Cultural Libertarians

Campaigns and Elections Magazine is about as wonky as you get outside of polling data, and aside from it being fairly establishment they do tend to talk about some outside the box ideas. I think I've seen them acknowledge young voters three times in my 2 year subscription I bought. Last month's issue headlined their picture of what looked like a Millennial in a South Park t-shirt, listening to an iPod, and whistling as he walked down the street carrying a copy of The Fountainhead.

The piece looks at what they say is a growing political group that they have lovingly deemed Cultural Libertarians.

I was shocked as a devoted South Park fan who owns an iPod and (only rarely) admits in certain circles that I have read Atlas Shrugged more than once. I was suddenly fearful that perhaps I had indeed mislabeled myself a loyal progressive democrat.

(I would link you to the article but Campaigns and Elections has yet to figure out how to use the internet. Only the existing magazines pieces are available not back issues, and the search function only takes you to a page which amusingly enough reads "search.") While its tempting to write a blog about not letting bad websites happen to you... I'll soldier onward.

".... recognizing that politics is a lagging indicator of American society, which has been moving with broadband-like speed into an era of Do It Yourself culture and not-so-rugged individualism. Think of what Americans have come to expect and insist upon in their social and economic lives: increasingly individualized service, culture and consumer products at every level ("You want soy with that decaf mocha frappuccino?"); more and more control over education, healthcare, and retirement; and a nearly full throttled embrace of lifestyle tolerance and pluralism that was unimaginable in a pre-Netflix, pre-"Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," pre-iPod America."

I put down my half-caf latte and clicked off the iTunes and muted CNN. What could possibly be so bad about a world where everyone has healthcare and a quality education? Holy opportunity, Batman

The piece goes on to name the internet as the culprit for causing a world of "geometrically increased consumer choice[s] and placed a premium on personalization." They claim that the only candidate able to tap into the Internet Generation while "leveraging the traditional American values of decentralization and choice" was Rep. Ron Paul.

Acknowledging his campaign was a complete and total failure what it did succeed in was capturing a solid number of young white men. In California for example Ron Paul was 3rd only to McCain and Romney among 25-29 year olds surpassing Giuliani and Mike Huckabee (who had Chuck Norris you remember).

According to the NYTimes piece on Paul

"If his campaign had taken place in the pre-Internet era, it might have gone the way of his 1988 Libertarian campaign for president, as a footnote to history. But because of the Internet’s low-cost ability to connect grass-roots supporters with one another — in this case, largely iconoclastic white men — Mr. Paul’s once-solo quest has taken on a life of its own. It is evolving from a figment of cyberspace into a traditional campaign, with yard signs, direct mail and old-fashioned rallies, like one here on Saturday attended by a few thousand people under cold, gray skies. Mr. Paul said it was his biggest rally so far. He said it proved his campaign was more than “a few spammers” and called it a “gigantic opportunity” to establish credibility."

C&E goes on to say

"Much of this activity will be explicity libertarian, since the decentralization of control and individual empowerment is so deeply embedded in Internet technology and culture. Observers as varied as the liberal Michael Kinsley (who sighed in Time magazine that libertarians "are going to be an increasingly powerful force in politcs") and the conservative Washington Times (which reluctantly dubbed libertarians the "new 'It' faction" in American politics) agree that such folks are a growing foce to be reckoned with."

A sidebar says the 7 Ways to Win Our Vote (speaking of these new cultural libertarians) are:

1. Legalize online gambling.
2. Make the Internet tax morium permanent.
3. Ban the use of eminent domain for private gain.
4. Bring the troops home, already.
5. Grant amnesty -- er, citizenship -- to illegal immigrants.
6. Let patients smoke dope.
7. Decouple health insurance from employment.

Its freaking me out that I agree with more than half of these. My question is about the extent to which this is reflective of a generation not necessarily a specific sect of political ideology. If you ask GOP registered young people and Democratically registered young people how they feel on these issues, I wonder if they would agree with many or any of them.

The two party system is here to stay (at least for now) but the ideas of 3rd parties seem to be embedded within Millennial culture enough to earn a seat at the table. I don't know if that deserves to have itself be a specific faction but I do think that future politicians should take note that there is a community out there untapped currently because they ignore the 2 party system. Is the internet the link we need or is more required?