Will Right-Libertarians Become the New Alt-Right?: A Discussion

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In this episode of the It’s Going Down podcast, we are joined by YouTuber Chill Goblin, as we discuss the growing current of right-Libertarianism that includes popular online personalities such as Michael Malice and organizations like the Mises Caucus, which champions “paleolibertarianism” and has become the leading force within the Libertarian party after winning control of the party in May of 2022.

As Hatewatch wrote:

The MC has adopted a hard-right approach to attract supporters, mimicking the “paleo strategy” from the early 1990s created by Murray Rothbard and Lew Rockwell. Rothbard and Rockwell used the strategy to appeal to far-right conservatives and authored a newsletter that trafficked in anti-immigrant talking points, race science and anti-LGBTQ ideas.

The MC and its members have argued for limited immigration enforced by property owners on the border and police action against Black Lives Matter and antifa protesters. They’ve also made anti-trans remarks. Mises-controlled Montana removed the right to abortion from its platform.

Ashley Shade, the former chair of the Massachusetts LP, resigned her post after her state party expelled Mises Caucus members over claims of harassment and demands to hold an early convention. Shade, who is trans, asserted in an April 10 Facebook post that MC bigotry and harassment had prompted her recent absence from social media.

Shade wrote she “was successful in teaching many people about Trans rights and issues,” but she “experienced more harrasment [sic] and threats than support.” Shade called the MC a “cult” and a “tool of the Republican Party.”

While for decades anarchists and other autonomous anti-capitalists have simply laughed at “AnCaps,” with the growth of Trump and right-wing anger over COVID lockdowns, mask mandates and vaccines, right-Libertarians have been growing in size and influence, especially within online communities. With the breaking apart of the MAGA coalition; many young people on the far-Right are moving away from Trump and distancing themselves from those who still cling to the cult of personality around him. Within this breakdown, will right-Libertarians grow to replace the space previously inhabited by the Alt-Right, as new coalitions form around figures like DeSantis in Florida?

Throughout our discussion, we address how this turn towards the far-Right by Libertarians is in fact nothing new, and is something that so-called “anarcho”-capitalists like Murray Rothbard have long pushed for; resulting in the Ron Paul campaign, which in many ways served as an incubator to the Alt-Right the emerged in 2015. Finally, we also ask how should anarchists respond to this growth in right-Libertarianism – a current which often appropriates words like “anarchist” and continues to build common cause with outright fascists and white supremacists.

More Info: Mises Caucus: Could it Sway the Libertarian Party to the Hard Right?, National Anarchism: Trojan Horse for White Nationalism, and Chill Goblin on YouTube, Twitter, and Patreon.