I was going to write a post about why, in this election, the right thing for libertarians to do is vote for Democrats for all federal offices, unless either 1) the Dem candidate is DSA, or 2) the GOP candidate is one of those very rare Republicans who oppose all or most of Trump's awful policies.
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who → go → policies
But libertarian political philosopher Dan Shapiro beat me to it, in an excellent post at the Bleeding Heart Libertarian substack.
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Shapiro → beat → substack
I agree with the vast bulk of what he says.
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he → agree → what
But I have a few additions and caveats that I will append after quoting a few key passages from Dan's post.
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I → have → post
Before getting into detail, I will note that I generally believe in voting for the lesser evil among those candidates with a realistic chance to win.
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I → get → chance
Thus, unlike Dan, I don't usually vote for third party candidates, even in more normal times.
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I → vote → times
If you're opposed to "lesser evil" voting on principle, we have a disagreement that goes far beyond the present election.
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that → oppose → election
But I would urge you to check out my defense of that practice, where I explain why you should even vote for the evil Queen Cersei over the even more evil Sauron, if those are the only available choices.
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those → urge → Sauron
I don't expect this post or Dan's will change the outcome of the election.
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post → expect → election
But they might still be helpful in thinking through big issues we face in the current political moment.
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we → think → moment
Most of my voting life I voted for the Libertarian Party when they advocated classical liberal/libertarian policies.
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they → vote → policies
Now those who care about and prioritize liberty and a free society—however they label themselves—should vote Democratic unless the candidate is a Democratic Socialist….
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candidate → care → Democratic
There's been so much criminality and misdeeds in the Trump administration that it's exhausting to cover it all, but keeping "the land of the free and the home of the brave" means remembering the essentials.
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keeping → be → essentials
I provide links when the points I make are not common knowledge and/or might be controversial.
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I → provide → links
Trump is the only presidential candidate in the US who refused to concede that he lost.
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he → refuse → US
He told a crowd to "fight like hell," and the mob then stormed the Capitol to try to overturn the results.
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mob → tell → results
The House impeached him for "incitement of insurrection," and 57 senators, including seven Republicans, voted to convict—short of the two-thirds required.
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senators → impeach → thirds
After his campaign of lies and deception and pressuring election officials to falsify the results failed to overturn the election, he later pardoned all the perpetrators of the violence.
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he → pressure → violence
Violating the rule of law, shredding due process, torture
ICE: masked secret police who kidnap people and send them to hellholes in El Salvador, where they were subject to constant beatings, sexual abuse, and torture; to the Central African Republic, in the midst of a brutal civil war with severe human rights abuses; to Florida's "Alligator Alcatraz," where large numbers of detainees were held in cages the size of phone booths; and to Fort Bliss, Texas, where guards grabbed detainees' testicles while beating them.
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guards → violate → them
There've been zero consequences for this; indeed, Trump says they are "immune."
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they → say → this
Not only were the deportations done without any notification to families or lawyers, but ICE has disappeared from databases those they seized so lawyers and families can't find them.
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lawyers → do → them
ICE and CBP have rammed people in their cars, dragged the occupants out, and rammed into houses without warrants.
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ICE → ram → warrants
They have murdered, wounded, and assaulted protestors and ICE monitors—Alex Pretti and Renee Good, during the ICE occupation of Minneapolis, being the most publicized—but there have been many others.
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They → murder → Minneapolis
There is now "expedited removal" for anyone undocumented, which means no hearing before a judge.
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which → be → judge
Indeed, Trump fired any immigration judge who disagreed with him or whom he perceived as not being deportation-friendly enough, and replaced the Board of Immigration Appeals, which has denied appeals for almost all deportation orders.
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which → fire → orders
The administration removed TPS (temporary protected status) for immigrants fleeing violence and is deporting them to the very countries the State Department has declared unsafe—e.g., Haiti.
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Department → remove → countries
ICE apprehended immigrant parents after they dropped their kids off at school (see here, here, and here), as well as apprehending children and toddlers and using them as bait (the Liam Conejo Ramos incident)….
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they → apprehend → bait
Violating the ban on using the military for policing
Trump sent Marines to LA, and National Guard troops to Chicago and DC.
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Trump → violate → Chicago
This violates a basic norm since the Founding and violates Posse Comitatus, a statute banning the military from policing.
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This → violate → military
Assaults on free speech and free assembly
Trump and FCC chairman Carr threatened talk shows and networks for dissenting political opinions.
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Trump → threaten → opinions
As mentioned, ICE murdered, assaulted, and wounded protestors and ICE monitors.
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ICE → mention → protestors
The administration targeted people for their political views and for writing op-eds.
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administration → target → eds
Rochester resident David Streever sent a critical email to the director of ICE, and five months later, federal officers tracked his movements and staked out his New York City hotel as he returned from an overseas trip….
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he → send → trip
There is much more, including explanations of why the Democrats (with the notable exception of DSA types) are far less bad than this, despite their considerable flaws.
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Democrats → be → flaws
I myself have written about the evils of the DSA here, explaining why they are comparable to MAGA nationalist Republicans.
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they → write → Republicans
In addition to the harm individual DSA members might cause if elected to office, it is important to reduce their numbers as much as possible, so as to minimize the chances that socialists could take over the Democratic Party, as MAGA nationalists have done with the GOP.
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nationalists → cause → GOP
I have a few additions to Dan's arguments.
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I → have → arguments
First, it is essential consider the enormous scale of Trump's harmful and unjust immigration and trade policies.
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it → consider → policies
Even under normal administrations, immigration restrictions threaten the economic and civil liberties of American citizens (to say nothing of those of immigrants themselves) more than any other federal policy.
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restrictions → threaten → policy
Trump's vast expansion of exclusion and mass deportation has made things a lot worse.
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things → make → exclusion
…and 43 more, not listed.
The Aporia
