Gen Y - the Libertarian Generation?

June 16, 5:07 PMDallas Libertarian ExaminerGarry Reed

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A recent Libertarian Party of Texas news release began, "Three highly-regarded national polls have confirmed a growing Libertarian trend in U.S. politics."

The Pew Research Center annual report on political values and trends concluded, "these independents are more likely to be economically conservative and socially tolerant."

In simple lay terms, that defines libertarians.

The Washington Post/ABC poll reported, "87% of Americans are concerned by the growing federal deficit, and 53% were not confident in the government's ability to cut wasteful spending in the President's economic recovery package." 

Which is another way of saying that a majority of Americans take the libertarian view on these issues. 

A Rasmussen Reports poll discovered that "Fifty-nine percent (59%) of politically independent Americans viewed 'big government' as the greatest threat" to the country in the future, as opposed to big business or big labor. 

Again consistent with libertarian philosophy. 

So what does this have to do with Gen Y? 

Consider just one source, an opinion piece in the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel by Jim Burkee, The Liberty-loving Gen-Yers will reshape politics. 

The demographic that voted for Democrats 2-to-1 were young people between 18 and 29, the leading edge of those born between 1980 and 1995, who are now being tagged as Generation Y. 

But Burkee warns the Dems: "While they seem to lean to the left, they're actually more libertarian than liberal, a fact that will reshape the way we think about liberalism and conservatism in decades to come." 

Burkee's assessment of the Y's guys and gals is a daisy-chained litany of libertarian leanings: 

"...the most liberty-loving generation since the era of Andrew Jackson...In short, they love their freedom...more likely to see all politicians as corrupt...support liberalization of drug laws...less likely to support restrictions on immigration...they are also free-traders...supportive of globalization...support proposals to privatize Social Security..." 

And just for good measure... "It's the classical liberalism of Milton Friedman, who argued that political and economic freedom are deeply interrelated - that one cannot exist without the other. They've grown up with that kind of freedom, and as voting adults, they have come to expect it." 

Sounds pretty exciting for the cause of real freedom in the near future, right? 

Unfortunately, Jesse Walker, writing for the libertarian website reasononline, also read the Jim Burkee bit and asks the elder cohort of freedom fomenters, "Sound familiar?" 

Walker then cites (1) a 1986 book brought out by the libertarian Cato Institute describing Baby Boomers as "economically conservative but socially liberal" (there's those libertarianish waffle words again) and (2) a 1995 USA Today print piece claiming that many Gen-Xers reject politics and "lean libertarian." 

So why hasn't the country become an Anarcho-Capitalist Libertarian utopia already? 

While optimism is always preferred, any recipe that calls for baking a future libertarian pie-in-the-sky needs to be taken with that pessimist's favorite ingredient, a pinch of salt. 

Still, the prospect of offering up the just desserts of humble pie to freedom's enemies would be a dish happily served by libertarians, cold or otherwise. 

If the Gen Y-ers really are libertarianesk, let's whet their appetites for more.