State of the Libertarian Movement

I will break this down into pieces. Additionally, I will include my own observations and suggestions:

Seasteading

Seasteading is progressing faster than any other direct action undertaken by this movement. https://reddit.com/u/Anenome5 has established a company called Ventive Floathouse. This company endeavors to establish the first seastead in Richardson Bay, off the coast of California. It will be a visa haven, appealing to those attempting to bypass America's ornery visa requirements. In the following years after this island has been established, Ventive Floathouse will attempt to build the first seastead in international waters, which will be explicitly anarcho-capitalist. They are currently $450k away from funding the first seastead in Richardson Bay. They are currently testing the design of the island and will not begin accepting funding until testing has been completed. If you or anyone you know would be interested in investing in this project, contact /u/Anenome5 through the website link provided above.

The Seasteading Institute has achieved a Memorandum of Understanding with the French Polynesian government. This Memorandum has been criticized by some within the FP government and the FP public, as seen in this article. Regardless, it appears that the project is moving forward. The plan is to create 12 artificial islands within 1 mile of the FP coastline, funded by investors and an ICO. The project is projected to be completed by 2020, however only time will tell if the Institute will meet that deadline.

In other news, a corporation has officially began marketing artificial islands for the price of 300 million dollars, see here. Their target consumers are the ultra-rich. This suggests that, in the coming decades, seasteading will become an increasingly viable alternative to buying an island.

Suggestions: Support Ventive Floathouse in any way you can. Be the change you want to see. This may be our best shot at establishing an anarcho-capitalist society within the next two decades.

Libertarian Party of the United States of America

In the Presidential Election of 2016, the LPUSA achieved 3.2 percent of the popular vote, a total of 4,042,291 voters. This is a significant improvement over the 2012 election, in which roughly 1 million people voted for the LPUSA. The real challenge will be repeating this success in the next election. Gary Johnson has announced that he will not be running for president in 2020.

The LPUSA has announced its intention to get 2,000 candidates on the ballot for the 2018 elections. Whether or not this will occur remains to be seen.

Despite achieving 3.2 percent of the popular vote, the LPUSA is still struggling to acquire permanent ballot access in all 50 states. The LPUSA currently has ballot access in a majority of states.

In the aftermath of the 2016 National Convention, the LPUSA has been experiencing somewhat of an identity crisis. A fat individual in a speedo danced on stage while the event was broadcast live on CSPAN, significantly tarnishing the reputation of the party. Anarcho-capitalists were widely blamed by moderate libertarians for this incident, despite our outright condemnation of said incident. Libertarians are in the process of deciding whether the party should be radical or moderate in its message and platform. The majority of libertarians wish to see the LPUSA become more moderate, and to abandon such phrases as "Taxation is Theft". There is even a socialist caucus within the Libertarian Party.

In an attempt to preserve the radical libertarian and anarcho-capitalist elements within the LPUSA, the Mises Caucus has been established. Together with the Radical Caucus, these organizations seek to promote radical libertarianism and to elect party officials and political candidates who will represent them.

The Libertarian National Committee is comprised of 8 representatives from 8 regions. Region 1, based in Colorado, is represented by an anarcho-capitalist named Caryn Ann Harlos. I do not know if any of the other committee members are anarcho-capitalists.

in 2014, the former chairman of the Libertarian Party Geoff Neale made history when he was appointed to establish the International Alliance of Libertarian Parties. This is the first attempt by the libertarian parties of the world to coordinate internationally.

Suggestions: Libertarians should seek a moderate platform while maintaining a radical message. Efforts should be made to appeal to a majority of voters while raising the libertarian consciousness of the population to the highest degree possible. Libertarians should focus primarily on running in state and local elections in an attempt to maximize our influence on the American population.

The Free State Project

Thousands of libertarians have moved to New Hampshire in an attempt to influence the politics of the state towards a more libertarian direction. Libertarians have run as republicans and democrats and been successfully elected to office. Statist laws have been repealed and more libertarian laws have been enacted, such as protections for Bitcoin sellers.

Suggestions: Libertarians should move to New Hampshire in greater numbers and run for positions in the local and state governments. Organizations should be established to carry out activism, namely:

the establishment of militias and/or non-profit law enforcement agencies. These organizations should make a habit of patrolling the streets, responding to crimes, and enforcing the law.
the establishment of mutual aid societies and/or anarchist insurance companies
participation in parades, including militia parades
initiate a Voluntary Tax Program to pay for public services, such as volunteer fire departments, libraries, and even welfare
establish organizations in which each member pays a monthly fee, and accept donations. This gives you the power to perform more activism. For example, if your organization raises a million dollars over a few years, you can pay for a small rural town’s budget for a full year, thereby garnering publicity, influence, and the support of the people
informing the public about cryptocurrencies and encouraging/bribing businesses to accept them
distribution of libertarian literature on street corners
dissemination of libertarian propaganda (road banners, signs
planting/hanging as many anarcho-capitalist flags as possible along the highways, in public parks, and on government buildings in the dead of night. (culture jamming)

And more. Which brings me to my next topic:

Activism

Libertarians, especially outside of NH, have engaged in very little activism. This is due to both a lack of organization and a lack of ideas. Meanwhile, non-libertarians have been engaging in activism that might interest radical libertarians. An example of this are the intermittent property tax protests that have swept across parts of rural America.

