LibertarianToFascistPipeline

Quora Answer : Why do some fascists call themselves libertarians? One is an authoritarian and the other is a small government, aren't they totally opposed?

Jan 22, 2019

"Libertarianism" isn't what people think it is.

Libertarians are often really just people who are aggrieved at paying taxes to the government. And they are attracted to Libertarianism because they are really "propertarians" ie. people who value property above all other civic rights and duties. They think their property rights trump other considerations like justice. And Libertarians are going to stop the government taking it.

These people start to think like this : "democracy is just a mechanism that allows the mob to vote for a socialist government who will then take my money away and give it to them".

Soon, this kind of "libertarian" starts to think that democracy is the true enemy of "freedom". And by "freedom" our hero means freedom from the government taking his money and freedom from it obliging him to be polite to people he doesn't like. If democracy is just a tool for the mob to rob him and suppress his natural inclination to prejudice then what's good about it?

Very soon after that, this "libertarian" is approached by other far-right, would-be fascists who tell him : "we'll protect your property, and we'll never force you to use a pronoun you disagree with again"

And he's sold. He's never really shifted from his propertarian position. He still thinks his property is the most important consideration.

The rest of his idea of "liberty" is just freedom from having to adapt to new social conventions.

Now it's the fascists who seem to be standing more strongly for those principles than anyone else. And he is, effectively, a fascist.

But he still calls himself a "libertarian" ... because in his mind, he hasn't changed, the world has.