Liberty Fund asked me to participate in an online symposium this month for the one-year anniversary of the death of David Boaz. Contributors were to choose a policy of the Trump administration and write about what David would’ve thought of it. (It’s a good lineup of writers, including ReImagining Liberty guests Andy Craig and Jonathan Blanks.)
My essay came out this morning. It’s on trans rights, a topic I spoke with David a lot about when I’d get together with him in the last couple years of his life. He and I had disagreements, but he’d have hated what Trump is doing. And hated how many in the liberty movement don’t seem to care.
Here’s my closing paragraphs, which I like quite a lot:
David insisted libertarianism was radical liberalism, and that liberalism wasn’t just believing in free market economics. He had nothing but anger for libertarians who happily ignored the majority of liberalism, or happily embraced those who assaulted the majority of liberalism, because they thought it would get them maybe fewer government programs, or maybe lower spending, but at the cost of grave damage to the rest of liberal freedom. In his final weeks, he despaired for the libertarianism project, not just because he was convinced Trump would win and then seek to destroy the rule of law just as he in fact has, but because he saw so many libertarians eagerly calling for Trump’s victory.
There’s a passage in his ultimate speech where David set out a long train of abuses and usurpations, and which I’ve trimmed to highlight those relevant to the topic at hand: “So when you see self-proclaimed freedom advocates … talking about LGBT equality as degeneracy … or joining right-wing culture wars … recognize that for what it is.”
Notice the T. And recognize opposition to its equality for what it is. David would have.