A Message for the Timid Voluntaryist

To be a voluntaryist sounds like a nice label to associate oneself with, but lets be honest, once your contemporaries grasp that your values oppose the existence of a state, which is an important part to convey, then you may as well have announced yourself as an ancap and have accepted the negative connotations which come along with it from the get go.

Now why would a man who has been studying and agreeing with libertarian principles (this isn't aimed at you Mr Minarchist), wish to publicly declare himself a voluntaryist if he expects that his family and friends may react in a negative way? How your loved ones may respond is of course uncertain, but is it worth the risk? Would some consider you an outcast? The position seems analogous to a homosexual “coming out”, doesn't it?

If you find yourself in this position, the position where you have laboured it enough to know that you adhere to libertarian principles without compromise, but for whatever reason you are reluctant to “out yourself”, so to speak, then I urge you to consider coming out. Now, you may have other objections, for example perhaps you are unconfident in your skills to put forth a cogent argument. Whatever your objections may be, they are all valid. Those objections are your evaluation of the risk, which it is wise to assess, but what of the reward?

The reward can only be anticipated. One must assume that you adhere to libertarian principles because you believe that a libertarian society poses the greatest opportunity of living standards for yourself, your family, your contemporaries and of course for posterity. You may stand proud for holding such a belief but of what value to posterity is an ancestor's beliefs if he did not strive to attain what he believed? And upon considering this question I ask of you what type of ancestor do you wish to be?

Could it be that that this boils down to a simple economic opportunity? We see a risk/reward scenario but it is not currency which may be invested, this opportunity bargains only for your character. As ever, there is no compulsion but this author urges you to contemplate the opportunity and whatever your decision, may your character become enriched as a result of your decision.