Welfare state 'screws' millennials, Johnson tells Kimmel (video)

UPDATED! Gary Johnson on Jimmy Kimmel Live: Millennials Are Getting "Screwed" - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Nick Gillespie:

October 20, 2016 - "Immediately after last night's final presidential debate, Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson appeared on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! to discuss a wide range of topics, including debt and deficits, marijuana legalization, foreign policy, and whether the former two-term New Mexico governor plans to run again in 2020 (answer: no).

"Here's Johnson explaining why he's polling well among millenials. It's worth a quick watch, as it lays out the mostly undeclared generational warfare that has been rolled out through most of the 21st century. Younger, relatively poor Americans are being forced to pay for the health care, retirement, and safety of older, wealthier people. The big catch? Those same entitlement programs are unsustainable, so they will be long gone by the time that millennials expect to collect on their 'investments.'"

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2016/10/20/gary-johnson-on-jimmy-kimmel-live-millen
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A millennial explains why she's voting Libertarian

I’m voting for Gary Johnson. My vote is a message of dissent. - Vox - Stephanie Page, as told to Karen Turner:

October 19, 2016 - "As a believer in small government, I’m voting this year for Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate. I’m a 21-year-old first-time voter in the swing state of Ohio, and in this election, my vote represents a protest. It’s a way for me to voice my bone-deep distaste for both candidates, and to send a message to Washington that they can’t expect us to all fall into line when they offer such abysmal choices. They need to do better, and it’s our responsibility to tell them that....

"There's a quote from Charles de Montesquieu that sums up how I feel: 'Unnecessary laws weaken the necessary laws.' I’m scared of gratuitous restrictions that take away our guns, which to me are a symbol of our power as citizens. I don’t want “we the people” to keep handing over our individual rights to a powerful centralized government. While I understand that the individual gun control policies proposed by Democrats do not include literally rounding up firearms from individual homes, I fear that even small gun restrictions will just give way to bigger limitations down the line. I’m scared of a slippery slope to ever-more-infringing laws.

"It’s one big reason I simply can’t vote for Clinton. Her threats to increase gun control, along with the threat of appointing a liberal Supreme Court justice who might reinterpret the Second Amendment, are just too big of a risk to me. And that’s just the beginning. Every new scandal she is involved in, from the State Department emails to her private Wall Street speeches unveiled by WikiLeaks, smacks of the corruption of the powerful. Her desire for secrecy, her 'private position and public position' — all of her actions embody the corruptive, corrosive risk of handing over increased power to our elected officials.

"I really can’t get past Trump’s offensive and impulsive comments.... Early on in this election, I supported Marco Rubio for the conservative ticket; despite my misgivings with some of his social policies.... But now that Trump has taken over, I feel even more distaste for my party’s choices. How could they have let someone with such bigoted and hateful language come to represent small-government, conservative values in our country today?

"I sometimes worry that the Republicans’ more socially conservative, deeply religious stances will further alienate me and voters of my generation. As a gay woman, I was really bothered by the Republicans’ staunch stance against same-sex marriage in the past. I’m also a Christian, but I just don’t see a place for far-right-leaning religious rhetoric in our government policies. These institutions need to stay separate.

"More and more, I see myself aligning with the Libertarian Party. I’m really attracted to their pragmatic, mind-your-own-business-and-stay-out-of-people’s-way philosophy toward governing. I see them as the only political party with real hope for compromise and getting things done in a government afflicted with gridlock.

"I like where Johnson stands on social issues, such as gay rights and guns, while also supporting his responsible fiscal spending and lower tax policy. He seems like a genuinely likable and nice guy, which is important.

"I also really like Johnson’s views on immigration, which are to expand our work visa options and let even more immigrants into the country legally to work, spend, and contribute to our economy. Immigrants are what have always made this country great, and so many of us descend from immigrants, whether generations ago or recently. Trump’s hateful rhetoric about them stealing our jobs is just untrue and unhelpful....

