Karl Hess was an activist whose views (at the time) represented an unlikely mix of civil libertarianism (uncapitalized, please) and anarcho-capitalism. He is, perhaps, best remembered for an aticle entitled "The Death of Politics", which appeared in the pages of
Playboy in the fall of 1970, amd in which he predicted the eventual downfall of the collection of one-issue and special-interest groups ino which the radicalized, post-1968 Democtatic Party continues to devolve.
https://www.libertarianism.org/artic...death-politics
What we are witnessing in thousands of exchanges of opinion, in dozens of venues like this one, are the death throes of
faux "liberalism". By that term, I don't mean the legitimate concern over the diminishing, but real pockets of racism and xenophobia. I meen the end of the myth, propagated by the mentalty of the New Deal, that honest capitalism and free enterprise are the root cause of economic and social inequalty.
Because, in the words of columnist Josph Sorban, "Conservatives are never accused of "greed" for coveting other peoples' success." We are only vilified for seeking to keep more of what we, and our forebearers, made through our own efforts.
The Libertarian (capitalized, please) Party of the present day traces its origins to several factions which emerged primarily from campuses on both coasts in the wake of the upheavals of the late Sixties and early Seventies -- and were promplty disavowed by the adherents of the nationalism- and religious-based conservatism of that day.
But the principles advocated by that small group took root, and slowly grew to prhaps three percent of the population, and the succesors of that group might have something to say if, for example, the upcoming Senate vote in Georgia, which requires an absolute majoriey via a runoff, ends up deadlocked.
Rest easy, Mr. Hess; we're just getting started.
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