I'm a member of the third group, but I wouldn't call myself "former" leftists. I'm still a left-of-center libertarian.

I used to be a pretty hardcore libertarian. It was pretty easy in the 90s and early 2000s. Most of us were anti-war, pro-economic freedom, and "live and let live" socially. To this day, I think the Dobbs abortion decision is perfect. Remove it from the feds, and let the people at the state level have a choice.

I've been completely radicalized by leftists who hate me. They hate any devolution of authority from the central government to the people. They hate any kind of "live and let live" philosophy that isn't screaming praise for every perversion and degeneracy out there. They hate any economic freedom as anti-progressive, dogwhistles for fascism, and killing the planet. Leftists hate free speech and view proponents of free speech as nazis. Ironic. And, shockingly, leftists have somehow become the more bloodthirsty and interventionist party.

So, no. I am not a libertarian any more. I am, more than anything else, an anti-leftist.