viewed favorably by many (likely a majority) of Republicans. The Republican Party is not exactly the party of peace, but the majority of members are far less hawkish on war than they were a decade ago. This is a highly positive development.
In terms of hardcore libertarians, we are much better off than 20 years ago. The Ron Paul Revolution brought in hundreds of thousands of radical libertarians who previously didn’t exist.
And while I wish this had happened in 2008, the radical libertarians are starting to take over the Libertarian Party. We are likely to have a party that can spread the message of liberty on a national stage.
Even outside of the political arena, there are positive developments. You have to look at the long-term trends. Attempts by the left over the last few decades to increase gun control have not gotten far up to this point.
Homeschooling continues to rise in popularity. This was already happening before 2020. I can tell you from personal experience that the statistics vastly understate the number of children being homeschooled.
While the drug war is still a major problem, most states have adopted some form of legalization for marijuana. This is in spite of federal laws. Not only is this a victory for reducing victimless crimes, but it is also a form of state nullification.
The national debt, the unfunded liabilities, the money creation by the Fed, and the massive government spending are all a mess. It is also unsustainable.
So, yes, there are going to be some tough times ahead, especially for those who are living an unsustainable lifestyle. Ultimately, I think there are going to be massive defaults in some form. There are already subtle defaults through currency depreciation.
I don’t think we will end up resembling anything like Venezuela. People are accustomed to high living standards in America. They are not going to easily give that up. Americans still have a sense of rugged individualism. They are entrepreneurial. Most Americans still celebrate wealth when it is justly acquired. Americans like a good rags-to-riches story.
And while 2020 was disappointing, I think many people have become more politically astute. Politics couldn’t be avoided in 2020 because it came home, and it came home hard. When you are told that you can’t go shopping and you have to stay at home, it doesn’t get any more political than that.
The establishment has likely overplayed their collective hands. Joe Biden says that if you get vaccinated, obey your orders, and “we” see an improvement, then maybe you can have a small family get-together in your backyard on July 4th. I assume that at least 95% of people are already having small family get-togethers.
These establishment people are making themselves irrelevant. The further they go in wanting to hype the virus and push for restrictions, the more they delegitimize themselves. This has an impact over time. People have less trust of authority and “experts”. This is a major positive for liberty in the long run.
We can only hope that Biden and Fauci keep pushing masks and distancing and isolation. It only makes the resistance stronger.
It won’t be a straight line up in terms of liberty and living standards. There will be setbacks. 2020 was a setback, but it also likely shifted some people’s opinions about how much they should trust the state and its “experts”.
As Rothbard said, we aren’t going back to the Old Order. There are too many Americans who have a high standard of living, and there are too many Americans who generally favor liberty. I am still optimistic about the long-term prospects for liberty.