to Libertarians, from the other side of the anti-establishment

I imagine many can relate to this anecdote: I was among a group of women who regularly bought raw milk directly from a small dairy owner. Around 2007 he went out of business. On my last day of pickup, he told me that after voting for George W. a few years prior, he was furious that the subsidies to the large producers meant he now couldn’t compete. He had to sell off his cattle to the large dairies.

What if your more natural allies are now a group that the republican pundits have branded in a way that you would dismiss them: unchaste, anti-war, immigrant-accepting, pot-smoking, new age, or worse…vegan!? Many of them are the anti-establishment left. My ecological scientist friend in DC told me, “My Mormon rural friends are raising goats and making kombucha, and my hippie friends are raising goats and making kombucha.” Charles Eisenstein states, “The trick that the controlling forces of this world have used, is that they again and again divert the righteous anger onto a false target” (Rebel Wisdom, 2020, 1:05).

The populist movement has been divided and conquered. What would it take to reform or overthrow the duopoly. This political machine consumer protection advocate Ralf Nader accurately described as two parties that are no different from each other in the topics of current importance. It is one party of the elite, serving the interests of big business, which includes a war machine that is arguably much bigger than we need. Only the populist right and left joining forces would have the needed critical mass to oppose the duopoly.

You complain about taxes, understandably. Consider the percentage of national budget spent on keeping U.S. troops stationed all over the world, including in nations that pose no threat to us, don’t need our protection, and frankly don’t appreciate the imposition. The Republicans would redirect your attention to so-called welfare queens, without mentioning their spending history that is often as high as Dems.' Isolated statistics can be misleading, so take a detailed look at the promises and tradeoffs of national funding options of the Congressional Budget Office.

Could you be persuaded to reach across the aisle to those who have largely similar ideals but a different culture? They want to live self-sustainably. They want to raise their children to not become materialistic corporate drudges. They want to have a sense of community and a sense of place, where children can be “free range” not helicopter-parented. If they wear unconventional clothing and hair, if they aren’t Christian, if they aren’t as aware of the threats you fear because their media bubbles are different from yours, could you still accept them as political allies? Are you concerned they might taint the views of your children if you were to become friends? Please consider that their core values might be more like yours than the values held by those in crisp dark suits who make their money in inexplicable ways that do not involve getting any dirt under their nails.