First, war. War is the antithesis of the libertarian philosophy of

consent, voluntarism and trade. With every war in American history

Leviathan has grown larger and our liberties have withered. War is the

health of the state. And now, fulfilling the dreams of Big Brother, we are

in a perpetual war.

A country cannot long combine unlimited government abroad and limited

government at home. The Republican party

has become the party of war and thus the party of unlimited government.

With war has come FEAR, magnified many times over by the governing party. Fear is pulling Americans into the arms of

the state. If only we were better at

resisting. Alas, we Americans say that

we love liberty but we are fair-weather lovers. Liberty will flourish only with peace.

Have libertarians gained on other margins in the past eight years? Not at all. Under the Republicans we have been sailing due South-West on the Nolan

Chart – fewer civil liberties and more government, including the largest new

government program in a generation, the Medicare prescription drug plan, and

the biggest nationalization since the Great Depression. Tax cuts, the summum bonum of Republican

economic policy, are a sham. The only

way to cut taxes is to cut spending and that has not happened.

The libertarian voice has not been listened to in Republican politics for a

long time. The Republicans take the libertarian wing of the party for granted

and with phony rhetoric and empty phrases have bought our support on the

cheap. Thus – since voice has failed – it is time for exit. Remember that if

a political party can count on you then you cannot count on it.

Exit is the right strategy because if there is any hope for reform it is by

casting the Republicans out of power and into the wilderness where they may

relearn virtue. Libertarians understand better

than anyone that power corrupts. The

Republican party illustrates. Lack of

power is no guarantee of virtue but Republicans are a far better – more libertarian –

party out-of-power than they are in power. When in the wilderness, Republicans turn naturally to a critique of

power and they ratchet up libertarian rhetoric about free trade, free

enterprise, abuse of government power and even the defense of civil liberties. We can hope that new leaders will arise in

this libertarian milieu.