Wishful thinking

Noahpinion:

Given my history of critiquing libertarianism, it would hardly be surprising if I felt a flash of gleeful schadenfreude to see the dismay with which so many movement libertarians are reacting to the Koch takeover of the Cato Institute. But I don't. I just feel sad. Here are a bunch of smart people who truly, honestly believe in their worldview - a worldview that shares some key elements with my own - discovering for the first time that they are in fact merely a proxy army for people who don't take them or their worldview seriously at all.
. . .

If I were a meaner-spirited type of person, I would say that this realization is too little, too late - that libertarians spent decades being apologists, water-carriers, and useful idiots for authoritarians, and only now that their masters are reeling in the leash do they suddenly want out. But instead I say: Better late than never. You guys made mistakes before, but now you see the truth. First, realize that the conservative puppeteering of the libertarian movement is not an extremely recent phenomenon, but was always present at some level. And then start thinking about what kind of political agenda and rhetorical emphasis will actually promote liberty in America. 

Freed from the conservative yoke, libertarians will have huge potential to do a lot of real good for this fundamentally libertarian country.

What exactly is the capacity of the libertarian "movement" without the Koch-funded institutional infrastructure?

A friend of mine used to say that libertarianism was for people who were used to thinking of themselves as smarter than everyone around them, but weren't actually all that smart themselves.