Libertarian Popularity On The Rise
The old joke goes, “How many Libertarians does it take to change a light bulb?” The answer: None. Libertarians try and try, but they can never change anything.
The punch line might need some tweaking, though, according to a recent CNN survey that shows libertarianism gaining popularity, with 63 percent of respondents indicating they think government is doing too much, up from 52 percent just three years ago. This from the NY Times’ Five Thirty Eight blog:
Since 1993, CNN has regularly asked a pair of questions that touch on libertarian views of the economy and society:
Some people think the government is trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses. Others think that government should do more to solve our country’s problems. Which comes closer to your own view?
Some people think the government should promote traditional values in our society. Others think the government should not favor any particular set of values. Which comes closer to your own view?
A libertarian, someone who believes that the government is best when it governs least, would typically choose the first view in the first question and the second view in the second.
In the polls, the responses to both questions had been fairly steady for many years. The economic question has showed little long-term trend, although tolerance for governmental intervention rose following the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The social libertarian viewpoint — that government should not favor any particular set of values — has gained a couple of percentage points since the 1990s but not more than that.
But in CNN’s latest version of the poll, conducted earlier this month, the libertarian response to both questions reached all-time highs. Some 63 percent of respondents said government was doing too much — up from 61 percent in 2010 and 52 percent in 2008 — while 50 percent said government should not favor any particular set of values, up from 44 percent in 2010 and 41 percent in 2008. (It was the first time that answer won a plurality in CNN’s poll.)
Given the explosive growth of government over the last three years – everything from massive stimulus spending and Obamacare to taxpayer-funded bailouts of private industry and government mandates on what school kids can and can’t eat – the results of the CNN survey should come as no real surprise.
Promisingly, the results indicate a welcome shift toward a growing number of people who are embracing liberty and independence; with the accompanying acknowledgment that government’s role should be limited to protecting our freedoms instead of trampling them.
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