The Alt-Right isn’t Libertarian
One of the grossest political comparisons leftists and people who identify as alt-right will claim is that the alt-right is part of the libertarian movement. This has to be one of the most politically disingenuous claims to ever be made. To understand why this comparison isn’t true, we have to first define what a libertarian and someone that’s alt right are.
Libertarian
A Libertarian is someone that values individual liberty, property rights and non-interventionism. For Libertarians, these goals are achieved by limiting the scope of the government. Libertarians oppose government intervention in domestic and foreign affairs due to the non-aggression principle (NAP). The NAP states that aggression is inherently wrong which means no one should use coercion, violence or any other form of forcible interference. However, Libertarians aren’t pacifists and support the right to self defense. There is a lot more to libertarian theory and principles but for the sake of the article I’m going to keep it short.
Alt-Right
The Alt-Right is a white nationalist movement re-branded for the modern era to attract new supporters by tricking people. The Alt-Right often pretends to be a brand of libertarian or conservative thought but in the end of the day, they’re hyper authoritarian fascists. The Alt-Right ultimately believes that they must preserve a white majority nation and they’re willing to use state powers to enforce these rules.
Now that we have defined what a libertarian and an Alt-Righter is. Its time to show how these two philosophies are not equivalent in the slightest.
Free Speech and Private Property
Libertarians unapologetically support free speech for all individuals and private property. The Alt-Right does not and this is shown by examining Libertarian and Alt-Right reactions to censorship on private platforms.
Facebook is a private social media outlet that has its own rules for what kind of content Facebook will tolerate on their website. Libertarians would argue that although Facebook’s actions to restrict free speech are bad, Facebook has the right to do so because Facebook is allowed to dictate how their property is used. Alt-Right individuals would argue that because the majority of the country uses Facebook to communicate with each other. Facebook shouldn’t be allowed to dictate what is being said on their property. Alt-Right individuals would use state power to force Facebook to operate in the way the state thinks it should. This severe difference action shows that not only does the Alt-Right not value free speech, they don’t respect the property rights of the individual.
Individualism not Collectivism
Libertarians are racially and sexually ambiguous. This means that Libertarians believe that no one should be treated different because of their ethnic background or sex. This belief in racial ambiguity also means libertarians reject any form of ethnic nationalism. The Alt-Right exists as an alternative to mainstream right wing views that promote the concept of the ethnostate. The Alt-Right wants to secure the borders of historically white countries to preserve the white majority of these nations. Libertarians would argue that all individuals should be treated equally for their background. which the idea of securing the borders for the reason of securing an ethnic majority would be unsatisfactory for Libertarians.
All of this boils down to the fact that the Alt-Right isn’t Libertarian, they are hyper authoritarian requiring the individual to surrender property rights, free speech and their ethnicity to the state. Being Libertarian means you support property rights, individual liberty and Free Speech. These principles are not interchangeable. In order to create the future the Alt-Right desires, it would require the Alt-Right to go against these principles. This would mean that the Alt-Right would have to destroy the liberty movement in order to reach its goals. There is no benefit for Libertarians to associate with the Alt-Right, they don’t represent anything a Libertarian stands for.
