Blaze a Trail: Be a Libertarian

In our lifetimes – unless you’re a fossil – our news feeds will be inundated with “firsts on the moon.”

When space travel becomes mainstream like air travel did in the 1960s or thereabouts, a flurry of narcissistic elites and rich kids will reach for the moon as the ultimate flex. They’ll also be there to plant their social media flags in barren grey seas ripe for clout farming.

First selfie on the moon. First Coke drunk on the moon. First podcast on the moon. I’m sure a few spicy sites like OnlyFans will notch a lion’s share of adult-oriented firsts, considering American consumers spend more on that than the New York Times and OpenAI combined.

Eventually, the well will run dry of firsts as will our attention for them. First paper aeroplane that flew a distance of… eh, who cares.

Today, activists of the leftist persuasion are falling over themselves to come up with new firsts. They want to re-fight race relations, gay rights, women’s rights, and will even invent new categories and divisions just so they can look good instead of doing good.

Douglas Murray in his book The Madness of Crowds described it thus:

“[Activist] culture [can be likened] to a train that has just pulled near its desired destination, slowing down as it comes to a halt at the station. But suddenly, the train picks up speed again and begins careening recklessly down an unforeseen track.”

In the 1960s and 1970s, one could argue that these movements were necessary. In the eyes of the law at the very least, these injustices no longer exist. So why are well-off young people marching in the streets each weekend instead of, I dunno, getting drunk and making out?

If you really want to blaze a trail these days, you ought to be a libertarian.

Australia had the first “democratic socialist” Prime Minister in the Western world back in 1903, John Watson. Ever the protectionist, he was a staunch believer in worker’s rights and strict enforcement of the White Australia Policy. Someone no one should ever seek to emulate, ever. But hey, he was first!

Because if you’re angling to pioneer some aspect of dunderheaded socialism, you’re shit out of luck. The leaderboards for most people starved, largest number purged, greatest number of generations immiserated… you really need to start gearing up for such goals in infancy, like aiming for admission at Harvard or Oxford university. NYC Comrade Mayor Zohran Mamdani started on his bullshit at just seven years old – and look where he is now!

In Australia, we’ve barely had a libertarian anybody do the first of anything. Our fearless Editor (David Leyonhjelm) was the first libertarian elected to Federal Parliament; David Limbrick the first elected to the Socialist Republic of Victoria; John Ruddick the first elected to New South Wales. On the global stage, we have Javier Milei of Argentina representing the first libertarian head of government – though if you want to keep warm at night, just mention this in a libertarian-leaning subreddit and the ensuing flame war will negate a need for blankets. How many examples is that? Four? How many chic leftie trends are cannibalising themselves right this very minute? Is this Keffiyeh I got for Palestine on eBay still good for Iran? Is Ukraine still a thing?

You should be thinking, can I be the first one to halve the public service? The first Australian to give people school choice? The first Australian to liberalise gun laws?

The great thing is that libertarianism doesn’t follow a whole lot of rules. You just go out and you do it. The damn government won’t clean up the beaches, so local Libertarian Party branches do it for free every other Sunday down in Victoria. Yeah! No permission required! Drive that train to the station!

That’s because we persuade people with the merit in our ideas, not with the threat of violence. Capitalism is great because even the most self-absorbed, selfish prick of a person needs to provide value somehow to gain the most benefit out of it. Of course, we don’t remotely live in that kind of society, when even microcosms of it can expropriate $15 billion from taxpayers and give it to criminals who spend it on strippers. Allegedly. Hell, funnelling money to a coterie of special interests has been done to death! Sooooo 1980s, right?

Just like buying up all the good houses, your parents and grandparents fought for these rights and all but won. It’s all been done and the vast majority of people – unless you’re clamouring for the same attention – won’t notice. These aren’t premieres, they’re repeats.

On the other hand, you could be like the upstart Will Shackel, who founded Nuclear for Australia as a wet behind the ears teenager. No updoots on the left-wing cesspits of InstaTok for him, but he did it anyway. Good for him! He was even on that big phone-looking thing old people have in their living room. It’s called a Tele… something.

So, if you want to make real waves, give liberty a shot. It will uplift your family, friends, and community and better yet – you just might be the first person to do it.