Is Being a Libertarian and Working for the Government Hypocritical?

Hypocrisy is the act of saying one thing while doing the opposite. So, is being a libertarian at a public university hypocritical? The answer is no. Just because one does not believe that government should be involved in some activity does not mean that working for the government is hypocritical. It would be hypocritical if a libertarian urged others not to work for the government and then did but the mere act of being employed by the government is not a hypocritical act for the following reasons:

(1) Everyone is working for the government. You read that right. Everyone works for the government. We all are required to follow government mandates and pay taxes, so while some people are more directly working for the government, everyone works for the government in some fashion.

(2) Corporations are (almost as) every bit as much creatures of the state as are government agencies. After all, they get their charters from the government. The only difference is that they are not completely controlled in their actions by politicians: instead, private companies have limited flexibility to craft independent policies.

(3) There is a difference between advocating for a change in a rule and advocating actual breaking of a rule. I believe that we should eliminate the state income tax (income taxation is notoriously volatile so I want it eliminated on both efficiency and volitility grounds) but I still pay my state income taxes and urge all of my fellow state residents to do the same. This is not hypocritical because I do not believe that we should ever break the rules of a legitimiately formed government, even if I do not agree with the rules in the first place.

(4) I work for a state university but although I might prefer the university were privatized, I am not adverse to the state running a public university system because I do believe that there are significant positive externalities and that it is important to provide opportunities for all concerned. However, even if I worked at a private university, that university would be receiving a cash infusion from the state government. I oppose vehemently the Legislative Tuition Grant to private universities. After all, this only serves as a subsidy for private enterprise, which distorts the pricing mechanism that (still) exists in this country.