In the process, they have convinced themselves and others that they are advancing liberty and libertarianism with their welfare-warfare-state reform proposals.

Unfortunately, however, such is simply not the case. That's because reform is reform, not liberty. 

To achieve a genuinely free society, a two-step process is required: First,  it is necessary to identify what specific government laws, rules, regulations, departments, and agencies constitute an infringement on liberty. Second, it is necessary to remove that infringement. 

If all we do is reform infringements on liberty, liberty has not been achieved. That's because the reform leaves the infringement intact, albeit in a reformed manner. So long as the infringement remains in existence, people cannot be said to be living in a free society.

There is something else that is important to understand about libertarian reform measures: They don't cause people to think in terms of what is necessary to achieve a free society. All that they do is cause people to think about how infringements on liberty can be reformed and improved. 

There is something else that is worth noting about libertarian reform measures: Just because it is libertarians who are proposing the reform measure doesn't necessarily means that the reform measure is libertarian or that it is advancing liberty. An infringement on liberty remains an infringement on liberty even when thousands of libertarians are proposing a reform of an infringement.

How do we decide whether a particular libertarian reform measure is actually libertarian or advancing liberty? We do that by determining whether the reform measure is consistent with the libertarian non-aggression principle, which is the core principle of the libertarian philosophy. If the reform measure that a libertarian is proposing involves the initiation of force or fraud, then it cannot possibly be considered to be a genuine libertarian measure or one that it is advancing liberty. In fact, if the reform measure violates the libertarian non-aggression principle, it actually is an anti-libertarian measure, even if thousands of libertarians are proposing or supporting it.