To paraphrase C.S. Lewis' point in "The Screwtape Letters", "libertarianism and" is a substitute for actual libertarianism. If you have to resort to "libertarianism and" then nothing you said before "and" really counted in the first place....

Great post Anand. Lew Rockwell's great crime is that he stays on-point and doesn't get distracted by fads. I think that's what "thickism" is - a fad, just like Occupy and the Tea Party. It will eventually be dropped for the next thing. Lew Rockwell has seen all this before, and intends to keep preaching real liberty, not the "new-and-improved" versions that are always offered.

A movement's greatest threat always seems to come from within - by elements who embrace the term but seek to redefine it until it means the opposite of what it did before. Rockwell is having none of it. That's why I like him.

Thanks. I appreciate the work Lew Rockwell did for the liberty movement and resent some of the attacks that people level against him, simply because he doesn't tout PC messages or says things that are "offensive."

I don't especially subscribe to "thick" libertarianism, as I know the distinction between advocating for something and merely advocating that force shouldn't be used in dealing with it, i.e. the government shouldn't regulate or ban it. However, what I feel the "thick libertarian" wants to do is not only get us to agree with the NAP but also endorse anti-shaming, "tolerance," casual sex, social liberal values, etc..

I believe this is the real goal of some of these left-wing infiltrators: to quell the dissent from the more culturally conservative and Christian of us and to fill it with social and cultural leftists.

Great perspective here and keep up the great work!

Lol - everyone wants to co-opt the term "libertarian" then try their hardest to distance themselves from true "libertarian fundamentals."

It may serve to confuse outsiders, but you won't convert true Rothbardian libertarians. Libertarianism is all about the fundamentals. You really can't be a "practical or pragmatic libertarian." Call yourself something else if you want to distance yourself from the fundamentals.

Anand: Pretty good writing and argument, especially for a young fellow like yourself. I hope you will stick with it. www.freeisbeautiful.net

Thanks very much.