Balancing Liberty: Purity vs. Pragmatism

This recent election has stoked the fires of libertarian discourse to new highs. One side of the movement thinks the other is selling out principles for what amounts to be promises that will most assuredly not be kept. The other side believes many libertarians are ideologically possessed, and more concerned with remaining “pure” in their libertarian credentials than in making real life advancements of liberty.

This of course, begs the following question: how DO we advance liberty in society? How do we get to a libertarian society, or at the very least, a society that is closer to that than we are now?

The Path to Freedom: Peaks, Valleys, and Realism

The path to a free society, or even a freer society, isn’t guaranteed to be a straight path. On the contrary, we should probably expect the opposite. There will be peaks and valleys—wins and losses.

Expecting a perfect, rapid rollback of the state, or a revolution that replaces one tyranny without another, reflects a utopian mindset. As Murray Rothbard wrote in For a New Liberty, “The libertarian takes his stand on the concept of self-ownership. Each man is entitled to the ownership of his own body, and therefore to the products of his own labor. This is in contrast to the utopian, who sees society as a malleable entity that must be forcibly shaped to fit a preconceived ideal.”

Interestingly, some libertarians can, at times, sound alarmingly similar to communists. That might seem surprising, but consider this: both ideologies often pin their hopes for the future on the idea of remaking mankind and society to fully adopt their underlying presuppositions about the world.

Now, certainly, we shouldn’t be opposed to convincing as many people as we can of the truth and value of the libertarian philosophy. More libertarians in the world certainly will always help. However, if the only path to a libertarian future is in needing every person to read Anatomy of the State and wake up as full-fledged AnCaps, we are not selling a serious political movement, but rather a utopian fantasy akin to what communists peddle in.

Unlike communism, however, libertarianism offers a framework that respects human nature and voluntary cooperation, which can be implemented incrementally without requiring a wholesale transformation of society.

David Gordon, in his introduction to the second edition of Rothbard’s Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature, reminds us that Rothbard’s vision was rooted in practical action: “Rothbard was no spinner of idle utopian fantasies: he always had in mind what can be done immediately to achieve his libertarian goals.”

Rothbard himself highlighted this tension between ideals and practicality, writing, “To live liberty, to begin the hard but essential strategic struggle of changing the unsatisfactory world of today in the direction of our ideals, we must realize and demonstrate to the world that libertarian theory can be brought sharply to bear upon all of the world’s crucial problems.”

Taken together, these insights reject the temptation to divorce theory from reality. Instead, they call for a disciplined, strategic approach to advancing liberty step by step. By focusing on what can be achieved in the present, libertarians can avoid the pitfalls of ideological isolation and build a movement that genuinely advances liberty in tangible ways.

The Already/Not Yet Kingdom

There is a Christian corollary to this. Scripture and tradition teach that the Kingdom of God is simultaneously present and not fully realized (“already/not yet”). One aspect of this teaching is that the truth of God’s Kingdom and Christ’s reign is preeminently true. Just because the world isn’t fully transformed or in open submission to Christ doesn’t diminish the truth of His reign or Kingdom.

As the Apostle Paul writes, “For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet” (1 Corinthians 15:25). This reign is a present reality, yet its full manifestation awaits Christ’s return. Similarly, the writer of Hebrews reminds us, “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” (Hebrews 13:14). The tension between the present and future Kingdom fuels the Great Commission, urging Christians to act in the present for eternal outcomes.

This tension is what makes the Great Commission so important. We grow the Kingdom by participating in the salvation of those we preach the Gospel to and serve. A secondary purpose is to transform culture and institutions, when possible, to bring them into alignment with God’s ordering of Creation. Abraham Kuyper famously expressed this truth when he declared, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’”

Augustine, in The City of God, provides a complementary perspective, showing how believers can live faithfully within the earthly city while working toward heavenly realities:

“Consequently, so long as it [the church/earth bound body of believers] lives like a captive and a stranger in the earthly city, though it has already received the promise of redemption, and the gift of the Spirit as the earnest of it, it makes no scruple to obey the laws of the earthly city, whereby the things necessary for the maintenance of this mortal life are administered; and thus, as this life is common to both cities, so there is a harmony between them in regard to what belongs to it.”  (Footnote: Augustine’s ideal emphasizes that earthly governments should administer justice according to God’s law, aligning with the mission of reconciling heaven and earth. When governments deviate from this role, enforcing evil, neither scripture nor Augustine’s teachings support such obedience.)

Augustine’s words remind us that we are called to transform the world in alignment with Christ’s Kingdom, and when we fulfil that mandate there is a practical harmony between earthly and heavenly realities. It is actually good to work towards achieving this harmony (thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.) This balance allows believers to live faithfully in the present while working toward the ultimate fulfillment of God’s reign.

