Libertarians often fall for the fallacy of alliance. “ We must ally with right-nationalists against the left.” “ We need to appeal to our socially-conscious friends on the left.” 

When is the need for allies so imperative? 

In war. 

In war, you need strength in numbers and group unity to overpower and subjugate your enemies. 

And politics is war by other means. 

That is why politics is the main source of the fallacy of alliance. “ In order to storm the machinery of power, we need a suitably large mob.” 

But what do you think the “allies” in your mob will do once they are standing at the helm of that machinery?  What do you think many libertarians will do when faced with the temptations of such power?  And what compromises of principle will you have made to win such “allies” in the first place? 

The task at hand is not war, but peace: spreading the principles of civilization and natural harmony. 

I seek not to seize the machinery of power, but to scorn and abandon it, and to inspire others by my example to do the same: to see that infernal apparatus fall into disuse and disrepair. 

For such a project, entangling alliances are not an asset, but a liability: a likely fatal diversion from the mighty principles that are liberty’s true source of strength. 

Originally posted as a Facebook status update on April 18, 2017.