The Black Lives Matter (BLM) uprising has put law enforcement in the crosshairs and left many libertarians in an ideological bind.
While libertarians generally support criminal justice reform, they do not necessarily support the destruction of private property and the razing of communities. Also, the attacks on historical figures, many of whom were arbiters of liberty and builders of Western Civilization, could also be seen as problematic to libertarians.
Anarcho-capitalist economist Robert Wenzel recently addressed this question in a post on his Target Liberty blog where he argued that libertarians should view BLM as a menace against individual rights and freedom.
“Being black is not the operative problem, being a thug or near-thug and doing crazy shit is the prescription in almost all cases for being plugged by coppers. Thus BLM should more accurately be named Thugs’ Lives Matter,” Wenzel argued.
He made the point that libertarians should not side with marauding criminals just because they oppose state authority.
“To deny that thugs are out on the street, robbing, stealing and looting is just not dealing with reality,” Wenzel said. “The thugs are out there, and to the degree coppers get them off the streets the better.”
“I would prefer a municipal bus system that was completely private and I have no problem with those promoting such, but in the meantime, I am not going to call for the shutting down of the municipal system without a replacement,” he continued.
“Likewise, I am not going to advocate the immediate shutdown of air traffic control systems without a replacement just because it is now run by the government,” Wenzel added. “The idea behind advocating for libertarianism is to introduce a more civil society, not the destruction of society. This is not what the Black Lives Matter movement is about.”
Wenzel posted a video from a BLM activist to show the extreme leftist, anti-capitalist mindset that the group embodies from top to bottom:
BLM Activist: “I support the looting of Dollar tree. I support the looting of Advanced auto parts. I support all that shit… Because blk people could loot every store in this fuckin’ country for 200 years and it would not even come close to what America owes us.” pic.twitter.com/ZoyFwnrMlx
— V. James (@GamerElefent) April 19, 2021
Libertarians supporting BLM terror have suffered nasty consequences, such as the Boogaloo Boi who was killed while attacking a motorist during a riot in Dallas last year. Libertarians for BLM may go down as the most heinously stupid group of useful idiots in political history when the end-game of this dysgenic revolution becomes evident to the masses.
