Historically, libertarians conceded that their freedom to do as they please ended with the rights of others. Today, the public face of libertarianism is a white guy waving an assault rifle in front of a state building and demanding the “right” to infect people with the virus if it serves his economic interests. The new ethic combines the concepts of rights and power; in other words, the strong (or, at least, the swaggering) have a right to do whatever they can, and if the weak can’t or won’t stand up for themselves, the government shouldn’t intervene in their favor. That, allegedly, is the American way. Where did this come from?
The new libertarians are actually reactionaries, not libertarians. They feel aggrieved by a government that doesn’t accept their vision of an America dominated by white Christian men, and they resent the loss of economic status that has come with the evolution of the knowledge economy. They have responded with ostentatious displays of toxic masculinity directed at women, minorities, and government. Given power, their supposed libertarianism disappears overnight, as they expand government to reward their friends and punish their enemies. That’s what being a reactionary means in America today.