What are America’s Libertarians for?

Donald TrumpDC should have seen it coming. He arrived on May 25th at the Libertarian Party’s national convention in Washington, , hoping to expand his support, but the crowd mostly responded with boos. Attendees lacked enthusiasm for a protectionist who added $8.4trn to . They also spent the weekend squabbling among themselves. After losing presidential races for more than half a century, the Libertarian Party is facing an identity crisis.Libertarians share a baseline belief that the state best serves the people by leaving them alone. Yet for a party that peaked at 3.3% of the popular vote in 2016 it harbours a striking amount of intellectual diversity. Convention attendees could join the Bitcoin Caucus (“Got inflation?”) or the Emo Caucus (“Live Free or Cry”). A pair from the Pro Life Libertarian Caucus wore Make Argentina Great Again hats, a nod to , the country’s libertarian president. One booth advertised a tantalising, if dubious, proposition: “Opting out of income tax. It’s not just for millionaires.”