Virtually all Statists vote for president for two reasons: They actually admire their candidate or they hate the other candidate so much that they will tolerate the other individual (the lesser of two evils).
Voting for president, however, isn't as much about the candidate as it is about the power that person wields. Most Statists, as you know, don't even consciously realize this. They don't say to themselves, "I'm choosing my ruler so that they can use the violent monopoly of government to force people into behaving the way I believe people should behave." But that is precisely what they're doing, as obviously barbaric as it is.
This leads to a far more important point. Most Statists today believe in true democracy, despite the fact that it is mob rule, which leads to horrific consequences as most of you understand. Sure, the US government still technically functions as a so-called representative democracy, but culturally (with the two party system) it has become an "us vs. them" election every 4 years and really an “us vs. them” society everyday with establishment media fanning the flames and making boatloads of advertising cash while cozying up to the elite.
But what really are those two sides? We Voluntaryists tend to dismiss the left/right paradigm...and rightly so, for it is mostly one mega ruling class fighting for control to enrich their particular cronies. Philosophical differences, while praised in pretty speeches, are a distant second when it comes to practical use of government force. This is why the "anti-war party" Democrats can so easily nominate a neo-con like Hillary Clinton after their massive “virtue-signaling” support for the faux-dove Obama, who perpetuated Bush’s wars. When you can see through this philosophical facade, you’ll find that party flip-flopping on issues has occurred many times over the decades.
But this "policy migration,” while obvious to the trained eye, is usually carefully sold to the public and stays well within the particular party, regardless of the policy shift. That's what makes this election very different indeed. Watching Republican neo-cons publicly supporting Clinton or vocally opposing Trump is truly bizarre and unprecedented in the modern era. I know libertarians are going nuts seeing support for Trump by their own, but this is the reason why. They see how Trump is most definitely not an establishment candidate. Many people on his “side” hate the guy. That speaks volumes. But what does it mean?
For a time there really was a sincere political fight in this country between collectivist ideals and those of individual sovereignty. Some say it ended with the Constitution itself when it supplanted the Articles of Confederation. But there were many more battles as time went on. Real battles that helped shape what has become the gigantic, violent, collectivist government we have today. But if we’re honest with ourselves, we can clearly see those battles for individualism were mostly lost…at least politically. Individualist ideas about how society should function are, sadly, a thing of the past and considered by most to be an archaic relic of bigoted, selfish thinking.
Sure, many conservatives talk a great game about freedom but in reality, they just want the power of government to enforce their policies, regardless if that means a betrayal of individualist principles. If that means the government grows under their watch, so be it. And, of course, it has grown under Republican leadership…massively. The left/right paradigm has shifted so far towards the left that even hardcore Reaganites concede the man who once said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help,’” almost tripled the national debt during his rule and grew the government considerably. W. Bush, who campaigned on small government ideals and limited overseas involvement ended up massively expanding the power of the federal government and involving the US in the largest quagmire since Vietnam.
It’s fairly obvious that the overall culture of the United States, both democrat and republican, is a collectivist-leftist nightmare and getting more so by the day, even though the ideas of individual liberty are still bandied about…albeit only superficially. You can literally count on one had the number of people in federal government that are truly principled and value individual rights.
The silver-lining is that much of the populace doesn’t vote (about 40%), so there’s no real understanding that I’m aware of that can accurately account for the position of this counter-culture on the collectivist-individualist spectrum. My guess was that it leaned heavily left. But with the populist, anti-establishment uprising of Trump, I’m beginning to think there may be more people sympathetic to the ideas of less government than I thought possible. That those pathetic attempts to sell the public on “American Freedom” over the years by every politician under the sun (while simultaneously stripping it away) might have actually been implanted inside the hearts and minds of a large segment of the population. That’s my hope anyway.
This leads me to why there’s so much support for Trump, even from libertarians and anarchists. His populist support isn’t because of the man. It’s because of what he represents. Regardless of whether or not you think he’s a shill or a plant or controlled opposition, etc. the fact is, he has hit a chord with a huge swath of the public. And as you can see, it’s not just support by the conservative electorate. It’s much broader than that. I believe this support, which I’m sure is as generally misguided as any desire for a politician to rule people, is a true rejection of the cultural left. For better or worse, Trump represents a rebuke of leftist, collectivist, globalist culture…and that is a good thing for Voluntaryists and all freedom loving people.
This does not mean that once Trump is elected, he will act in ways Regan never did and radically change or reduce government. He may not follow through with any of what he promised like reducing taxes, radically overhauling the IRS, stopping government forced immigration or drastically reducing our military empire overseas. He may not do any of those things but it doesn’t matter. What matters is that he is the current (and incredibly unlikely) epicenter of a cultural shift in this country.
And this does not mean if he loses, all will be lost. I still believe the country is too far left not to elect the polished, well-rehearsed Hillary who knows how to manipulate the weak public mind (with massive help from the leftist establishment media). She’ll probably win but the reality is that there is, indeed, a cultural shift occurring. Who knows, maybe a Clinton presidency will speed up the recruitment of individualist-leaning people towards libertarianism. We can’t know for sure what will happen. That’s politics. But those who are banking on Trump really shaking things up in Washington hope that his efforts create a massive shift towards the idea that less government is good. And that’s the whole point. Not to elect Trump but to oppose the ever-increasing leftist agenda.
You might see now after reading this that it doesn’t mean that true libertarians who support Trump believe he is libertarian in any real way. They just hope he does enough to help the cause of freedom as time goes on, and that’s a noble goal…even if they participate in their own enslavement by voting. That’s why so many libertarians hate Gary Johnson. They see the current political climate as a golden opportunity that has been completely wasted on a man who has no ability to galvanize support for the cause like Ron Paul did so they jumped onboard the Trump train.
As for me, I see the cultural shift happening before my eyes (both here and in Europe) and think it will be critical for individual liberty in the future. But I’m not prepared to say I know which ruler will ultimately help our cause the most. What I do know is this is just another battle for freedom in a long line defeats and that the war is far from over as long as those of us who value the individual don’t stop fighting.