Neo-Libertarianism?
Dean
The folks at Q&O have begun what they're calling the "Neo-Libertarian Network," and have published the first edition of their newsletter, "The New Libertarian."
You can read a free copy of their first edition by clicking right here. It's a PDF, and you'll also need to enter a password to read it. The password is "tnlv1i1".
I'm not sure if I'm a neolibertarian or not, but I think I'm awfully close to what they're driving at.
Speaking of libertarianism in general, I've long thought of the hard-core libertarians--the really serious, no-compromisers--as the Marxists of the right. Interestingly enough, Scott Kirwin sent me an article in The American Conservative recently which makes that exact point, and makes it quite well: Click here to read Robert Locke's "Marxism of the Right".
Note: I'm no big fan of The American Conservative, but this is a good article. But it looks like the Neo-Libertarians are trying to address the very defects in libertarianism that Locke complains about.
Glad to see the "NL network" is taking hold.
I am about halfway through the QandO document, and I very much like what I am reading.
Tim West was a participant in a heated thread at Michael Badnarik's blog and started the New Libertarian team blog much along the same lines, which is unfortunately down at the moment due to an upgrade gone awry.
Jesse "Insanehippie" Dolan, another participant in that thread, explained why he left the LP for the Republican party:
"The only way to be a 'true' Libertarian (to some) is to follow every little LP fatwah to the letter, no deviation allowed. If this is how the LP treats people who disagree by 2% the party is doomed to utter failure. It will sure be a beautiful fireworks show though."
Tim would, I think, agree with the spirit of that statement, but unlike Jesse, believes the LP can be saved from its more dogmatic elements. Having found Tim's blog, his confidence that the LP was reformable convinced me to vote for Badnarik last November, though I had to grit my teeth over foreign policy.
This month, I happened to find that Jesse Dolan started his own blog.
-- Peter Robinson, National Review Online
That oh-so-true statement justifies a Neo-Libertarian movement to me.
The usual reward for a political whore is the political equivalent of a twenty-dollar bill and a "Thank you!"
So there is still the issue of two competing big tents within the new libertarian movement.