Liberty Blog

Not for a moment did this libertarian believe that the lockdowns or mask mandates would have any effect against the spread COVID 19. And what do you know? I was right. 

Podcaster Tom Woods has hammered on this point for quite some time now. The most damming of all the charts he’s presented are the ones comparing Calilfornia and Florida, two states with similar climates (at least where most of the population resides) but with opposite approaches to slow the virus’s spread. California imposed draconian lockdowns and mask mandates while Florida stayed mostly laissez-faire. The result? No effective difference. In other words, the virus gonna virus. 

So, what did the lockdowns do? They inflicted a cure worse than the disease, with side effects that included massive increases in unemployment, skyrocketing debt, inflation not seen since the Carter administration, further social discord, shortages, increased suicide rates, and more. The mandates normalized a new government breach of individual rights and created an entirely new class of government dependents.

The mandates and accompanying largess to the unemployed did produce one positive. Government's experiment with universal basic income indeed proved that when people get paid not to work, they don't. 

#Lockdown was a trial run.

— Libertarian Party (@LPNational) May 23, 2021

Much to its credit, the national party finally came out and took a stand. It cheekily suggested in a tweet that the lockdowns served as a dress-rehearsal for the dystopia to come. These new oppressions tightened the ratchet of authoritarianism one or two more clicks, extending the power of government just a little further into our lives. 

The tweet also exposes a rift in the party between those of us who believe in the non-aggression principle and those who disavow it. Our “hippies of the right”, as Ayn Rand dubbed them, accuse the national LP of spreading conspiracy theories. However, in the face of the data and historical trends, it reads to me more like a public service announcement warning us of events to come.

After all, “My work here is done,” is a claim no government official has ever uttered. 

Randy Garbin is the current Chair of the Montgomery County Libertarian Party. The opinions and positions stated in this article are his and do not necessarily reflect those of the Montgomery County Libertarian Party or its members.