Matt, here’s what strikes me as the irony. Not only has the Iraq war become increasingly unpopular, but Ron Paul has repeatedly been credited by the MSM for having opposed the war back when we peaceniks were in the minority. If there were ever a time to worry that Ron Paul’s advocacy of peace would hinder “a wider acceptance of the libertarian principles that would promote the general welfare of the American people,” it was maybe four years ago, when most Americans were still favoring the war and we libertarians and other doves were outnumbered. And then it would have only been a short-term concern.
Indeed, the Paul campaign has succeeded like nothing else in recent times that comes to mind in showing people that peace and liberty go together as do statism and war. Ron Paul is getting the credit he deserves and making people wonder, “Why did this man know, back when most Americans didn’t, that this war would be such a disaster — could it have had something to do with his libertarianism?” And there’s Barnett saying, “No, no, no. Libertarianism doesn’t inform us on whether to support or oppose the war. We wouldn’t want to give people the impression that there’s some connection, in principle, between peace and liberty.” If anything is truly hurting the ability of libertarians to increase our ranks it is this muddy picture people have of us. After all, what use is a philosophy against big government if it offers no principled critique of the biggest government failure in the last decade, one that nearly everyone is now sour on? Thank goodness Ron Paul has been so quick to connect our troubles in terms of civil liberty and economic prosperity back to the issue of war. He has done a lot to reverse the damage of the liberventionists, such that now they see it as necessary to respond to him.
Wars are generally popular at first, only to wane in their popularity as the tragedy continues and its advertised goals go unachieved. Not only is opposing war the only sensible thing for anti-statists to do, it is in the long-term the best strategy in showing people the value of our critique.
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