The foundation of the philosophy known as Libertarianism is the Non-Aggression Principle — the idea that it is wrong to initiate violence against another person and that physical force against human beings is only justified if you are defending against force or fraud (Larken Rose).
Therefore, the difference between a libertarian and a collectivist lies in an orientation to the NAP.
Russia, as a corporation, has violated NAP; Russians who support the aggression are also aggressors. Ukraine and its citizens are the victims of aggression. We all live in the paradigm of the world of sovereign national states and inside the system of their specific relationships; nobody can come around this nationalistic reality — we have to deal with state-corporations and take into account their properties.
Not so many American libertarians ponder on NAP while criticizing military support to Ukraine. They attack their state for the taxation simply because they do not want their money to be extorted and handed to Ukrainians in the form of weapons. Americans’ money is extorted, inflation destroys the country, and many Americans can not afford a tank of fuel. Praxeology of the state dictates inevitable taxation or extortion under the threat of violence. It seems that it is much better to address the funds to support the victims of aggression than spend this money on aggression in the form of the government, bureaucracy, or another war somewhere in Asia. It turns out that instead of living propaganda of libertarian values such as NAP, libertarians attack the local bureaucracy and its recent decisions about redistribution of government spending.
Often, American and European libertarians and conservatives say that Ukraine, the CIA, and NATO provoked Russia’s aggression with the expansion of NATO and the organization of Maidan. They believe that Russia has its existentially important interest and Ukraine and thus has a right to own other countries and the people of these countries. Moreover, they recognize that Russia’s directives to defensive alliances such as NATO are justified by its imaginary vital geopolitical interests despite the fact that NATO, technically, is not able to give a promise not to expand further or restrict the affiliation of these countries, which are ready to enter. Probably, some libertarians would accept another Molotov-Ribbentrop pact.
The second idea of the opponents to the military support is the presence of Nazis in the Ukrainian army and within the society. Also, they believe that Ukrainians allegedly accept the nazi ideology. Being Nazi is not a NAP violation. Nazi-like symbols, ideology, and parades are observable everywhere, including in the USA. If any, the rise of Ukrainian nazis is the reaction to Russian invasion and annexations, not a cause of Russian aggression. It is unclear why a simple being a nazi without any violence against others deserves the death penalty and the destruction of property of those people who are not nazis. The Ukrainian elections of 2014 have shown us that ideologically close to nazi political movements in Ukraine are supported by around 1.5% of Ukrainians.
Lastly, libertarians like a discussion on the level of corruption in Ukraine and the weakness of the state. They point out the poor freedoms and civil rights in Ukraine. They do not like that Ukraine is not democratic enough since Ukrainians have overthrown their tyrant president Yanukovich and kicked away their police special forces who served the tyrant brutally beating with batons student protesters. They do not explain how mass murder and destruction of cities to the ground are justified by the facts of corruption, and they do not clarify how much more corrupted authoritarian Russia will help Ukraine to improve the situation with corruption and civil rights.
Right now this moment Ukrainians are fighting for libertarian values. In contrast, libertarians and conservatives ruminate about a chance to help them to throw out the enemy, which claims Alaska, part of California, and many European and Asian countries as an inherent part of its “Holy Empire.” Libertarians and conservatives have a chance to reorient their critics of the state. They could use the situation with the war in Ukraine to promote ideas of NAP and other libertarian values derived from NAP, offering humankind new revolutionary concepts of societies.
Rose, Larken. “About Those ‘Libertarians.’” YouTube, uploaded by Larken Rose, 10 June 2022, www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDxmkqGzklc&feature=youtu.be .