Libertarians have long called for a smaller American footprint overseas, and Austin Padgett is making the argument that Trump’s foreign policy is doing exactly that.
“The way I would generally describe libertarian foreign policy is … it’s not isolationist, but it’s non-interventionist. It’s the idea that, you know, look, we’re happy to trade with people, but if it’s not directly affecting us or really signifying a significant threat to our security, we just don’t need to be involved,” BlazeTV host Nick Freitas says.
“A lot of times libertarians have a debate as if we’re questioning whether we should create a Federal Reserve, rather than having a debate in the context of the fact that we do have a Federal Reserve,” Padgett says.
“We’re not debating in 1913,” he says.
“It’s the same thing for the empire. The empire represents a dependency,” he continues. “It’s a security dependency. Security works like a market like anything else. If the government takes over that service or your government takes over in another government’s region to provide security services, then that creates a legitimate dependency.”
This is why in order to “accomplish actual libertarian goals,” a libertarian would “have to do something along the lines of what Trump is doing.”
And what Trump is doing is “getting our allies to invest in their own militaries.”
“Japan’s building their own military for the first time in forever. We’re getting Europe to fund their defense. We’re neutering Iran so that Israel and Saudi Arabia can manage the region effectively on their own,” Padgett explains.
“And we don’t have to get tied in there because could you imagine if Iran developed missile deterrence, had the clear to finish their nuclear program, and then could you imagine in that context trying to get the U.S. military out of the Middle East? They would have a reason for a permanent balance of power,” he says.
“The real question is, how do you create the conditions that actually allows you to pull back while still maintaining a stability in the region that does facilitate the positive interactions that libertarians want, which is generally trade,” Freitas comments.
“And even if Trump isn’t as libertarian as some people might want him to be, the fact that he’s engaging in reality makes him a better person to have in office to achieve libertarian goals than even the most libertarian person you could ever imagine,” he adds.
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Libertarian, Donald trump, Austin padgett, Foreign policy, Blazetv show
