When the Libertarian Party Became Useless

Three historical events occurred during the last 20 years which took the wind out of the LP’s sails.
1. The 1986 federal income tax reform, which substituted a flatter rate income tax for the steeply graduated income tax.
2. The 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall and 1991 demise of the Soviet Union, which ended the idea of a centrally-planned economy as an ideal.
3. The 1996 welfare reform, which ended some practices which the average American had perceived as being abuses (generational welfare, raising children on welfare).
These events could be considered good from the standpoint of individual liberty. But nevertheless, they rendered the old, radical LP totally useless.