As the government grows and the debt gets larger, there is some pushback happening to the power elite that they haven’t had in the past.  This is what makes politics particularly interesting at this time.

It’s not that we should hold out hope for some great politician to come along and fix things.  Things will get fixed only because things can’t be sustained and because public opinion ultimately matters.

Argentinians recently elected a self-identified radical libertarian to the presidency.  He could end up being a complete disaster, or maybe he will bring about some positive changes in the right direction.  But it doesn’t make libertarians naïve for having some optimism.  Just the fact that someone with a libertarian platform was able to get elected is a reason for optimism.

The same holds true in American politics.  We have the disastrous and criminal Joe Biden in the presidency, but just take a look at the candidates going against him (or whoever the establishment puts in his place in the 2024 election).

There are the establishment candidates in the Republican Party, some of whom have already dropped out. Nikki Haley and Chris Christie are completely establishment, but they are going nowhere.  Ron DeSantis is somewhat establishment, but he obviously holds some views that are against the establishment.  The power elite would probably prefer DeSantis over Trump, but they don’t want either.

Trump is Trump.  He is far from libertarian, but he has some of the right enemies because he is a threat to the deep state and the power elite.  Just by occasionally telling the truth, Trump is a threat to their power.  And he is easily the frontrunner in the Republican Party.

Let’s also not forget about Robert Kennedy Jr., who is now running as an independent.  He is somewhat of an old-school Democrat, but that is challenging to the establishment when it comes to Ukraine and COVID.  He is also a threat when he talks about how the CIA killed his uncle.  He probably won’t win the presidency, but he is out there speaking the truth (for the most part), and it has an impact.

Vivek Ramaswamy

Vivek is a salesman.  He will alter his message a bit depending on the audience.  But I am actually encouraged by this fact now, especially after the last Republican debate.  He called out Nikki Haley, saying she will send your kids off to die in a foreign war so that she can buy a bigger house.

He also took a slight gamble and said that she can’t name three provinces in eastern Ukraine, but she’ll send your money and your kids there to fight.  It isn’t so bad if you can’t name three provinces in Ukraine, but it is bad when you claim credit for your foreign policy experience and you are gung-ho on fighting wars.  Haley stood there stone-faced.  If she could have named three provinces in Ukraine, I think she would have done so.

Thank you, Vivek, for helping to take down and expose this despicable woman.  She is basically a dumber version of a Republican Hillary Clinton.

Libertarians should be optimistic.  Vivek is pointing out truths in these debates.  Even if he is a bit too salesy, it is great that he thinks attacking neocons will sell.  Imagine how utterly boring and disgusting these Republican debates would have been without Vivek.

If Trump is polling around 60% in the Republican primaries, and Vivek is getting another 10%, that means that about 70% are on board with something like an “America first” agenda.  I suppose libertarians are more “individual first” than “America first”, but America first is far better than people promoting interventionism throughout the world.

Even though DeSantis has been very disappointing on foreign policy, he is still somewhat anti-establishment in his rhetoric at times.  Between the three of them (DeSantis, Trump, and Ramaswamy), they probably have the support of over 75% of the Republican Party.  The Bush era people are going nowhere.  This is reason to celebrate.

A Trump VP

There are rumors that Vivek has talked to the Libertarian Party, but I still bet that he is vying for the VP slot under Trump.

I am supporting Michael Rectenwald as of right now, but I haven’t completely decided on where my vote is going.

If Trump picks any establishment person as his running mate, I will not vote for him.  It means he learned nothing after four years in office.  I would consider voting for a Trump/ Ramaswamy ticket.

I would also strongly consider voting for a Trump/ Tucker Carlson ticket.  I think this would be a great life insurance policy for Donald Trump.  Supposedly Melania is in favor of this idea.  Maybe it’s for the same reason.  The establishment despises Tucker Carlson even more than Donald Trump.  Tucker is even stronger on the culture wars, and he is more anti-interventionist than Trump on foreign policy.

Variables

There are so many variables at this point, it is impossible to make any predictions.  We don’t know if Trump will be convicted of crimes.  And if he is, will he land in jail?  Will it impact his being on any ballots?

Of course, there is always the possibility that Trump could die or become ill.  He is like the energizer bunny at his age, but there are obviously people who want to do harm to him.

We also have other variables in third-party candidates.  Kennedy will have some kind of a presence, and it isn’t exactly clear which party he will draw votes from the most.

The Libertarian Party should have an actual libertarian as the nominee in 2024.  This could make it difficult for principled libertarians who are not opposed to voting.  We are almost always voting for who we see as the lesser of evils.  A Trump/ Carlson ticket is far less evil than Biden/ Harris.  Is a Kennedy ticket less evil than Trump/ Carlson?  Or do we just vote for a libertarian who has almost no chance of winning?

These are not easy questions.  We’ll see how things play out in the next few months.  These are chaotic times, but I think libertarians should be somewhat optimistic that there are some candidates who are at least different from the typical establishment candidates that we have seen in the past.  This isn’t Bush vs. Kerry any more.  Many people don’t like the status quo and recognize that the power elite should have a lot less power over our lives.