Isolation vs. Engagement

Granted, some Christians reject the idea of transforming culture or the world around them. Instead, they isolate themselves from the world, focusing solely on personal piety to maintain their distinctiveness. They might be “above reproach” in a certain sense, but they don’t meaningfully contribute in this life to bringing the world into greater alignment with the Kingdom of Heaven and God’s designed order.

Jesus judges us not only on what we do, but on what we fail to do. In His teaching about the final judgment, He says to the righteous, “What you have done unto the least of these my brothers, you did it unto me.” To the unrighteous, He declares, “What you did not do for the least of these, you did not do for me.” The former receive the blessing of eternal life, while the latter are cast into eternal punishment (Matthew 25:31-46).

This reminds us that our faith must manifest not only in personal holiness but also in meaningful engagement with the world around us. Christians are called to be “salt and light” (Matthew 5:13-16), bringing the love and justice of God to bear on the challenges of this life.

This mindset mirrors the libertarian tendency toward retreatism or purism. Rothbard cautions us that simply being correct does not get us closer to a more libertarian future, as well as to point out the danger in being a libertarian merely for the enjoyment of being an intellectual, disconnected from advancing liberty in one’s own life and society. This excerpt also comes from Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature.

“Incredibly, we have found among the increasing number of libertarians in this country many people who come to a libertarian commitment from one or another extremely narrow and personal points of view. Many are irresistibly attracted to liberty as an intellectual system or as an aesthetic goal; but liberty remains for them a purely intellectual parlor game, totally divorced from what they consider the “real” activities of their daily lives. Others are motivated to remain libertarians solely from their anticipation of their own personal financial profit. Realizing that a free market would provide far greater opportunities for able, independent men to reap entrepreneurial profits, they become and remain libertarians solely to find larger opportunities for business profit. While it is true that opportunities for profit will be far greater and more widespread in a free market and a free society, placing one’s primary emphasis on this motivation for being a libertarian can only be considered grotesque. For in the often tortuous, difficult and gruelling path that must be trod before liberty can be achieved, the libertarian’s opportunities for personal profit will far more often be negative than abundant. The consequence of the narrow and myopic vision of both the gamester and the would-be profitmaker is that neither group has the slightest interest in the work of building a libertarian movement. And yet it is only through building such a movement that liberty may ultimately be achievedIdeas, and especially radical ideas, do not advance in the world in and by themselves, as it were in a vacuum; they can only be advanced by people and, therefore, the development and advancement of such people—and therefore of a ‘movement’—becomes a prime task for the Libertarian who is really serious about advancing his goals.”

Isolation from cultural or political engagement undermines this goal, much like Christian retreatism neglects the calling to be “salt and light” in a fallen world.

Libertarianism’s North Star

Libertarianism must recognize a similar tension. A world that is entirely stateless and governed only by the market is our North Star, alongside principles like self-ownership and the Non-Aggression Principle (NAP). These principles are enduring truths. They are moral and legal norms which are logically consistent; they cannot be refuted. However, we also see that there is important work for libertarians beyond the establishment of these truths.

As Rothbard explained, “To live liberty, to begin the hard but essential strategic struggle of changing the unsatisfactory world of today in the direction of our ideals, we must realize and demonstrate to the world that libertarian theory can be brought sharply to bear upon all of the world’s crucial problems.” This is not idle utopianism but rather a realistic application of timeless truths.

Now, let me borrow a literary style from Paul: does this mean Christians & libertarians are obligated to engage politically (in the political process)? By no means! There is always a division of labor. We certainly need those who focus on theory, who focus on building market based institutions that are counter to the State, and fulfill all sorts of other unique roles. But, just as someone called to be a local pastor shouldn’t undermine those called to international missions, academic libertarians shouldn’t undermine those engaged in the battlefield of politics.

Though we all have different specialization, our varied efforts should be synergistic in advancing towards our shared goals. The Apostle Paul’s exhortation to “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14) provides a parallel to this libertarian journey. Both require patience, perseverance, and a long-term vision.

Conclusion: Living Truths

In both cases, my Christian and libertarian journey, I choose the path of trying to see the truths I believe in become more visible in the world around me.

Whether it’s the Kingdom of God or the principles of liberty, these truths are worth pursuing despite the challenges. The imperfect nature of our progress does not negate the validity of these ideals. Rather, it is a call to engage with the world: to strive for incremental progress while keeping our ultimate vision in mind.

As Rothbard, Kuyper, Augustine and scripture remind us, living out our principles is not a matter of abstract idealism but of practical engagement. By bringing truth into direct confrontation with the world’s challenges, we can demonstrate that our faith and philosophy are not only beautiful ideals but also robust frameworks for addressing real problems. Whether through spiritual transformation, social reform, or political activism – the work we do today reflects the reality of the truths we hold dear and builds a foundation for the world we long to see.

Source: https://libertarianchristians.com/2025/01/01/balancing-liberty-purity-vs-pragmatism/