Libertarianism Still Doesn't Exist….

…to certain elements of the elite media, despite it being, you know, completely to blame for the Current Crisis.

In a profile of billionaire philanthropist David Koch in its November issue, Conde Nast's Portfolio focuses mostly on Koch's recent spate of more standard philanthropic efforts–arts institutions, universities and the like. (It also spends a lot of time on the dramatic plane crash he survived in 1991, and his so-far winning fight with prostate cancer.)

But it does allude to Koch's longer history of political philanthopy as well. Despite the fact that the two major political/ideological non-profits to which Koch has been a long-time supporter (he serves on the board of both) are the Reason Foundation (parent of this web site and its associated magazine) and the Cato Institute, Portfolio refers to his political views and giving as "conservative" and "right-wing."

Both the Reason Foundation and Cato are, of course, loudly and proudly libertarian, neither right-wing nor conservative.

I suppose in the service of this misidentification, Portfolio also fails to mention a pretty interesting fact about Koch: he was the vice-presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party in 1980, the year the party got its highest-ever vote total.

For more accurate info about Mr. Koch's political views and political philanthropy, consult my book Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement.