When I was in my early twenties, I proudly registered with the Libertarian Party. The philosophy was simple, almost elegant: government should be small, restrained, and fundamentally protective of individual liberty. Whether I morally agreed with someone’s choices or not, it wasn’t my business—nor the government’s—so long as they weren’t violating the unalienable rights of others. That was the ethos, the backbone of the movement.

Two decades later, I no longer carry a Libertarian Party card. I’ve gone independent and become much more progressive in many respects, but that libertarian streak is still in me. Which is why I can’t help but ask: what in God’s name happened to libertarians?

Because I’m looking around, and what I see is a bunch of supposed “small government” types cheering on the most bloated, authoritarian, big-government president in American history.

We are literally sinking Venezuelan ships we say are carrying drugs. And look, maybe they were, but think about how much of a failure the Drug War has been. Shouldn’t we be trying smugglers in court? Maybe try addressing it diplomatically. But nah, we’re cool with blowing ships out of the water. That’s not criminal justice; that’s an act of war. And somehow, “small government” folks will shrug their shoulders, or worse, applaud. Did I miss the part of libertarian philosophy where the government was given the right to launch international wars over contraband?

And the debt. My God, the debt. Remember when libertarians used to rail against out-of-control spending? Now we’re adding trillions to the national debt, and the “fiscally responsible” voices are either silent or again cheering it on because apparently their guy is the one holding the pen. Where is the small-government outrage?

Then there’s free speech. Libertarians once stood shoulder to shoulder defending it, even when it was uncomfortable. Especially when it was uncomfortable. But now we’ve got libertarians making excuses for government interference in everything from who gets to host a late-night comedy show to whether or not someone burns the flag. Never mind that the Supreme Court has already clearly ruled that flag burning is protected free speech. Never mind that freedom of expression is a bedrock principle of your supposed ideology.

And don’t even get me started on the government marching boots and guns into American cities. This is the stuff of dystopian nightmares, not libertarian wet dreams. Yet here we are, watching “don’t tread on me” folks who used to listen to RATM waving flags and shouting “back the blue” while the boot of the state presses harder and harder on our necks.

Libertarians, have you abandoned all reason for madness? (To quote Gandalf.) You can make all the noise you want online, in Reddit subthreads, or behind podcast microphones, but when the rubber meets the road, when the moment calls for courage, you seem content to fold, to cave, and to play partisan politics and cozy up to authoritarianism.

That’s not libertarianism. That’s fucking cowardice.

If you truly are the “small government” crowd, start proving it. Otherwise, stop pretending you ever cared about liberty in the first place.

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