"I understand that Johnson has little to no chance of becoming president, but I need to use my voice to tell our government that we need to change the way things are done. If everyone who thinks like me does the same, using their vote against the current party system, the Libertarian Party will have a chance at becoming the future of conservative political thought in our future. My vote is a message of dissent."

Read more: http://www.vox.com/first-person/2016/10/19/13307630/gary-johnson-millennial-voter
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Where Johnson and Sanders agree (video)

Where Gary Johnson and Bernie Sanders Agree | I Agree To See - Kaitlyn Goodman:

October 14, 2016 - "Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson stars in a new political ad for the campaign to ... tell supporters where he and Senator Bernie Sanders agree.

"Johnson begins by explaining that Clinton has been spending millions on attacking him, because he's gaining momentum among millennials and independents – a group Bernie Sanders did well with during the Democratic primary.

"'They supported him because he opposed the wars they oppose – just as I do. The same wars Hillary Clinton has supported and helped send us in to,' Johnson explains.

"Johnson then goes into other topics including crony capitalism, the war on drugs and individual freedom. However, he does concede that [he] and Sanders disagree on one thing – higher taxes. 'I see the dangers in high taxes and in big government,' he goes on....

"The Hill reported in August that Johnson is beating Donald Trump among millennials in Colorado.... And in [nationwide polls last month, Johnson was second [in] millennial support."

Read more: http://independentpoliticalreport.com/2016/10/clayton-hunt-gary-johnson-supporters-the-pragmatists-that-werent/#comment-1453596
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Why the mainstream media pile-on on Johnson?

In Defense of Gary Johnson - Antiwar.com Original by -- Antiwar.com - Justin Raimondo:

October 3, 2016 - "The Clinton smear machine, having finally noticed that Gary Johnson is cutting into what they regard as Hillary’s rightful share of the so-called 'millennial' vote, has set its sights on the Libertarian Party’s presidential candidate.

"It wasn’t supposed to be this way: the conventional wisdom was that the Libertarian ticket of Johnson and former Massachusetts Governor William Weld would split the traditionally Republican base, providing an outlet for the 'Never Trump' crowd to vent their spleen. This delighted the pro-Clinton 'mainstream' media, which gave both Johnson and Weld more publicity – most of it highly favorable – than any third party ticket in memory....

"This strategy has had consequences that hardly anyone foresaw. While Johnson-Weld went out of their way not to criticize Mrs. Clinton except in the mildest possible terms – saving their venom for Donald Trump, whom Weld likened to Hitler – what everyone overlooked is that Trump was defining the race. One was either for Trump, or against him – and the Libertarians wound up splitting the anti-Trump vote.

 "This was exacerbated by their left-sounding campaign rhetoric.... Add to this Johnson’s notoriety as a marijuana advocate, and the campaign’s targeting of 'millennial' voters, and polls of a four-way contest (including Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate) began to show that Johnson-Weld spelled trouble for Hillary. This was the signal for the Clintonian regiments of the Fourth Estate to go into action.

"It began with an interview on Morning Joe, when Johnson was asked: "What would you do about Aleppo?" His answer was to look baffled for a moment and then ask, 'What is Aleppo?'... once Johnson understood what [Mike] Barnicle was referring to he gave an excellent answer: 'I do think that it’s a mess. I think that the only way that we deal with Syria is to join hands with Russia to diplomatically bring that [to] an end. But ... this is the result of regime change that we end up supporting. And, inevitably, these regime changes have led [to] a less-safe world'....

"None of this matters to the 'mainstream' media, however, which is so determined to elect Clinton that sparking a nuclear conflagration seems to them a small price to pay. They gleefully piled on Johnson’s 'Aleppo moment,' echoing Scarborough’s ridiculous contention that not knowing how 'important' Aleppo is 'disqualifies' him as a credible candidate. The derision was universal, the snark was endless – even Bill Maher and Colbert got into the act — and it didn’t stop there.

