Honestly? And I'm about to get real clear on this and I can't believe it's taken me this long to unpack this particular thing.
The real reason I left libertarianism — the reason underlying every single position I re-evaluated that took me further from modern libertarianism — is its racism. That's the variable that I took seriously that, using exactly the same formulas, led me to different conclusions than the current libertarian core.
It took me too long to notice that this is the difference. Like I've been saying, I can argue every single one of my current progressive stances using libertarian first principles. I said it was data, that's the difference, that I was willing to revisit the inputs and update them with real data instead of mere claims about data, and that's still true.
But what's different about the data, Greg?
*goose chases*
WHAT'S DIFFERENT ABOUT THE DATA?
Yeah, Greg, it's racism.
Funny how the libertarian formulas still work, but when you're willing to set aside bias and look at ALL the data — say historical events that libertarians don't talk about for some reason, or statistics libertarians lie about for some reason, or are willing to champion the rights of people who libertarians dismiss for some reason — you come to different conclusions about the source of tyranny and how to fight it.
And what is that "some reason"?
It's intrinsic bias, largely racial but also based on class, gender, and ableism.
I just unpacked that stuff, is all. One might say... I'm Woke. Wokitarian. Liberwokian.
Or, borrowing from Disco Elysium's political naming conventions, I'm practicing ultralibertarianism while y'all are still playing with the Fisher Price® My First Freedom™ set.
#USPol #libertarian
