Tibor Machan teaches at Chapman University and is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. His book Classical Individualism was published by Routledge in 1998. William Kristol and David Brooks of The Weekly Standard have been especially keen on denigrating the libertarian idea of a government with properly circumscribed powers and scope. Libertarianism provides no basis for patriotism.
Libertarianism provides no basis for a national leader.
The first allegation states that limited government is not sufficiently inspiring to rally the support of its citizens. Even the ordinary operations of government, they observe, require a modicum of respect from the citizenry. And in times of crisis, government must command devotion as well as respect. Now, let it be admitted that, in the heat of debate, libertarians sometimes say things which do not bear close scrutiny. Thus, libertarians have at times made the claim that government is a necessary evil, and, in fact, that theme recurs in the writings of the American Founders.