I was recently asked if the Libertarian Party (LP) had improved from its past support of anarchy. At the time, I replied that I had not followed the LP for years, so I couldn’t say.
I have read the most recent LP platform, and I can say with certainty: the LP still supports anarchy. Two specific planks make this clear.
1.5 Crime and Justice
…We assert the common-law right of juries to judge not only the facts but also the justice of the law.
In other words, the LP supports jury nullification. According to the advocates of jury nullification, a jury can acquit an individual because it believes that a law is unjust. This leaves the legality of a particular action in the hands of twelve random citizens; which means, an individual does not know if his action is legal or illegal until the jury renders its verdict. This is complete subjectivism in the field of law.
1.6 Self-Defense
The only legitimate use of force is in defense of individual rights — life, liberty, and justly acquired property — against aggression. This right inheres in the individual, who may agree to be aided by any other individual or group.
It is true that retaliatory force is legitimate, and it is also true that individuals have the right of self-defense. However, to claim that an individual’s self-defense may be “aided by any other individual or group” means that vigilante groups are just as legitimate as the police. It means that, if the police come to exercise a search warrant, my selected group can properly resist the police. It means that the retaliatory use of force is left to the decisions of private individuals, who may or may not act on rational principles.
Both of these planks are anarchistic. Jury nullification renders the law irrelevant. What is legal or illegal is left to the discretion of a jury. Self-defense, as described by the LP platform, also renders the law irrelevant. Self-defense is left to the discretion of the individual. In both instances, the LP claims that individuals should have the freedom to do whatever they want, regardless of the law.
In 1981, Harry Binswanger addressed the incompatibility of freedom and anarchy, including the notion of competing agencies of force. In 1986, Peter Schwartz exposed the subjectivism and anarchism that lie at the heart of the Libertarian movement. There is no need to repeat their arguments here.
What was true in those articles from the 1980s remains true today. The LP still supports anarchy.