O fim das ideologias? Não, o princípio dos "Libertarians"

The New End of Ideology? by Murray N. Rothbard

Introdução por Joseph Stromberg: This piece first appeared in the Libertarian Forum, Vol. X, No. 3, March 1977, p. 1. It reflects Rothbard’s lifelong interest in the long march of American political ideologists toward the state-worshipping Center, a process in which Neo-Conservatism was just the latest phase.

Nota: "Liberal" é aqui no sentido "americano" ou seja, esquerda. E "Libertarians" serão os herdeiros do Liberalismo Clássico (e dos saudosos tempos em que os impostos não ultrapassavam os 10%, a moeda era livre, a dívida pública pouco expressiva, os US ainda com um governo federal reduzido) que terminou com a "Grande Guerra".

"(...) And so there is no distinguishable Right and Left anymore, no hard-edged ideology for either side; they now form the right and left wings of the Establishment, differing still, to be sure, on foreign policy and militarism, but really part of one overall, mish-mash consensus.

If the Right and Left are disappearing as ideological forces, what about the liberals, who still dominate academia, the media, and opinion-molding groups? The liberals are, as they have been for a long time, in a state of total intellectual confusion. There have been no new liberal answers for a long time, and more and more liberals realize that their old ideologies have broken down, that they are not working. More and more liberals – as well as members of the public in general – are realizing that the system of statism has been breaking down. But, human nature being what it is, they will not give up their crumbling paradigm until a better one comes along to replace it. They have to see an attractive alternative.

All this provides an unusually favorable opportunity for libertarians. For we are functioning in an intellectual climate where there is no longer any real, determined, militant ideological competition. Ideological decay and confusion are everywhere. But, in this miasma, we libertarians have that alternative; we have a new and intellectually stimulating and fascinating ideological paradigm, and one that explains the collapse of modern statism better than anyone else. We have a new and systematic creed, and we are just about the only ones who still believe in our ideology. In contrast to the Left, Right, and Center, our ideology hasn’t ended; it is just beginning."