Suggestions: Libertarians should seek to emulate the Chicago Tax Strike of 1977. Libertarian organizations should hold town hall meetings about issues that concern the public, such as high property taxes, and attempt to radicalize the public toward direct action, such as a protest or tax strike. Once direct action is underway, libertarians should seek to raise the libertarian consciousness of the disgruntled masses. For example, if people are protesting high property taxes, you can attempt to turn their attention (and anger) to the recipients of those taxes, such as the education system. Instead of being angry about just property taxes, you can make them angry at the public schools who receive it (and waste the money). In this manner, you will raise the libertarian consciousness of the protesters. We must always seek to radicalize and raise the libertarian consciousness of the American people.

Which brings me to a classic example of what we are trying to achieve:

Free Brazil Movement

A few years ago, the Atlas Network and a coalition of charitable organizations provided millions of dollars in funding and a number of activist leaders to think tanks in Brazil. The provision of funding and leaders culminated in the establishment of the Free Brazil Movement, led by Kim Kataguiri. With the support of the Atlas Network and affiliated think tanks, they were able to mobilize many tens of thousands of Brazilian citizens to take to the streets and protest against the socialist government.

The Free Brazil Movement organized the demonstrations of 15 March and 12 April in 2015 against the social governmental establishment of Dilma Rousseff and the Workers' Party, and was instrumental in the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff. See article and video here.

In the aftermath of the uprising, thousands of Brazilians have converted to libertarianism. Some of them are English speakers who frequent this subreddit's Discord Server.

Suggestions: Do everything within your power to support the blossoming libertarian movement in Brazil. Learn Portuguese, translate literature to Portuguese, print flyers and posters in their language, and donate to libertarian institutions in Brazil. Libertarianism is now an international movement, and it is time we acted like one. Emulate their success in raising the libertarian consciousness of the masses, to such a degree that thousands of libertarians were born. And above all, let us work together. Americans and Brazilians, hand in hand!

Students for Liberty

SFL has evolved into a decentralized international organization, with chapters ranging from America to Brazil to Europe and Asia. Gone are the days when SFL was a small organization; it is now a massive organization with thousands of members across the world. SFL represents the spearhead of the libertarian student movement, providing a presence on college campuses and aiding in the recruitment of new libertarians.

Suggestions: We must do everything in our power to build the libertarian student movement. If you are on college campus, it is in your best interest to organize with other libertarians and engage in whatever activism and propaganda dissemination you can. We must build a Student Libertarian Action Movement (SLAM) on every college campus that we can.

Free Society Foundation

Roger Ver and a group of wealthy individuals have raised 100 million dollars in an attempt to purchase sovereignty from a host nation. While the odds of this succeeding are slim, this amounts to the largest holding of capital ever accumulated by a group of anarcho-capitalists. This money could easily be spent on seasteading, activism, advertising, and more.

Suggestions: Let this serve as an example for others to follow. When we pool our money together and raise capital, we can accomplish great things.

Crypto-Anarchism and Crypto-currencies

Bitcoin has come a long way in the last few years. The price has soared and it is beginning to see widespread adoption. It has also given birth to a multitude of new crypto-currencies, such as BCH, Litecoin, Monero, Ethereum, Ripple, etc. Gone are the days when bitcoin was a secret treasure of libertarians. It has now been co-opted by the average joe, for better or worse. Some libertarians argue that this transition, combined with increasing state regulations on crypto-currency, has challenged Bitcoin’s revolutionary nature. But with new currencies like Monero offering the promise of anonymity, many libertarians believe the full revolutionary potential of crypto-currencies has yet to be realized.

The NSA revelations of recent years have resulted in the popularization of crypto-graphic tools, such as Signal, TOR, I2P, etc. Mass surveillance has provoked a widespread counter-surveillance movement.

The Silk Road is long gone, but on the horizon is a new innovation- the Open Bazaar. Decentralized, reputation-based, and incorporating the use of 3rd party arbitration, the combination of software like Open Bazaar with anonymizing tools will facilitate the establishment of an anarcho-capitalist marketplace on the internet.

In the last few years, we have seen the innovation of new ways of engaging in market activities and contractual arrangements, from smart contracts to multi-sig. With these developments destined to advance, the future of crypto-anarchism looks promising.

Suggestions: Spread the word about Open Bazaar and cryptographic tools. Warn others about the NSA in the hopes that it will entice others to begin using such tools. Help to develop the latest in cryptographic tools and protocols so that we may ore effectively establish radical libertarianism on the internet.

Agorism and Crypto-Agorism

Despite a large number of libertarians claiming to be Agorists, very few libertarians abide by the founding document of Agorism, the New Libertarian Manifesto. Most libertarians do not engage in Agorist praxis beyond holding cryptocurrency and retreating to rural homesteads to live in isolation. The strategy of Agorism traditionally requires organization on the part of New Libertarians. Instead, libertarians seem to have adopted a new strategy, referred to as Crypto-Agorism. Crypto-Agorism is a merger of the strategy of Agorism with Crypto-Anarchism. In other words, it is the attempt to realize Agorism on the internet, through the use of tools such as Monero and the Open Bazaar.
While Crypto-Agorism blossoms, traditional Agorism appears to be stagnating.

Suggestions: Crypto-Agorism should continue to be pursued. However, libertarians must organize into chapters of the New Libertarian Alliance, participate in counter-economics (beyond the use of cryptographic tools and currencies) and build alternative institutions if we are to truly develop the counter-economy beyond the confines of the internet.

Conclusion

There is more than I could write about, but I will stop there. The next decade will be a turning point for the libertarian movement. Are we prepared to organize, raise capital, build alternative institutions, and ultimately construct a free society? Only time will tell.

Note: The views expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Reddit Foundation for Individual and Economic Freedom.