The underrepresentation of libertarians in American politics

This Politico article could very well be the first article I've read from a major political news site about the usually overlooked, and rapidly growing, libertarian force in American politics. One would think that the ideology that influenced the Tea Party movement right from its beginning, helped a Republican win in Massachusetts, and will most likely lead to not only more Republican wins in previously Democratic areas, but also a change in the platform of the Republican Party, would receive much more coverage than it does. And yet, defying all logic, it doesn't. Why is that?

Liberals paint libertarians as conservatives. Libertarians are ideologically nowhere near conservatives, but liberals attempt to drive libertarians away from libertarian movements such as the Tea Party by any means they possibly can. According to the liberal media, the Tea Party is a racist, homophobic militia of authoritarians, conspiracy theorists, and brainwashed elitists caught in the past. Now compare that to reality. The Tea Party supports Ron Paul about as much as they support Palin, fight dependence on the federal government (which "closet authoritarians" definitely wouldn't do; after all, economic dependence on the government is a rather consistent characteristic of authoritarian governments), and have a completely libertarian platform:

* Fiscal Responsibility
* Constitutionally Limited Government
* Free Markets

Is the left trying to say that the Constitution is authoritarian or racist? Or do they just consider that platform to be a cover for racist redneck bible-thumpers, perhaps backed by the Illuminati? That conspiracy theory is just projection; just because certain parts of the left play dirty doesn't mean everyone does.

Polls don't count libertarians. Gallup provides three terms in its polls: conservative, moderate, and liberal. Considering the fact that American policy on social issues moves consistently left, does it make sense to say that conservatives are the largest ideological group in the USA, twice as large as liberals? Of course not! Especially if right-wing extremism is as prevalent as the liberals think it is, since that would push the Overton window to the right, and make more conservatives identify as moderates, and more moderates identify as liberals. One possible reason for this, and the one that I think is most probable, is that, when forced to choose between one of those three terms, libertarians will tend to choose "conservative". Almost all of the people I know who call themselves conservatives are libertarians, and almost all of the libertarians I know will identify as conservative.

"Libertarian" is a fringe term. I've heard it said many times that someone who doesn't oppose all taxes, all government regulation of businesses, all public services besides law enforcement and the military, and so on isn't a "true libertarian". Libertarianism is commonly defined as anarcho-capitalism, so libertarians are driven away from the term. I've also heard it said that anyone who supports a policy with "insufficient" philosophical justification, just because it works, isn't a "true libertarian". Again, that's absurd. Libertarianism does not require withdrawal from reality.



Well, that's only one part of the problem. Here's the important part: how do we know they're out there? It doesn't matter how discouraged libertarians would be from identifying as libertarians if there are no libertarians! But their existence is obvious.

The Tea Party is becoming mainstream. A recent poll found that a majority of voters think the Tea Party has a better understanding than Congress does of the issues facing America, and 47% agree more politically with the Tea Party than with Congress. (Let's not forget that Congress is elected, so in theory, people should agree with them at a much higher rate than they do. However, there's a liberal (well, progressive) party and a conservative party, but no notable libertarian party.)

Sales of Atlas Shrugged are high and increasing. Sales hit higher than ever before in 2008 and doubled in 2009. And the more people who buy books that advocate libertarianism, the more libertarians there probably are.

People don't trust big government, and want it to shrink. Almost 80 percent of Americans don't trust the government, and lack of trust in government leads naturally to libertarianism. Both progressivism (D) and neoconservatism (R) require trusting the government to provide services for the poor and enforce a certain social and ethical ideology. (Okay, I'm not sure if welfare is part of the neocon platform, but the point still stands even if it isn't.) And about half of Americans would prefer a smaller government that provides fewer services.

Ron Paul won the 2010 CPAC poll. This should explain itself.



So yes, libertarians are out there; Politico estimates that 14-23% of American voters are libertarians, and that number is probably too low, for the reasons I listed above. I'd guess that their numbers will continue to grow, and, as people who have paid attention to me on Facebook know, I'm pretty damn good at guessing this sort of thing.