"In a subsequent interview with both Johnson and Weld, Chris Matthews asked them all the requisite questions about Trump’s unmitigated evil, and they went along with it, saying all the 'right' things.... Toward the end of the interview with Matthews came what Johnson himself said was another 'Aleppo moment':

"MATTHEWS: I got actually a little lightning round here. This is where we have fun and maybe make some news. Who is your favorite foreign leader?.... Name one foreign leader that you respect and look up to, anybody.... You have got to do this. Anywhere. Any continent.... Name a foreign leader that you respect.
JOHNSON: I guess I`m having an Aleppo moment ...

"The idea that any libertarian could have a 'favorite foreign leader,' a head of state one could 'look up to,' is absurd. There is no such person on earth.... That aside, however, Johnson himself saying he was having another 'Aleppo moment' was enough to invite yet another storm of derision from Hillary’s partisans in the media. Matthews is no dummy: he knew perfectly well what he was doing, and even hinted at what he was up to when he said they might 'make a little news.'

"I’ve been very critical of Johnson, but in this case I have to come out in his defense.... In spite of his many shortcomings as a candidate, he has managed to put on a good showing.... For the most part he’s been relatively principled when it comes to foreign policy....

"Johnson has been falling in the polls a bit, and with the pro-Clinton media pounding away at him his descent may continue. However, the Johnson Effect, to coin a phrase, will likely continue to impact the election in potentially significant ways.... Gary Johnson, in spite of himself – and in spite of the sinister Weld – may wind up stopping Hillary Clinton from taking the White House."

Read more: http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2016/10/02/defense-gary-johnson/
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New British PM assails "libertarian right"

Je suis right-wing libertarian | Coffee House - Paul Nizinskyj, The Spectator:

October 7, 2016 - "On Tuesday night, Conservatives for Liberty, which I co-founded in 2013, hosted our annual Freedom Fizz reception.  Jacob Rees-Mogg and Toby Young joined us, along with 400 party delegates, most of whom identify as right-wing libertarians....

"Twelve hours after we packed up, the Prime Minister effectively declared the lot of us enemies of the party – and the people. The Prime Minister used her keynote speech to attack the ‘ideological templates of the socialist left and the libertarian right’ as enemies of a government which would ‘act on behalf of the people’. Mrs May seemed to be suggesting that people should be just as concerned about entryism from the libertarian right as from the far left.

"It’s not a particularly nice feeling to be told you are unwelcome in a party which you’ve called your home for ten years, but we ought to have seen this coming. My colleagues and I have spent the last three years attacking in the strongest terms Mrs May’s appalling record on civil liberties as Home Secretary, as well as her enthusiasm for state intervention on the economy, but we were willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.... How naive we were.

"What the Prime Minister was attempting to do was cast libertarianism as an ideology alien to traditional ‘pragmatic’ Conservatism. But unlike far-left groups ... what we now call ‘libertarianism’ is woven into the fabric of this nation and of the Conservative party. It is a philosophy whose core principles revolve around the liberties enshrined in the Magna Carta of 1215. It was men who believed those liberties to be sacrosanct who took up arms against the King in 1642, and who bound his successors by the Bill of Rights in 1689.

"It was the free-market Liberals of the nineteenth century whose prudent stewardship of the economy made Britain the richest and most powerful country on Earth. It was right-wing libertarians who provided the intellectual foundations for Margaret Thatcher’s transformation of Britain from ‘the sick man of Europe’ to the fifth largest economy in the world (even if the great lady herself would never be known as anything other than a Conservative). And it was in large part right-wing libertarians like our President, Daniel Hannan, who were behind the Brexit Mrs May so wants to make a success of.

