David is remembered by Shikha Dalmia, Jonathan Rauch, Aaron Ross Powell, Andy Craig, Radley Balko, Tom Palmer, and my intrepid Mercatus Center colleague, Veronique de Rugy. A slice from Vero:
To say that he will be missed is an understatement. I worry where future generations of young libertarians will look for guidance and direction without him. But then I remember that he has trained and influenced so many people who are now walking in David’s footsteps—none more than his beloved staff writers, some of them right here on this screen—that I am hopeful together we can continue what he started.
Tim Miller. A slice:
In what I believe was his last major public address, a speech he delivered in February, David sent a message to his fellow libertarians about resisting the allure of populism:
When you see self-proclaimed ‘freedom advocates’ talking about blood and soil, or helping a would-be autocrat overturn an election, or talking about LGBT equality as ‘degeneracy,’ or saying we shouldn’t care about government racism against black people, or defending the Confederacy and the cause of the South, or joining right-wing culture wars in supporting politicians who want to use the state to fight their enemies, or posting Holocaust jokes and death threats on Twitter, recognize that for what it is. Speak up. Fight back. Tell people: That’s not America and it’s certainly not libertarianism.
Amen to that.
