Millenial libertarians

Libertarianism is a frustrating ideology. Its positions are close to the right answers, but they don’t quite bridge the gap.

It acknowledges that liberality when it comes to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights, for example, won’t bring the Four Horsemen galloping in, but can’t quite take the next step to see that economic justice is just as vital.

Their ideas trumpet the virtues of the free market and hard work, but you don’t see many near-poverty single mothers juggling two jobs while professing their love for von Mises. Instead, and not coincidentally, libertarianism is believed largely by those who already have the game rigged in their favor — white men.

According to the Public Religion Research Institute, 94 percent of self-identified libertarians are non-Hispanic white, and 68 percent of libertarians are men.
Libertarianism isn’t going away any time soon. A recent poll of Millennials from the Pew Research Institute indicates our cohort is more liberal as a whole — except for those white men.

For example, a majority of Millennials support a “bigger government” with “more services.” The racial divide that so often bedevils American politics, however, raises its head again here. Only 39 percent of white respondents supported more government services, as compared to 71 percent of non-white respondents.

A small majority of white Millennials favor a path to citizenship for immigrants, and 70 percent favor legalization of same-sex marriage. Yet, 14 percent fewer white Millennials than non-white favor government provision of health care. The good news is that Millennials are, on the whole, more diverse than previous generations.

Forty-three percent of those polled are non-white, and Millennials overall are more liberal than their parents on most issues. Still, the libertarian trend among our white peers is worrisome.

It is worrisome because libertarianism lends a false veneer of permissiveness and social tolerance to the same old Republican economic ideas that have destroyed the economic status and social mobility of our generation. Libertarianism allows white people to pat themselves on the back with one hand for being socially progressive while continuing to grind the poor to dust with the other.

So, Millennials, let’s continue to move forward. Let’s not fall into the mental trap of believing that social equality is the only condition for true equality. We need economic justice, too, and an unfettered free market will not provide that.

Millennials will be running the show soon enough. Let’s make sure we do it well.

estahr@indiana.edu