Over at Reason‘s blog, Radley Balko writes about how some people become libertarians:
I’ve long had a theory that most people don’t find libertarianism so much as it happens to them. They find themselves on the receiving end of some sort of government incompetence or abuse, or they know someone who is, and it starts them on the road to a generally more skeptical view of state power.
Steven Hatfill, the government scientist whose life was turned upside down when he became a suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks, is now talking about what happened to him. Hatfill was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing and given a settlement, but only after years of harassment and abuse at the hands of the federal government….
[Hatfill remarks that] “I love my country,” Hatfill, 56, told Lauer. But, he added, “I learned a couple things. The government can do to you whatever they want. They can break the laws, federal laws, as they see fit You can’t turn laws on and off as you deem fit. And the Privacy Act laws were put in place specifically to stop what happened to me. Whether we’re at war or have been attacked, the foundation of society is that you hold to the laws in place. I used to be somebody that trusted the government. Now I really don’t trust anything.”
It’s unfortunate, but understandable, that Hatfill would feel the way he does.
One need not become so skeptical, though: libertarian thinking isn’t merely something that happens to someone, but a view of the world to which one is sometimes delivered. Clear-sighted is not the same as tragic skepticism. One may recognize tragedy and yet be an optimist.
Those who were born in libertarian families (sometimes to return to that view after time away from it), will always welcome those who come into the view, later in life, through hardship and misfortune. Both people who have been mistreated (like Hatfill), and those who return to a family tradition (my case), are often particularly committed and resolute. They didn’t ask to be this way; they just are.
Now, one does not wish hardship on others, as no one hopes for a better world more than we do. Seeing it as it is, though, we welcome others, who have come to our view. Our welcome isn’t compensation; it’s the simple offering of those who can, and will, be your steadfast and understanding friends.