See also Lew Rockwell And The Strange Death (Or At Least Suspended Animation) Of Paleolibertarianism
I have attended the annual “Liberty Conference” (formerly the “International Students for Liberty Conference”) for years now, and the decline is palpable. At its peak, from 2012-2015, the conference was always covered by Establishment outlets such as
National Review and
Bloomberg (and
VDARE.com!). But by 2017, the non-libertarian coverage of the event discussed one thing only: that
Richard Spencer had showed up, uninvited, and caused a stir [
Libertarians clash with Richard Spencer in DC , by Daniel Chaitin, Washington Examiner, February 18, 2017]. The 2018 gathering just wrapped up, but no one seems to have noticed. The only article I could find outside of libertarian outlets was a puff piece in the Washington Times [
‘Don’t Tread on anyone’--LibertyCon draws young Libertarians , by Jennifer Harper, March 1, 2018]. What happened?
Anecdotally, I can tell you that in the golden years, attendees really felt like they part of a rising tide that would sweep the country in their lifetime. More recently, everyone
feels at best like a
virtuous remnant.
Looking back on past Liberty Cons, two other things jump out.
First: how many of the more prominent speakers from past years have subsequently left the Libertarian world. In 2012, the first year the conference broke 1,000 attendees, the
keynote speaker was
Peter Thiel. Thiel was once one of the most prominent libertarians in the country—but now he is a
prominent Trump supporter [
Peter Thiel Gives Full-Throated Endorsement of Donald Trump, By Dan Primack, Fortune, July 22, 2016]. He can no longer be found at libertarian events, but instead attends more Dissident Right gatherings
such as the 2017 DeploraBall.
The next year,
2013, saw a performance by Dorian Electra, who was at the time something of a Libertarian pop star. These days, she makes music videos about
female genitalia and
drag—and has purged from YouTube all her old videos about Libertarian economics.
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