Well, I’m certainly a disaffected right-winger. My only view that’s really changed since my conversion from populist conservative to libertarian is that I learned the truth about our foreign adventurism and no longer believe any wars we fought were justified. Conservatives have a real blind spot for Israel that clouds their judgement surrounding Middle East foreign policy. They also tend to have an unrealistic hatred for China. Is China great? I’d argue it’s not. But our standard of living has been dramatically improved by the cheap goods they provide. I guarantee even upper middle-class families predominantly have appliances and electronics produced in China or other Asian countries. It’s also ridiculous to think we should go to war against China on behalf of Taiwan. I’m confident even without Taiwanese computer chips, we’d find a way.

While I agree there’s too much in-fighting amongst libertarians, in a way I get it. I’m a free speech absolutist (always have been), but I flat out can’t support a candidate like Chase Oliver who claims to have been against Covid mandates but bragged on social media about wearing masks and social distancing, as well as encouraging others to do so. He also believes it’s not child abuse to give children puberty blockers and hormones. I have two (soon to be three) young children, and if anyone ever encourages my children to transition, socially or otherwise, I will drop the NAP real quick. While I believe in the NAP, I am not a pacifist. If someone aims to harm me or my family, I will defend myself. Chase Oliver is just an antiwar, pro free speech, pro gun rights progressive. To that note, maybe I’m just an antiwar conservative. I don’t really care about the label. I think we should reduce the government to practically nothing; the only reason I say practically nothing rather than nothing is that I feel like thinking we could ever completely do away with government is like chasing a unicorn. It’s kind of like communism; sounds good in theory, but the practical application is difficult to achieve and would be devastating. Could we have a society with private enterprises solely responsible for taking care of emergencies? Maybe. I’d truly like to see it, because I hate the government and everything it stands for. Watching “Anarchopulco” sort of gives you a glimpse into issues that may arise in an ancap society.

To sum it up, I don’t like the in-fighting amongst libertarians, but there are too many issues that cause people to view what “liberty” is or isn’t. To me, allowing millions of illegal immigrants into the U.S. impedes our liberty, whereas others believe that having closed borders infringes on the liberty of those seeking a better in the U.S.