My New Dispatch Article on Updating Libertarianism

The state of libertarian thought may seem of little importance to anyone but committed libertarians (some of whom disagreed thoughtfully with Barnett's piece). After all, libertarians are far from being a dominant force in either major political party. The Trump-era GOP has repudiated libertarian ideas it previously had some affinity for, such as promoting free trade and cutting entitlement spending. Democrats are far from libertarian as well. The idea—propounded by some conspiratorially minded people on both left and right—that libertarians secretly dominate American public policy is patently false.

Though I don't agree with most of Barnett's assessment, I do think he's right that libertarianism still needs some updates—just not the ones he proposes. Its traditional core remains valid, even more so than ever in some ways. Nevertheless, libertarianism needs a better theory of the tradeoffs between natural rights and utility; it needs better strategies to address large-scale public goods problems; and it needs to recognize that nationalism is the greatest threat to liberty in most parts of the world today.

The rest of the article outlines the three areas where updates are needed in greater detail. I also explain why I think the core of libertarianism remains sound, and why I differ with Randy Barnett's view that libertarian thought has been "frozen in amber since the 1970s." Libertarian thinkers have, in fact, made important advances since then. But there is room for further progress, particularly (though not exclusively) on the three issues I highlight.