There is a worrying trend I have read across the Libertarian blogosphere over past weeks. These reactionary pieces are calling for “aggression” against “aggression” or Hoppean-styled “removal” (queue the Augusto Pinochet helicopter memes) of the communist scum. As assuming as these seems on the surface, the Right are becoming angry – very angry. Factions within the movement have drawn stark ideological lines. The reactionary Right (or Alt-Right) are triggering the Libertarian Left, pushing back against the NAP as Antifa acts to implement their political form of resistance with violence. This Political warfare inevitably leads to political violence which can descend into open and bloody warfare. This trend is troubling but unfortunately not unprecedented in our history.
1861 was the year the U.S. Civil War began and I see lots of parallels. Long before shots were fired, Â a country was divided after the results of a contentious election. Â One side did not accept the election results, spinning conspiracies based on fear and uncertainty. There were Protests and political warfare between two ideological views of what America should become. Subversive elements within the government stoking the tensions while playing both sides (the deep state so to speak). All these historical elements have contemporary corollaries to today for something truly terrible to happen. Read 1861: the Civil War Awakening. It is very prescient.
Then there is the rise of the Neo-reactionaries within the Libertarian movement. I am at my core still a Conservative but while I find their arguments compelling on Traditionalist grounds, they all give off an exclusionary, Statist White Supremacy vibe. Just my “feels” but not a condemnation of what they are doing – besides you should always, when possible, embrace and defend your fringes. This is what the Left does so well when they promote the more cultural nihilistic factions of there philosophy. But I encourage Libertarians (Left or Right) to listen to their arguments and where productive engage these folks here and here. It can be uncomfortable to watch and read but you must.  These are views within the movement that must be co-opted or combated but not ostracized.