Putting Away Childish Things

It took me a couple of years to be able to clearly articulate why I abandoned libertarianism as an ideology. Simply put, because it’s an ideology. Strict ideologies do not exist in reality. I don’t care if your chosen ideology is libertarian, anarcho-capitalist, progressive, republican, national socialist, communist, or so on down the line; your favorite book describing the perfect version of that ideology has as much chance of manifesting in reality as does the future looking like your favorite fictional society. If you consider your ideology anything more than possibly a moral framework for how you live YOUR life, you’re going to die disappointed. Or, at some point, you’ll wake up, walk away from your niche internet friend group that follows your chosen ideology like a religion, and you’ll experience in a mild way what it feels like to be a heretic.

Let’s look at the election of “anarcho-capitalist” (ANCAP) Javier Milei in Argentina. Is there anyone, who lives in reality, that believes Argentina will be an ANCAP society in five years? Ten? Twenty? One hundred? If you do, I think you should adjust your meds. Granted, Argentina has been an economic dumpster fire for 100 years, and the time was right for someone who looks like a villain from the Jeremy Brett era of Sherlock Holmes to be elected, but there are many who fly the ANCAP flag who saw Milei’s victory and immediately believed anarcho-capitalism was imminent. Sweeping economic reform may be on the table, but expecting much else is foolish. And if he does succeed in turning Argentina around and its economy booms, is he president for life? Will he groom a successor to continue his work? Will a people who have increased their wealth vote for more of the same? Or, like others that have come before them, will they become fat and complacent?

Even with all that being said, there is nothing keeping like-minded people from gathering in one area, organizing, and seeking to build community. And this applies everywhere. But from the start, people need to understand that no community is going to be perfect, and if you expect everyone to agree on every little point, you will be disappointed. Even if your local experiment manages to make it to the next generation, there is no guarantee everyone’s kids will be on board. You have a better chance in an intentional community of raising children who will share your values, but if they don’t and they seek to organize to change things, what do you do?

I’ve come to believe that strict ideology is the regime in charge’s greatest ally. Those who make the “perfect the enemy of the good” should be avoided. Those people have constructed a perfect society in their minds, and any progress that could be made even slightly in the direction of their perfect society that lies outside their constructed morality is to be decried. Ask me how I know this is how they think. The person who thinks in practical terms, who sees a problem in society and presents a realistic solution to it, is someone to be listened to. May even be one to follow. But those who demand perfection are to be shunned. I am often asked why it is wrong to demand perfection but willing to settle for progress toward it. Because the demand for perfection creates an army of ideologues who become ankle-biters—those who reject your solutions unless they lead to immediate perfection. They distract those with solutions; they annoy them. Most importantly, they tend to be fanatical to the point of discrediting what you are doing in the eyes of those who would be your natural allies.

If you want to live your personal values based on an in-the-box ideology, have at it. If you want to rally with the like-minded, I’ll help you organize. But never expect your ideology to be reality. There are difficulties, and then there are impossibilities. Focusing on the impossible and making it your goal in life to achieve it is a life wasted. And, as I stated earlier, you will die miserable. Too many have and are doing that. I don’t want that for you.