SUNDER THE SKY

(Spoiler Warning) As our story begins, an adolescent Leonidas faces a wolf that seems to have been conjured from Little Red Riding-Hood's worst nightmares. The size of a small horse, it has fangs reminiscent of dagger-blades, and eyes that glow like twin drops of molten bronze. The boy, our would-be king, stands nearly nude, barefoot in the snow, facing the monster with a makeshift spear. Observing the massive creature circling him, looking for an opening, he lures it into a narrow rift in the rock face behind him, forcing it to face him head-on. Xerxes' messenger arrives at Sparta and warns Leonidas of his emperor's power; "an army so massive it shakes the ground with its march, so vast it drinks the rivers dry." The Spartan king answers Xerxes' demand for submission by kicking his emissary and entourage into a pit so deep we never hear them hit bottom. Later, Leonidas ascends a windswept peak in the night, climbing bare stone hand-over-hand, to peti

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I believe that the philosophical position of libertarianism necessitates the political position of conservatism. In other words, when one is philosophically libertarian, being politically conservative is most in line with those principles. Whether or not a Voluntaryist ought  to be politically engaged is a personal choice and not the issue I'm addressing in this piece. That needs to be established right up front, here. Remaining apolitical is, of course, perfectly consistent with the philosophy of libertarianism. I am only saying that, as a libertarian (and in particular as a Voluntaryist) IF you are going to become politically engaged, the position of Conservatism in regards to the State is the only one that both makes sense for you, and carries sufficient relevance to validate your engagement. To explain,... the terms "liberal" and "conservative," do not mean what they used to, in American politics. To be "politically liberal" used to mean