Writes Chris Kaiser:

I was describing my political ascent to my brother, from disaffected Republican to independent to Libertarian. It was Ron Paul's answer to Giuliani that provided me the initial red pill. After a great deal of reading from the Mises institute library I went on to minarchism. After further reading--and LRC is the first site I look at each morning--I'm now firmly in the Anarcho-Capitalist camp. In my view, it is the only political philosophy completely consistent with the philosophy of liberty and the non-aggression axiom.

After relating this to my brother, he asked me, "What is the difference between a libertarian and an anarchist?" He then gave me his own answer, "About two years... if you are really paying attention."

UPDATE from Tom Luongo:

Chris is absolutely right. That's about how long it took me, maybe a little quicker, but 2 years sounds about right. I think it stems from a very natural tendency to not want to be thought too radical by those around you. Eventually the weight of the argument is too much and your resistance collapses. At least that's what happened to me.

UPDATE from Scott Perry:

Always nice to see another free mind emerge.

I think it's probably a two year journey no matter where you start. Whether you are a disaffected republican or already a libertarian.

Once you have taken the red pill, and have started reading LRC and mises.org, the journey causes many epiphanies and opens the mind to so much formerly repressed thought.

Like I always say, "LRC: The life it saves could be your own."

UPDATE from Josh Ashley:

I would add to Chris's comments the point that the transition from disaffected republican to anarchist can be accomplished in just a few weeks, if one has the prompting of past experience with federal agents. They seem to have the odd habit of repelling those they "protect."You can't be thanked enough for the site.

UPDATE from David Giessel:

Like Chris, Tom, Scott, etc I found the journey took about two years (an LRC posting of Spooner's "No Treason" sealed the deal).For a friend of mine who spent time in prison as a member of the sovereign citizen movement, a discussion of the Rothbardian view of the nature of the state combined with Spooner and Hoppe's indictment of any system of democracy and secret ballot changed him from a constitutionalist to an anarchist in one sitting. Spooner's systematic dismantling of social contract theory resonates particularly strongly with these people as the sovereign movement is premised on the idea that 1. the state must abide by the Constitution as a legal contract and 2. liberty can be attained with pieces of paper based on this legal contract.

If there are indeed 300,000 people in that movement now, then they are each just a few LRC visits away from anarcho-capitalism. How exciting!

UPDATE from Neil Alexander:

I think it’s probably a two-year journey whether you are a disaffected republican or already a libertarian. I came from being an Objectivist - it took about 5 years.

UPDATE from Peter Collier:

The difference between a libertarian and an anarchist is about 15 hours – 15 hours spent listening to Rothbard’s For A New Liberty.

UPDATE from Geoff:

The journey from libertarianism to anarcho-capitalism can take up to a DECADE if one gets involved with the Libertarian Party. (Or Cato. Or Reason.)

UPDATE from Travis Holte:

Two years for me as well. Lefty >> Ron Paul awakened >> LRC/Mises enlightened.

UPDATE from Bryan Morton:

Libertarian is the stage of human metamorphosis between statist and anarchist.

UPDATE from Greg Wesson:

I must be a little more advanced than some of the other readers. Two years? More like two weeks. I have always been a political atheist, but never had a consistent base from which to argue my beliefs. It was Ron Paul that led me to LRC, which led me to Rothbard's "Anatomy of the State"; from there is was a matter of "that which has been seen cannot be unseen." Keep fighting the good fight and thank you for all you do!

UPDATE from Brian Wilton:

I ended up in the two weeks area, in much the same way Greg Wesson did, with a similar story, too. The funniest part was, just after I started following a half-baked libertarian blog, the blogger posts a link to an article by Lew-with the comment-"This is what we're up against, people."Tip: When smearing LRC, don't provide a link- your readers may never come back.