The release of the Epstein files have only fueled this. The internet is ablaze with anger against the "elites." Is this an opportunity, as some claim, to advance ideas of individual liberty? To convince people of the evils of coercive state action? With such idiots at the top, surely we can fuel mistrust for the system.

I disagree. In Spain we have had plenty of "political corruption." From profiteering off the public purchase of face masks, to creating a job to line a politician's family with public money, even as far as spending money intended for unemployment relief in prostitution and drugs, we have grown accustomed to this abuse of entrusted power for personal gains.

Has the system weakened? To the contrary, it has made it more robust. The current government came in to "clean up" the corruption of the previous one. That meant that people gave them more credibility, not less. Ideologically, Spanish people continue to be overwhelmingly statist. As an example, in the last controversy on the state of the rail network, not a single voice has suggested trying an alternative private system.

This makes absolute sense. In this article I will try and make the point of why political corruption does not really exist and why libertarians would be ill-advised to concentrate on these misbehaviors.

Free Markets
Humans need to transform their environment to pursue their wants. Goods and services do not have intrinsic value and individuals have their own goals. Goods and services only have the value given by those who want them. For example I could produce a painting through much time and effort, but it would be worthless as no one would buy it.

Humans work to produce things. As one cannot produce everything they want, they produce things to exchange for other things. If I grow potatoes, I will grow enough to have some to exchange for shoes, for example. The shoemaker will do the same. This division of labor and free, voluntary exchanges allow far greater production and everyone benefits. With the advent of money, our modern world was built. This was thanks to individuals pursuing their own goals and trying to satisfy their own wants and needs.

On the other hand, government does not participate in any of this. Rather, as it has the monopoly of violence, it intervenes in the peaceful production and exchange economy, expropriating goods and limiting voluntary interactions.

One effect is through prohibition. By banning certain exchanges that it deems unlawful, production is reduced. One recent example is the banning of the production of plastic drinking straws (which have been substituted by far more contaminant and harmful paper ones).