"But more importantly for the PM, research shows most young people are right-wing libertarians without even knowing it. Decades of polling by Ipsos MORI has shown ‘Generation Y’ – those born between 1980 and 2000 – are far more likely than their parents or grandparents to be critical of high taxation and the welfare state, as well as to be more liberal on social issues such as gay marriage and gender equality. A growing number of young people within the Conservative Party do know it, however, and will be a key part of any election campaign."

Read more: http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/10/je-suis-right-wing-libertarian/
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Clinton's crisis: 25% of millennials want Johnson

Dear Democrats: No One Owes You Their Vote - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Elizabeth Nolan Brown:

September 19, 2016 -"In the latest Quinnipiac national poll, just 31 percent of 18- to 34-year-old voters favored Clinton, with 29 percent for Libertarian Gary Johnson.... Another recent poll, this one from New York Times/CBS News, found 26 percent of 18- to 29-year-old respondents saying they would vote for Johnson....

"'A month ago Democrats were amused to see Johnson leading Trump along millennials,' noted Dave Weigel at The Washington Post Monday. 'Now, Johnson's support is being tackled like a crisis.'

"The anti-third-party message has been coming from Clinton herself ... and from new YouTube and TV commercials put out by Clinton SuperPAC Priorities USA. It's coming from Clinton surrogates like Sen. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, speaking on Facebook and at swing-state college campuses; and from pro-establishment voices in the media, such as The New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and Mother Jones executive editor Clara Jeffery.

"On Thursday, Jeffery tweeted the results of a new poll showing high support for third-party candidates among young voters with the comment: 'I have never hated millennials more'....

"Meanwhile, Krugman weighed in today on whether any sane person could vote for Gary Johnson, concluding sure — if they think it makes no difference whether Trump or Clinton gets elected and they agree with every policy position Johnson takes.... In Krugman's column logic, voting for Clinton while opposing much of what she stands for is righteous and normal while voting for Johnson because you support much of what he stands for is absurd unless you also agree with him 100 percent....

"There are many people for whom Clinton's current rhetoric resonates, though. When I was home in Ohio last week, I heard some iteration of it — or its reverse, that voting third-party would tragically throw the election toward Clinton — from all sorts of older relatives and other folks for whom voting either Republican or Democrat is almost always a given....

"But where this shame-based messaging works less well is with the very people that Clinton is courting. Telling people to vote for someone they don't trust or believe in simply to stop someone else they don't believe in from taking power plays right into people's major complaints about Clinton—that she's a sellout for whom power trumps principles; that she'll say anything to get elected; that she's running more on symbolism than substance."

 Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2016/09/19/dear-democrats-no-one-owes-you-votes
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Dems attack as milllennials turn to 3rd parties

Hillary Clinton goes after disenchanted millennials with warning about Donald Trump - CNNPolitics.com - Dan Merica & M.J. Lee:

September 20, 2016 - "Hillary Clinton made a direct appeal Monday to a demographic group that continues to be deeply skeptical of the Democratic nominee: millennials....

"Younger voters overwhelmingly backed President Barack Obama in 2012 -- giving him a 29 point lead over Republican nominee Mitt Romney, according to exit polls. In 2008, Obama easily outpolled Republican John McCain among [millennials] -- 66% to 32%.

"But the enthusiasm that young voters -- including many first-time voters -- showered on Obama, however, has not transferred over to Clinton.

"One obstacle getting in Clinton's way: third party candidates.

"A recent New York Times/CBS News poll found that 36% of voters under 30 plan to support Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson or the Green Party's Jill Stein.

"With just 50 days left until Election Day, the Clinton campaign is relying heavily on popular, big-name Democratic surrogates to help court undecided and unenthusiastic voters.

"Last week, it dispatched Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, [Bernie] Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren to battleground states.

"And Priorities USA, a super PAC backing Clinton, announced last week that they are launching a multimillion-dollar digital campaign to discuss 'how a vote for a third-party candidate is a vote for Donald Trump.'

