Despite philosophical differences between the libertarian left and right, libertarians in general became increasingly sympathetic during the late '60's to what the left was saying. The Vietnam War played an important role in radicalizing many libertarians. As hundreds of thousands died in Asia-victims of America's fight to protect "freedom" under the Thieu-Ky regime-the true nature of the American government finally came home.
A final element in the radicalization process was the growing body of right-wing anarchist theory. As professors Murray Rothbard and Leonard Liggio, and younger theorists Roy Childs Jr. and Jarret Wollstein demolished the philosophical and economic justifications for the state, thousands of libertarians recognized further gluts between themselves and the conservatives.
Hence, by August 1969, when Young Americans for Freedom met in St. Louis for their ninth annual convention, libertarian YAFer's were on the verge of revolt. Approximately 300 of the 1200 delegates at the convention were members of a "Libertarian Caucus." From the outset it was apparent to them that the tone of the convention would not be one of libertarianism-of the 12 speakers scheduled, none was libertarian. The Caucus decided to hold a "mini-convention" of its own on the night of the opening ceremonies and invited Karl Hess to speak.
Despite the show of support for Hess's appearance-nearly a quarter of the delegates attended his discussion-the second day of the convention was also uniformly conservative in tone. The Libertarian Caucus quietly made preparations for the third and final day, when votes would be taken for the new board of directors and YAF platform. Among the platform proposals drawn up by the Libertarian Caucus were:
Immediate withdrawal from Vietnam;
Denunciation of domestic fascism as a twin evil to international communism;
Legalization of marijuana;
And active resistance to the draft.
On the final day of the convention, all the libertarian candidates were defeated and every libertarian plank was rejected. As the voting on the final plank-advocating active resistance to the draft-ended, an anarchist grabbed a microphone in the center of the hall. He asserted that it was the right of any person to defend himself or herself from violence, including the violence of the state, and took what was apparently a draft card from his wallet. Then, standing high on a chair, he brought a cigarette lighter to the card and lit it.
The traditionalists were too stunned to do anything but sit silently for ten or fifteen seconds. Then, with a scream of "Kill the commies!" irate conservatives rushed the anarchist dissenter. They were blocked by a group of libertarians, and pushing and swinging broke out. The convention dissolved in an uproar, and the libertarian traditionalist split in YAF became irreparable.
The radicals who seceded from YAF formed two organizations-the Society for Individual Liberty and the Radical Libertarian Alliance. Of the two groups, SIL emerged largest and most influential, taking a more centrist position than RLA. The two organizations formed the basis for most of the events on the libertarian right that have taken place since.
The first and most spectacular event occurred in New York on Columbus Day, 1969. Hundreds of Radical Libertarian Alliance members assembled under a black flag to debate the relative merits of communism and individualism-a large number of the RLA members were, by then, communalists-and whether or not to adopt revolutionary tactics. The fric-
tions between the right and left RLA members were tremendous, and the meeting exploded as the left demanded immediate action. Led by Karl Hess, over fifty leftist members walked out of the conference and staged a sit-in at Fort Dix, in New Jersey. Rothbard, who with Hess had been a founder of RLA, denounced the move on tactical grounds-and very shortly thereafter, RLA fell apart as a national organization.
SIL, in the meantime, was gaining members-it now has over 3000. While remaining purely pro-capitalist in ideology, it became progressively more anarchist-adopting a black flag with a dollar sign as its official flag. A series of SIL-sponsored conferences featuring well-known right-wing libertarian speakers met with success in all parts of the country. SIL was active in organizing national resistance to the census of 1970-in Hawaii, the head of SIL's census resistance organization is currently under indictment for census evasion. SIL has also become heavily involved in tax resistance. In the Boston area, SIL is organizing an anti-tax rally on Boston Common for April 15.
Other organizations, not directly related to either SIL or RLA, have also been active. The California Libertarian Alliance held a "Left-Right Festival of Liberation" last year that featured Paul Goodman, Karl Hess, and former SDS president Carl Oglesby. In Arizona, Student Libertarian Action Movement members started a center for the elderly and established close ties with "street people." The Phoenix Anarchist Coalition in Michigan has harassed and been harassed frequently by police. Perhaps most interesting of all are the "Nomads" and "Troglydytes"-libertarian dropouts who are currently living in the wilderness or underground. Their life-style subject of a recent article in Esquire -represents an unusually pure form of the laissez-faire creed. They have escaped the state by retreating to regions its tentacles do not touch, and have found fulfillment there.
The majority of right-wing anarchists, however, are not dropping out. With increasing activism, they are fighting to destroy institutions of political power.
But whether they succeed or not, one thing is certain-the right wing of Ronald Reagan, William F. Buckley and Richard Nixon won't be the same.