It is a mistake for libertarians and others advocating for more liberty to ignore appealing to people’s morality. The interesting thing is that the authoritarians do this all the time to advance their own agenda.
“Do it for the children.”
“We need to save the planet from climate change by giving us more power to tax and regulate.”
“We need to save democracy in Ukraine by sending them money and weapons to fight the big, bad Putin.”
The authoritarians prey on the goodness of people and use it to enhance their own power. Even when they are appealing to people’s own self-interest, they justify it in the name of being fair and just.
Selling the Benefits of Liberty
Libertarians should sell the benefits of liberty by appealing to people’s self-interest. But this doesn’t mean that we should stop there and not also appeal to their morality.
It is easy to find conservatives and libertarians who argue that we should stop sending money to Ukraine. The justification is typically that we shouldn’t be sending money to Ukraine while we have so many problems here at home.
This was an effective argument when there was severe flooding from Hurricane Helene. It is a good question to ask why the government is sending hundreds of billions of dollars to Ukraine while largely ignoring (or worse) the people who have lost houses and are in desperate need of assistance.
This is appealing to people’s morality too, but they can more easily identify with someone who lives in North Carolina than someone who lives in Ukraine and speaks a different language.
Still, we shouldn’t stop there. Even if there had been no disaster in North Carolina and other surrounding states, we still shouldn’t be forced to send money to Ukraine.
By sending money and weapons to Ukraine, it empowers the oligarchs in Ukraine while prolonging the war and all of the death and destruction that come with it. If you care about the lives of innocent Ukrainians, then you should favor a halt of all U.S. taxpayer money going to Ukraine. Who cares if Russia takes over eastern Ukraine where mostly ethnic Russians live?
If Ukrainians want to fight and die for that cause, we shouldn’t be funding it. But if U.S. government funding stopped, it would likely lead to some kind of a peace settlement.
Of course, this war never would have happened in the first place if the U.S. government hadn’t assisted in overthrowing the democratically-elected president of Ukraine in 2014.
Incidentally, it was actually Trump who defended his position of wanting to reach a peace settlement by saying that he wants people to stop dying. We’ll see if he maintains this position when he becomes president.
Effective Morality Plays
Even though the political left has largely advocated for U.S. involvement in Ukraine, there is a small part of the hard left that has protested the actions of Israel, particularly in Gaza.
This has actually been effective, as majorities in many countries throughout the world have agreed with criticisms of the Israeli state for the mass death and destruction it has caused in Gaza. Even around half of Americans are at least somewhat opposed to the actions of the Israeli state.
You generally don’t hear the left saying that we should stop funding Israel because we could use that money at home to fight climate change and help the poor.
No. We generally hear opposition to the Israeli state for murdering tens of thousands of innocent people. And it has worked too. That’s because most people find it appalling that someone would murder innocent people, even if it is state actors doing it.
You can debate about whether money going to Israel could be better spent at home by the government or by the individuals who actually earned it. But when you turn it to morality, it becomes harder for the side who doesn’t have morality on their side.
Sure, people will say that Israel was attacked and they have a right to defend themselves. But this has little to do with self-defense. You can’t just blow up buildings and shoot children in the head while claiming the moral high ground.
You can always say that it is wrong to knowingly kill little children. How could little children be guilty of anything? The supporters of the Israeli state can claim self-defense all day long, but it doesn’t justify what is happening now. Killing children is never justified.
Are People Good or Bad?
Most people are neither all good nor all bad. There are maybe a few who are all bad. Most people do live for their own self-interest, but they also want to generally be seen as good people. They don’t favor murdering innocent people, and they certainly don’t want to be seen by others as wanting that.
Americans are generally good people. Many just want to be left alone to live their own life. They will take advantage of government welfare when it is available because they see it as part of the system, which it is. Some actually favor it more than others. There are certainly many people who would like to live at the expense of others.
Still, this doesn’t mean they favor murdering children. Just because someone advocates for a government program that might favor them doesn’t mean they are completely evil. There are varying degrees of morality.
So, when it comes to issues of war, the large and overwhelming majority of Americans don’t want to see innocent people murdered. This is why the state uses propaganda. They have to sell wars saying it is self-defense, it is to spread democracy, and it is to liberate others.
While economic arguments and appealing to people’s self-interest should not be ignored, liberty advocates should use morality arguments more often. The idea of being a good person sells.