Libertarians typically are anti-government. Not anti a specific
government, but anti-government per se. They dream of a world in which people
everywhere just can decide for themselves, and small groups can enjoy
total self-rule.
However, just as nihilism advocating happy suicide, a Libertarian
theory that advocates the non existence of governments, will never become
mainstream. For a philosophical idea that advocates the non-existence of
its disciples will constantly eradicate itself. And a political idea
that basically preaches huge power vacuums will always just prepare the
ground for the next power grabber.
I even doubt that most Libertarians are genuinely anti-government.
Rather, I believe that they are anti-government because they have,
erroneously, learned that any government infringes on the personal freedom of
the citizens it rules, and they assume that the more government we have,
the more infringement.
But this would not have to be the case. I can well imagine a strong
government, backed by a strong ideological movement organized as a
political party, which considers granting the people of a country optimal
personal freedom its most essential responsibility.
There are rare occasions of national crisis when a party carried by
such an ideology could sweep a national election. One of its first tasks
would have to be to change the current form of democracy in such a
country into a form by which no longer temporary moods could force a
complete turn of direction.
For once in power, a political party with a program based on
philosophical and biological insight should make sure that it stays in power.
This, of course, requires a leadership that has a vision beyond democratic
formalities. A vision of a society in which the people’s ideas about
the value of life, and the essential values in life, are based on
scientific understanding, and not the teachings of religious lunatics.
