Moral Libertarianism Avoids the Core Weaknesses of Conventional Libertarianism

In recent years, there was a wave of popular support for political libertarianism that came, peaked, and then ultimately crashed. That wave came with the 2012 Presidential campaign of Ron Paul, probably peaked around 2014, and probably already crashed in late 2015 or so, as the primaries for the 2016 US Presidential election started heating up.

Back in 2014 or so, there was high hopes that libertarianism would finally break through during the 2016 US elections, perhaps through the candidacy of someone like Rand Paul. Alas, this was not to be. Instead, 2016 saw both the revival of paleoconservatism with the candidacy of Donald Trump, and also the revival of socialism with the candidacy of Bernie Sanders. Both tendencies have since taken over the political conversation in much of the West, in a way that libertarianism simply failed to. I guess we really need to ask the question, why did libertarianism fail where paleoconservatism and socialism succeeded, even when libertarianism actually got a head start.

I think the problem is simply that, political libertarianism, as it exists, simply does not speak to the needs and desires of

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most people. Libertarianism does not provide a clear path towards fulfilling both personal needs, such as jobs and health care, or societal needs, such as a strong social fabric and strong family values. Most people prefer non-libertarian politics simply because they feel like it would deliver what they want more effectively, and unfortunately, it is probably true at least in some cases. Purist libertarians may lament that this prioritization represents either stupidity or a willingness to submit to tyranny among the general population. However, whatever one's judgement of the situation may be, it remains a fact that classical libertarianism has not been able to advance the cause of liberty in any practical way in the real world, simply because it cannot win enough hearts and minds. That is why, if libertarianism is to have a positive effect on the real world, it must change. After all, in the game of democracy, it is never the voters who are wrong; it is always up to those who want to make their case for change to adapt.

This is where Moral Libertarianism is superior to conventional libertarianism. Where conventional libertarianism puts the emphasis on cutting the size of government, Moral Libertarianism simply aspires to every individual having equal and maximum moral agency in every situation. For example, where having a particular social program benefits so many people that most people would strongly support it, conventional libertarianism would still oppose said program on principle due to the need to cut government at every turn, even if this would represent political suicide. Furthermore, a blanket opposition to all

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social programs is bad for community building, which is required to create the strong social fabric only under which individual liberty becomes sustainable. On the other hand, Moral Libertarianism recognizes that having a social program, having a slightly larger size of government, does not necessarily prevent every individual having equal and maximum freedom. The Moral Libertarian might allow or even support said social program, as long as it is administered in a way that respects the ideal that every individual should have equal and maximum moral agency, or in other words, the program does not cause the freedom of the individual to shrink. This way, Moral Libertarianism can be flexible enough to allow beneficial social programs, and still aim to preserve individual liberty by keeping the administration of such programs honest to the core ideals of classical liberalism.

Furthermore, back when classical liberalism was founded in the 18th and 19th century, the big business establishment did not exist yet, and the only threat to liberty was government tyranny. Hence, limiting the reach of government was the main work of freedom fighters back then. However, capitalist society has developed through many stages since then, and nowadays the ability of the rich and powerful to take away the freedoms of other individuals has become a much bigger threat to liberty compared to two centuries ago. A politics of freedom that does not have a mechanism to restrain the rich and powerful, particularly the corporate establishment, is going to sound outdated or even insincere to many people in the contemporary situation.

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Hence, conventional libertarianism's sole emphasis on restraining government at all costs, and its phobia towards restraining other parties via regulation, severely harms its credibility in the eyes of many. On the other hand, the Moral Libertarian approach would be to simply consider whether every individual gets to have equal and maximum liberty, or as close to that state as possible. Moral Libertarianism recognises that, where government is preventing liberty, it should be restrained. However, it also recognises that, where other parties are limiting the liberty of individuals, they too should be restrained. I believe that this approach is a much more credible approach to securing liberty in the context of the 21st century.

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