Liberalist Movement

Submission 13,383

Part of a series on Sargon of Akkad. [View Related Entries]

About

The Liberalist Movement, also known as the Liberalist Society, is a political movement promoted by various YouTube and Twitch streamers who have publically identified as "classical liberals" as an alternative to both the regressive left and the alt-right.

Online History

On January 9th, 2018, the domain Liberalists.org^[2] was registered, which describes the movement as "a grassroots activist group that promotes the rights of the individual for the protection and empowerment of each person in society."

That day, the /r/Liberalist^[3] subreddit was launched for discussions about the moment. On January 11th, YouTuber Sargon of Akkad held a livestream, in which he outlined the purpose of the liberalist movement (shown below).

On March 11th, Redditor The_M0uth submitted a helicopter ride-themed graphic with the words "anti-Communist action" titled "suggested flag for the Liberalists" to the /r/SargonofAkkad^[1] subreddit.

Criticism

On January 13th, 2018, The Alternative Hypothesis YouTube channel uploaded a video titled "Why the #Liberalist Movement Can't Win," which criticized Sargon of Akkad's political viewpoints (shown below).

Trademark Controversy

On March 13th, 2018, YouTuber Andy Warski held a livestream revealing that he had applied for a trademark on the term "liberalist" in order to upset Carl Benjamin (shown below). During the stream, Warski declared himself the leader of the movement and discussed how some were threatening to sue him on various discussion boards online.

That day, a post titled "Andy Warski is trademarking Liberalist" reached the frontpage of /r/Liberalist, in which users discussed the trademarking controversy.^[4]