"Priorities has conducted polling on voters backing Johnson and Stein – research they will use to determine how those individuals can be persuaded to back Clinton, according to Priorities spokesman Justin Barasky.

"The lead that Clinton has enjoyed since the Democratic National Convention in July has largely evaporated, and she is now neck-and-neck with Trump in both national and swing state polls."

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/19/politics/hillary-clinton-millennials/index.html
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Britain's rising libertarian generation

Rise of the New Libertarians: Meet Britain's Next Political Generation - Shane Croucher, International Business Times:

October 10, 2014 -  "In the ruins of Westminster party politics, between the crumbling pillars of broken promises and the shattered glass of optimism, you'll find Britain's young people building something new.

"They don't need or want the British state and its creaking machinery. Like feats of Victorian engineering, these tired institutions are impressive, interesting, and have their place in history. But they're not practical anymore, these dusty relics from the Age of Statism.

"This is Generation Y. The under 30s who are the most liberal generation in British history, not just on social issues such as decriminalising marijuana and gay marriage, but on economic ones too....

"Adolescents of austerity, who understand they can't rely, as their parents and grandparents did, on the one-size-fits-all state as a provider. This generation knows what it wants: the grand prize of individual liberty and personal responsibility....

"Young libertarians are also looking to Ukip's newest hero, the Tory turncoat Douglas Carswell. A free market-loving, privatisation-touting, tax-cutting libertarian rascal, Carswell just won a by-election in Clacton - increasing his majority - after his defection from the Conservatives to become to become Ukip's first elected MP....

"Generation Y marks a noticeable shift in opinion when compared to other generations. They're not that proud of the welfare state. They're less trusting of the traditional big public institutions. They're much more socially liberal, cosmopolitan, and internationalist.

"They believe more in markets, lower tax and less regulation. They want to make their own decisions, not have the state – an overbearing parent, of sorts – make them on their behalf....

"Years of austerity and public spending cuts have changed Generation Y, but not in the way some expected. Rather than fuelling anger among young people that the state is being chipped away, many are absorbing the message of individualism, of DIY solutions to personal, community and societal problems.

"They simply don't need the state anymore. You're more likely to find them working in social enterprises and charities than in the hallowed Westminster halls of Whitehall."

Read more: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/rise-new-libertarians-meet-britains-next-political-generation-1469233
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The rise of the Hispanic millennial libertarian

The Surprising Rise of the Hispanic Millennial Libertarian - Rachel Burger - TownHall.com:

September 8, 12014 -"Libertarianism isn’t confined to caucasians anymore. The Pew Research Center recently released a study on who in America describes themselves as libertarian while being able to accurately identify what the label actually means. Of the total demographic, 12 percent of respondents who identified as libertarian were white, unsurprisingly the largest demographic population. However, Hispanics self-identified as libertarian at almost the same rate, 11 percent. By comparison, only three percent of blacks fell into the same category (other demographics were not included in the final results). Libertarians also tend to be young; Millennials are the largest group of libertarians, with the Silent Generation making up the smallest...."

"While Latinos are more likely to support big government, it is important to bear in mind that these Hispanics tend to be older, first-generation immigrants. Since immigration from Mexico has all but reversed due to America’s poor economy, most of the Hispanic population growth in the US comes from second- and third-wave Hispanic Americans. In other words, Millennial Hispanics, unlike their parents, grew up as native-born Americans.

"This population is huge; fully 65 percent of American Hispanics are between the ages of 22 to 35, and they’re filtering into common traits found in libertarianism. For example, they graduate college at higher rates than any other demographic group, including whites. Additionally, Pew Research shows that younger Hispanics don’t particularly care for the 'Hispanic' or 'Latino/a' label....

""Hispanic Millennial support for Obama dropped nine percent between 2013 and 2014. Their trust in bigger government is dwindling.... The disappointment with Obama’s presidency runs even deeper, pushing Hispanic Americans away from mainstream political camps....

