Paul Nizinskyj

Donald Trump and the five stages of libertarian grief

If you think Theresa May has made life difficult for ‘right-wing libertarians’ in the UK, spare a thought for the poor schmucks across the pond. I was in Washington DC for a few days either side of the presidential election and the overwhelming impression I got from various think tank wonks I spoke to was one of utter despair.

When ‘liberty’ is branded on your currency and is supposed to be the whole reason your country exists, you expect to be thrown a bone every now and then – even the odd square meal under Reagan. But a contest between a warmongering progressive and protectionist nationalist was always going to be a choice between a rock and a hard place for libertarians.

I found a gaggle of them huddled together at the Union Pub in Massachusetts Avenue the Friday before the election. At that point, they seemed to be in the first of Kübler-Ross’s stages of grief: denial. One staffer from the Cato Institute told me many of his colleagues had simply disengaged from the election altogether. Another from the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) didn’t think much of my theory that Trump could win with the Brexit effect: by appealing to folks who don’t usually vote.

Two weeks on and Will Wilkinson, Vice-President of Policy at the Niskanen Institute, is at stage two: anger. He says: ‘It’s exasperating to see some of my libertarian friends saying ‘let’s just wait and see, it might not be so bad, you can’t retaliate before anyone does something’ but it communicates a lack of worry or alarm at what ought to be objectively alarming. Trump shows every indication of being an authoritarian despot. That alone, for people who profess to care about liberty, should rally you to the barricades.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in