By Jack Buckby
Clash Daily Guest Contributor
When considering libertarianism and its viability as an ideological force in culturist, conservative politics, it’s important to consider its ability to last. Can libertarianism be established as a powerful ideological force, offering a basis for American society as a whole? Or is it perhaps a liberal concept that borders on anarchy, which has never been proven to drive powerful, influential nations?
The United States of America is often considered to have been founded on the idea of liberation from tyranny, and that individual liberty should be the priority of any governing body. The Puritans, being strong culturists, banished dissenters, though as time passed, the notion of individual liberty became incredibly important across the nation as a whole. An opposition to libertarianism is not necessarily an attack on these values and ideas, but instead, a way of thinking that questions the necessity of a new ideology. Conservatism in the United States by default believes in the protection of these ideals, though admittedly, some may question the way in which conservative politicians may wish to protect them. For instance, is it really necessary to enshrine in law measures that ensure individuals or businesses subscribe to individualism?
Libertarianism is on the rise across the United States, particularly within the Republican Party. In fact, libertarian Senator Rand Paul won the CPAC 2014 poll for presidential nominee – and despite Dr Ben Carson being the first to throw his hat into the ring as a potential Republican nominee, Rand Paul is still widely considered to be the most likely to ultimately run for Presidency. Times are changing in the Republican Party, and a whole new approach is not only desired, but required. Like it or not, libertarianism is, at least temporarily, the direction for the party. Demographics are against conservatives, with a constant influx of non-Europeans, and the grasp that Obama’s legacy will have over the youth and poorer voters for decades to come.
As a traditional conservative, I do not associate with libertarianism entirely. The legalisation of marijuana and prostitution is seen by libertarians as liberty. It is not liberty, but licence. In a book entitled ‘What is Mutualism?’ by Clarence Lee Swartz, published in 1927, there is a fantastic quote that most conservatives will agree with entirely.
“To speak of natural rights implies that there is an unquestioned or an indisputable right of some kind that is inherent in the individual when he is born. If that were really true, then the right of might could not operate against it.”
The book is one of the earliest pieces of text that acknowledges libertarianism as an ideology, comparing it to the economic theory mutualism. In many respects, it is an early text that outlines the original colonial dream – the desire for freedom, not of religion, but of the individual. Few conservatives would disagree with such a concept, but moving further towards mutualism, anarchism and libertarianism is alien to many.
Libertarianism poses a problem, in that it panders towards the conservative ideals of a smaller state, but at the same time allows for the growth of social liberalism which already poses a huge threat to social conservatism and the identity of the United States and its European peoples. Libertarianism also goes hand in hand with neoliberalism and open borders, which is considered ‘freedom’. In actual fact, both of these things pose a huge threat to not only the United States, but the whole of the West.
There is no question that libertarianism will become more significant, but there is absolutely a question as to how significant or effective it will be. There have been times in America’s past, in its very early stages, that the nation had a limited government, but it didn’t last. Most would claim that FDR’s New Deal was the final nail in the coffin for a free America, but in reality, the increase in federal power began well before, in 1913.
On December 23rd 1913, newly elected President Woodrow Wilson oversaw the introduction of the Federal Reserve Act, an act of congress that authorised quantitative easing by a central bank. Both houses in Congress were under Democrat control at this time for a period of six years, giving us a clear example of the Democratic Party’s intentions to inflict a larger central government and financial system onto the American people. This is of course no surprise.
FDR’s New Deal created a realignment that saw the Democratic Party work ing lo0sely with empowered trade unions, and convincing wet conservatives to back elements of the New Deal, though with a view to increasing its efficiency. The New Deal vastly increased the powers of the central government, aiming to provide American citizens with what was considered a safety net against the unpredictability of the market. Another early example of the liberal agenda to remove self-determination and individual freedoms from the people, FDR’s New Deal paved the way to a conservative government.
In both of these examples, the result has been conservative control. After the 1913 Federal Reserve Act came 16 years of Republican control in Congress and Republican Presidency from 1921 to 1933. As a result of the New a Deal, the Conservative Coalition, on the most part, controlled Congress between 1937 and 1963.
If history teaches us anything, it’s that prolonged liberal control, and wide-reaching liberal schemes to claw back power from the people, simply make the people more conservative. Combining this line of thought with the assumption that libertarianism will soon control the Grand Old Party, I think it is fair to say that the future is bright for traditional conservatism – a conservatism that believes in the responsibility and intelligence of Western and American people, the importance of tradition, culture and the West, and which opposes Marxist ideas of ‘equality’ and ‘diversity’.
I say bring on libertarianism, and bring on Rand Paul. When libertarianism takes hold of the United States, the large liberal population will use it to their advantage. I suspect that in a period of between five and ten years, the United States will be damaged by encroaching liberal ideas being pushed through the ideological open gate that libertarianism creates, and what then? After a decade of liberalism, a new opportunity for a Reagan-style era of conservatism will present itself. The United States can be ‘reset’ with socially liberal ideas afflicting its institutions (though without the increased government control that would come from a liberal government), and conservatism can start anew. I think the American people will embrace it.
Jack Buckby is the Outreach Officer for the British political party Liberty GB. After being expelled from university in England for his anti-Islamic views, Jack now engages in counter Jihad and conservative politics in the United Kingdom and United States, stands for election and spreads awareness of global Jihad through his writing. Visit his political party at www.libertygb.org.uk
