Are Libertarians Really Fascists? Not At All.
One of the most frustrating things libertarians deal with is when people, almost always leftists, make the illogical conclusion that since fascists are extreme right wingers, and libertarians are extreme right wingers, therefore libertarians are fascists. Nothing could be further from the truth. Libertarians support individual liberty and think society should treat each human as an individual with inherent rights regardless of their race or religion. So why do libertarians get labeled with the f-word? Blame the outdated left-right political spectrum.
The left-right political spectrum has been used for centuries to describe where people and their ideas fall in relation to each other. That model originated during the French Revolution of the late 1700’s when the aristocracy sat on the right and commoners sat on the left in the chambers of the legislature. The history behind the left-right axis of politics is somewhat reversed compared to now; the right was the old patronage system that favored the nobles while the left supported laissez-faire economic policies that allowed the commoners to engage in commerce. As society evolved with industrialism, left wing politics as we know it today came to represent unionism and socialism while the right wing represented capitalism.
The problem with a single axis to define political beliefs is the existence of multiple political interests in society. Generally, in western society, the biggest concerns are economic rights and civil rights. The traditional left right spectrum mainly represents economic ideologies: communism vs. capitalism. How are civil rights supposed to fit? Conceivably the right to own private property can be seen as a civil right and therefore fits on the economic scale, but what about free speech rights or any number of issues that aren’t necessarily economic in nature? Voting rights, religious freedom and other personal freedoms are classic civil liberties championed by libertarians, yet they don’t fit into the realm of socialism vs capitalism.
Political and social scientists have debated how to categorize these issues for decades using two dimensions. Around 1970, David Nolan, one of the founders of the Libertarian Party, came up with his version of the two-dimensional chart based on economic freedom and personal freedom. More economic freedom is on the right, fewer economic freedom is on the left. In the personal freedom axis, less freedom is at the bottom, more freedom at the top. This two-dimensional chart is more inclusive and representative of people’s political beliefs.
Determining how a person fits in the chart is done by asking questions about various topics regarding personal and economic liberty. Since libertarians support economic and personal freedom, they end up in the quadrant of maximum freedom. The political left restrains economic freedom, the number of personal freedoms allowed would put them in the liberal (more personal freedom) or authoritarian (less personal freedom). Where do the fascists end up? Generally, they would be in the right-authoritarian quadrant.
Using the Nolan Chart gives a clearer understanding of where people’s political sentiments reside in relation to others. If it were more widely used, rather than the simple left-right designations, our political divide could be diffused and possibly encourage a better dialogue between citizens. Unfortunately, our winner-take-all election system has little room for a more inclusive political landscape. You must vote for a Democrat or Republican, and both parties fight for the middle ground where many voters reside.
Inevitably there are criticisms of the Nolan Chart. Some issues like drug legalization and prostitution can be viewed from both economic and personal liberty perspectives. Some issues like gun control, is seen as a personal liberty issue for the right while the left attaches economic components to it (gun manufacturer profits).
Expanding the Nolan Chart into three dimensions could further refine political positions while causing complexity and confusion. Some proposals have been to add a third axis for different subjects that don’t fit cleanly into economic or personal freedom categories. Foreign relations (isolationist vs. interventionist) is one version. Another version of a three-dimensional chart is to designate the actual government structure, from one person to a representative government to no government at all(anarchy).
Libertarians are fundamentally different than fascism. Libertarianism is relatively easy to define: individual freedom in personal and market relations with other people. Fascism is harder to clearly define, there are left wing components and right-wing components, enough to be worthy of an investigation by itself.
Sources:
https://fee.org/articles/political-views-in-three-dimensions/