On March 8, 2017, authors and activists Derrick Broze and Chase Rachels debated the proposition of a call for a “libertarian-right alliance.”

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This is a great discussion. Both of these guys are very knowledgeable and articulate.

I find it very regrettable that so much of the anarchist and libertarian milieus have been sucked into this standard Red/Blue, Left/Right, Alt-Right/Alt-Lite/Antifa/SJW conflict, instead of carving out an independent position that attempts to rise above all of that. Many years ago I noticed for example that most hyphenated anarchists are more interested in the hyphens than the anarchism part (e.g. an-coms are communists first, an-caps are capitalists first, an-nats are nationalists first, an-fems are feminists first) and it seems to be even more that way today that it was in the past. There are exceptions like Black Flag Coalition, but otherwise libertarianism and anarchism just seem to be a microcosm of the conflicts that are present in the wider society.

While I am not an orthodox libertarian or a right-winger per se, I am interested in building a society-wide consensus against the state and in favor of pan-decentralization. My personal position on these questions is and always has been that enemies of the state should form coalitions and alliances around anti-state issues to the degree that these are feasible. This could include grand alliances centered around strategic concepts like pan-secession, general strikes, countereconomics, reformist action, civil disobedience, tax strikes, alternative infrastructure defense militias, and other activities. It could also include coalitions around single-issues (of which there are many). I also think the best standard for determining who should be excluded from tactical alliances and activist coalitions should be the necessity of excluding anyone that is militarily capable of imposing a worse system than the one we have now (i.e. overtly fascist, Islamist or communist groups capable of seizing control of the state). Over the years, I’ve worked with everyone from Alt-Rightists to Communists with varying degrees of success.

For many years I favored a kind of pan-anarchist, pan-libertarian solidarity against the state that was over and above these other things. But that doesn’t seem to be feasible. At present, I tend to more oriented towards expanding the anarchist and libertarian presence in as many different milieus as possible even when these are totally opposed to each other, e.g. more anarchist and libertarian alt-rightists, more anarchos among the SJWs and Antifa, a larger anarchist presence in both far left and far right organizations, more libertarians in mainstream groups, etc.

I don’t know that Derrick’s views and Chase’s views are entirely mutually exclusive. It’s more a case of focus and emphasis. Derrick’s approach would probably be more preferable for anti-statists with generally left-wing or center-left views on cultural questions, and Chase’s approach is probably more appropriate for those with rightward-leaning views.