Ever since I discovered libertarianism in the late 1970s, I have witnessed conservatives every four years exclaiming, “This is the most important presidential race in U.S. history,” as they attempted to exhort people to elect a Republican to the presidency. The 2024 presidential race, of course, is no exception.
But the periodic elections of Republican presidents has never brought us the free society — not in the genuine sense of the term. At best, they have brought “freedom-leaning” conservatives appointed to federal positions to help manage the welfare-warfare state, managed/regulated-economy system under which we have all been born and raised.
For conservatives, that is sufficient. They would be happy to go to their death beds with a Republican president and “freedom-leaning” conservatives in charge of the welfare-warfare state and regulated/managed society.
But it’s not sufficient for me and some other libertarians. I got into this movement because I want to be free. And freedom in the genuine libertarian sense of the term does not mean having “freedom-leaning” conservatives running the welfare-warfare state. Genuine freedom means a dismantling — a removal — a termination — a repeal — an end — to all infringements on liberty.
That necessarily means identifying what the infringements are that are depriving us of our liberty and then consistently making the principled case for removing them. If all we do is end up reforming or improving the infringements, we die as unfree men and women, even if we convince ourselves, falsely, that reform is freedom.
In my opinion, Ronald Reagan was the epitome of a “freedom-leaning” Republican. He was elected president in the first presidential election after I discovered the libertarian philosophy. I think it’s safe to say that no Republican president since Reagan, including Donald Trump, could match Reagan in terms of being “freedom-leaning.”
Reagan had eight years to dismantle the major infringements on our liberty — the welfare state, the warfare state, the drug war, immigration controls, the regulated/managed economy, the national-security state, the empire of military bases, the Federal Reserve, paper money, trade restrictions, travel controls, economic embargoes, and so much more. Eight years! He did not do it. Oh, he “deregulated” some parts of the economy and he was very pro-immigrant and pro-free trade. But in terms of achieving the genuinely free society, he left the system intact. The reason for that is that like other Republicans, Reagan believed in the welfare-warfare state/regulated-society system under which we have all been born and raised. He just wanted to improve it and make it work better with “free-market” ideas and by bringing in other “freedom-leaning” Republicans to help him do it.
Then there was George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump, none of whom matched Reagan on being “freedom-leaning.” Despite conservatives exclaiming before every one of them being elected president that this was the “most important presidential election in our lifetime,” nothing changed fundamentally insofar as genuine freedom is concerned. Some might argue that those Republican presidents contributed to the downward trend toward serfdom that has taken place since the late 1970s, when I discovered libertarianism.
Unfortunately, it will be no different with Trump’s second term in office. That’s because Trump, like other Republicans, believes in the welfare-warfare state/regulated-society way of life. He believes in the system that constitutes the very infringements on our liberty. Like his Republican predecessors, he will maintain and strengthen the welfare-warfare system and the managed/regulated economy system. He will strengthen and reinforce the drug war and even try to “win” it. If he is true to his campaign word, he will expand the ever-growing massive immigration police state along the border, bringing more death, suffering, and destruction of liberty and privacy, not to mention more stealing of private property through eminent domain. Even worse, he might well expand the role of the military in America’s borderlands.
Even more ominous, if Trump follows through with his campaign vow to ferret out and deport the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants living in America, we are likely to witness one of the most ominous violations of civil liberties in our lifetime.
Moreover, the fact that Trump has expressed a desire to surround himself this time with the “right” generals and has also expressed a willingness to employ troops against American citizens does not bode well for civil liberties. Combining Trump’s military mindset with his clear authoritarian proclivities could mean that America is in for some very ominous events with respect to civil liberties and a genuinely free society.
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It goes without saying that Trump is no Ronald Reagan. Reagan was an advocate of free trade while Trump embraces economic protectionism, protective tariffs, trade wars, and economic embargoes and sanctions. Reagan was extremely pro-immigrant even if he wasn’t advocate of open borders. Trump is the exact opposite. At least Reagan exclaimed against the welfare-state philosophy, repeating much of what Barry Goldwater had said. Not so with Trump. He believes ardently in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, farm subsidies, foreign aid, and other welfare-state programs.
Now that the presidential race is finally over, we libertarians need to regroup and refocus. It is our job to lead America to freedom — genuine freedom. That means arriving at a critical mass of people in America who understand fully what genuine freedom entails. To reach that critical mass, we need to continue making the case for freedom, not the case for reform or the case for getting “freedom-leaning” conservatives into power to run the welfare-warfare state/regulated-economy way of life. If we libertarians settle for reform, then we give up on achieving genuine freedom.
We libertarians who want a genuinely free society are a small movement, but all great movements for liberty in history have been led by an infinitesimally small minority of people. Is it possible to achieve a genuinely free society — one where infringements on freedom are removed rather than reformed? You bet it is. It’s not easy. But it’s worth the effort. There are few things better than living in a genuinely free society.
Jacob G. Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation. This commentary was originally published by The Future of Freedom Foundation.