The Heart of Libertarianism is Anti-War
I hope that June 21, 2025 marks a turning point in libertarianism
In light of President Trump's decision to break his 'promise' to be a President for peace, and make the world stare down the horrors of 2003 again, it appears that libertarians have been energized around opposing war again. Which is great to see, for several reasons:
1) In the 2010s, libertarianism first descended into pointless 'debates' about ridiculously impractical policy positions, like whether the state should be issuing drivers licenses, or whether we can have private fire and police services. This made many people perceive libertarianism to be essentially no different than anarcho-capitalism, and greatly discredited libertarianism. To focus on actually important issues like opposing war again, libertarianism could regain the credibility it lost during that decade.
2) In recent years, some populist right and MAGA figures have tried to appropriate the libertarian brand. There has also been a pro-MAGA vs. anti-MAGA 'fight' in the US Libertarian Party. After June 21, 2025, being libertarian and being pro-Trump ceased to be compatible, and that is a very good thing. I hope this would settle the pro-MAGA vs. anti-MAGA 'fight' once and for all. Trump and most of the Republican Party were never going to end the forever wars, but some were under the delusion that things had really changed post-2016. Newsflash: they haven't.
3) I think it's a good time to promote the idea that the heart of libertarianism is, or at least should be, anti-war. I first became sympathetic to libertarianism in the lead up to the 2003 Iraq War. While I have had my fair share of disagreements with libertarian immediatists, it remains the case that there is no other ideology in the Western political landscape that is as consistently anti-war as libertarianism. When you think about it, many libertarian positions are basically designed to prevent actual wars, as well as other metaphorical war-like phenomenon like trade wars and culture wars (in the context of Western culture and politics). Libertarianism is pro-peace, period. Perhaps this should be what we are all about, going forward.
TaraElla is a singer-songwriter and author, who is the author of the Progressive Conservative Manifesto, the Moral Libertarian Manifesto and the Moral Libertarian book series. She is also the author of her autobiography The TaraElla Story.