Thread by @davetroy

1/The term 'libertarianism' is often misunderstood. Because its use is increasingly widespread, I'll quickly outline the origins, why it matters today, and how it poses a danger to democracy.

2/Many people understand it as a kind of free-market liberalism: just let people do what they want. But that's too simplistic. Libertarian thought evolved, in part, as a reaction against socialism and communism. As Marxism sought to nationalize industry, assets, and money...

3/industrialists and the wealthy were aghast at this trend. They instead sought to use their power to double down on free-market principles of private property and "sound money" (i.e. gold), allowing them to maintain their power and achieve unbridled, unregulated capitalism.

4/This reactionary trend informed and merged with Fascism in Italy (a merger of industry and the state), Naziism in Germany, Eugenics in the US, and various anti-communist networks in Europe and Asia. It represents a kind of feudalism: an elite that rules over the masses...

5/through their 'enlightened' power over private industry. People at the top were meant to be there; and others with sufficient "hard work" could potentially climb to great heights as well. This was a vision of society rooted in "meritocracy" — even if it was also rigged.

6/The Eugenicist movement merged with this idea of "meritocracy" — that those who had the most wealth were also the most "fit" for reproduction, reflecting a hierarchical, Darwinist view of society. Literally, survival of the fittest.

7/Economists were happy to lend this reactionary movement legitimacy by developing frameworks that would seem to support it. "Austrian School" economics suggested that "individuals" are supremely rational actors that always act based on financial interest. (Narrator: they don't.)

8/Economists such as Menger, Mises, Hayek, Rothbard, Friedman, and Buchanan provided a logical framework. Writers like Ayn Rand fleshed it out with pseudo-philosophical fiction. Whether these frameworks were supported by evidence was of lesser concern than popularising them.

9/The "libertarian party" of recent years is something of a side show; a data-gathering operation meant to inform their primary project of overtaking the GOP, which they have done well. Led by the Koch, Mercer, Bradley, Olin, and other families, the takeover is complete.

10/What we are dealing with now is Eugenicist, fascist libertarianism vs. liberal democracy. Cryptocurrency has replaced gold in the modern libertarian framework; Bitcoin works the same way as gold, allowing hierarchical accumulation of wealth in a "sound money" system.

11/Those who have the most "digital gold" are literally "GMI" ("gonna make it," in modern crypto parlance) while those with insufficient faith are "NGMI" or "not gonna make it." This is a fundamentally neofeudal, hierarchical, fascist and Eugenicist worldview.

12/The common refrain amongst crypto-fundamentalists is that it is "decentralized" and therefore "democratic," but this is a false argument. It conflates the idea of the "demos" (or ruling body) with the "users" of money, and also neglects the coders who build the systems...

13/who have substantial control. What crypto/web3 world really proposes is "anarchocapitalism" and the destruction of the "administrative state" — which is exactly what Steve Bannon has been itching for these last several years. And he's behind this too...

14/In the absence of a democratically governed state, we have either a) nothing, b) rule by capital accumulation and its ability to wield influence. This is neofeudalism and supremacy of capital. There is no state to serve as a bulwark against raw power; just pure Darwinism.

15/This is of course nonsense, as this "meritocracy" provides massive advantage to those already wealthy and to those who helped design this crooked framework. And even if it was somehow valid, Eugenicist/Darwinist frames are deeply unjust and, well, straight up fucking evil.

16/"Web3" is an attempt by capital to manifest new frameworks that place them at the top of this evil hierarchy. It's BS, misanthropic, and needs to be called out. They'll wrap it in "love" and "fairness" as a way to sell it to the working class...

17/Many of whom have been screwed by the failings of current systems. But Mussolini did the same, with his concept of "class collaboration." Don't drink this kool-aid; they're counting on everyone's collective ignorance of history. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_col…

18/You may have noticed that "communism" is back on the scene as a universal bogeyman, and a convenient label to call anyone who's not down with 2020's-style Fascism. This is reviving the same reactionary forces that birthed the Fascist movement in the 1933. Don't fall for it.

19/And let's be really f*cking clear: communism is another authoritarian nonsense framework that has produced some of the most unspeakable evils ever. Marxism is as at least as flawed as the reactions it sparked. Let's abandon these broken frameworks and... evolve.

20/That means rejecting fascism dressed up with hand-waving technology sold to us by New Age tech-bros who want to manifest systems where, surprise, they're on top and the ultimate gurus. It also means rejecting failed ideas such as Marxism. We can evolve the systems we have.

21/How? With democracy and instutions. Are they perfect? Hardly. Can they be made better? Absolutely. Is it a pain in the ass? Yup. Is it our moral duty to do that work? Yes. Are there any shortcuts? No. Anybody who tells you differently is either a liar or a fool.

22/There are people who think this kind of neofeudal, Eugenicist, pseudo-meritocracy is the way forward. All I ask of them is to own their position. If you want to stand with Mussolini and Hitler, that's at least a moral stance. But: own it, so we know where you stand.

23/Those looking to learn more about how all these forces interact may wish to check out my ongoing audio series, "Oil, Gold, Crypto, and Fascism"... more installments coming next week!
soundcloud.com/david-troy-463…

A thought experiment to consider: did fascist or Eugenicist mindset just "go away," or is the tradition carried on today? If so, by whom? If not today's libertarian fundamentalists, then who? All evidence suggests this network carries this worldview today.