Libertarianism is so hot right now
A national survey of registered voters last month was published on Politico that revealed 78% of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents self-identify as fiscally conservative and socially moderate. The survey, conducted by a limited government grassroots group FreedomWorks, revealed that Republicans are subconsciously embracing pure, free-market views most closely tied to libertarianism.
Click here for the 23-page report
A Perfect Storm
The poll asked Republican voters what they are most interested in: 40 percent said “individual freedom through lower taxes and reducing the size and scope of government,” 27 percent picked “traditional values” and 18 percent chose a “strong national defense.”
Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway, who ran the poll, said she’s seeing a spike in voters who feel the government is too expensive, invasive and expansive.
“The perfect storm is being created between the NSA, the IRS, the implementation of Obamacare and now Syria,” she said. “People are looking at the government more suspiciously. They’re looking with deeper scrutiny and reasonable suspicion.”
The poll surveyed all voters, not just those on the right, and overall 27 percent said they didn’t know enough to offer an opinion of libertarianism. About 40 percent of 18-to-32-year-olds view the word “libertarian” favorably, although about a third don’t know what it means.
Told that libertarians generally believe individuals should be free to do as they like as long as they don’t hurt others and that the government should keep out of people’s day-to-day lives, 58 percent of the full national sample said they agree.
A slight majority, 52 percent, said government should not promote any particular set of values, compared with 40 percent who think government should promote “traditional values.”
Only 17 percent said they think they will personally be better off under Obamacare, including just one-third of Democrats. The survey found 49 percent overall oppose the law.
The poll analyzed the political views of minorities and youth, or “the millennial generation”, revealing how their mindset towards issues of economics and civil liberties are leaning towards a limited government mindset on pivotal issues. Young people reported being cynical and pessimistic about their chances to live a better life than their parents.
With the rise of libertarian stars across the nation and the explosion of interest in producing movies and events, freedom definitely appears to be on the rise. For instance, The Libertarian Republic was born in October of 2012 as a news magazine to educate and inform people about the news from a perspective of economic freedom and personal liberty. Now TLR has grown from 100K viewers a month originally, to 2.3 million viewers a month currently. Something is going on out there. The people are waking up.
A shift in sentiment towards government could provide a boost to people like Senators Rand Paul, Mike Lee and Ted Cruz who have become the new face of the GOP. As more establishment Senators like John McCain and Lindsey Graham (Read: Graham’s libertarian challengers) fade from the spotlight, the Young Guns of the GOP provide a much more libertarian choice to voters.
Paul and Cruz are reportedly both considering runs for the presidency in 2016 and would face a dangerous choice on how to approach their candidacies if they choose to run simultaneously. Limited government coalitions will face a battle with the GOP establishment to be head of the party in 2016 and will need to avoid too much infighting amongst the movement in order to secure the nomination. Social conservatives, war-weary free market neoconservatives and independents should all join with libertarians to take on the GOP establishment one more time. And this time we’ll win.
Are you interested in learning more about libertarianism?
Click here for the “Red Pill List” – A free downloadable PDF resource to learn more about liberty.
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