libertarians

We might expect libertarians to be against the authoritarian takeover of our country, since their primary concern is, by definition, "freedom"; but in fact there are many who appear to be undisturbed by it, permissive toward it, and even willing to carry water for it, so long as it quashes their mortal enemies on "the left" - often enough as not, a phantom of their own imagining.

What is characteristic about this sort of libertarian is that their "philosophy" - if it is even worthy of the name - is dispositional rather than principled; that is, it arises from an emotional commitment to their own comfort and self-interest, over and above any consideration for the needs of others - except for those whose powers they covet or fear. Such people do not believe, at base, that they owe anything to anyone else; those who are financially comfortable, and a little less hard-hearted, are willing to pay their taxes, but beyond that they balk at appeals to solidarity and mutual obligation, and they are hostile to any worldview that entails that such obligation exists. They seem to think that this makes them independent, but in fact what happens when principles of mutual obligation are swept away is that something else fills the void: the much more ancient logic of raw power: the power to dominate others, absent any ethical considerations. As the right increasingly embraces this worldview, one should expect to see more libertarians gravitate in that direction; because power to execute one's own personal desires is the only power that they respect.