"Libertarianism also appeals to issues that matter deeply to Hispanic Millennials and young people in general: a greater emphasis on civil liberties. Hispanic Millennials overwhelmingly support gay marriage. They want to legalize marijuana. And of course, they show greater support for relaxing laws on unauthorized immigration, a libertarian cornerstone."

Read more: http://townhall.com/columnists/rachelburger/2014/09/08/the-surprising-rise-of-the-hispanic-millennial-libertarian-n1887818/page/full
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What 'libertarian moment' critics are missing

What 'libertarian moment' scoffers and critics get wrong - The Week - Shikha Dalmia:

August 18, 2014 - "In this time of political polarization, it's rare to find a moment of comity. But that's exactly what we've found in the wake of Robert Draper's recent New York Times Magazine feature suggesting that the 'libertarian moment' might have finally arrived in America.

"Not only did both liberals and conservatives dismiss the claim, they did so for similar reasons: Young Americans care more about their personal freedom than their elders but less about economic freedom.... Their main evidence — confirmed in a Reason-Rupe poll conducted by my colleague, Emily Ekins that Draper prominently cites — is that Millennials want government to offer, among other things, guaranteed health care (69 percent) and college education (54 percent), a higher federal minimum wage (71 percent), and higher taxes on the wealthy (66 percent).

"Worse, Ekins found that 54 percent of Millennials support a 'larger government providing more services,' far more than older Americans....

"But ... the strong support that Millennials express for 'large government and more services' drops 19 percentage points — back to the natural average of Americans as a whole — when the phrase 'with higher taxes' is added to the question....

"One reason why Millennials are less bothered by such economic interventionism than their elders is that they are less affected by it. The rise of the internet economy has offered them an escape from stultifying regulations and onerous taxes that govern traditional brick-and-mortar industries....

"But this happy arrangement where they stay out of government's way and the government stays out of theirs can't last forever. The crushing debt of the massive entitlement state will inevitably cause Uncle Sam and states to try to tax the internet, especially as the revenues from Main Street businesses decline. Likewise, city governments won't simply sit by and let internet services render their meticulously created regulatory structures obsolete....

"Millennial quiescence on economic interventionism is therefore deceptive. When they feel the government's heavy hand closing in, they'll slap it away, just as they are doing now with their pot plants and doobies. Pot legalization might just be a harbinger of things to come on the economic front."

Read more: http://theweek.com/article/index/266476/what-libertarian-moment-scoffers-and-critics-get-wrong
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Harvard survey finds youth moving in libertarian direction

Harvard survey reveals libertarian streak among youth | TheHill - Casey Given:

May 15, 2014 - "Last week, Harvard University's Institute of Politics released its 25th “Survey of Young Americans Attitudes toward Politics and Public Service,” providing valuable insight into the political mindset of the millennial generation. Conducted biannually since 2000, the poll traces 18- to 29-year olds’ dispositions on various hot-button issues of the day, with a sample size of 3,000 in the fall and 2,000 in the spring. While no survey is an absolute authority on the fluctuating opinions of a society as diverse as the U.S., Harvard’s last two seem to signal that young Americans’ attitudes are moving in a more libertarian direction, seeking fiscal discipline and social tolerance from their policymakers.

"First and foremost, Harvard’s latest polls points to strong disapproval of the Obama administration among millennials. A mere 47 percent approved of the president’s job performance as of April, down 11 percent from his high of 58 percent in November 2009. Furthermore, a majority disapproved of how the president has handled all eight policy categories they were asked about....

"As for policies the youth would support, the April survey unsurprisingly points to a wide array of opinions on a number of contentious issues.... Fortunately, not every proposal points to a stark divide among the youth. A number of the surveys’ policy prescriptions emphasizing fiscal discipline and social tolerance received majorities of support, revealing a libertarian theme."

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/206120-harvard-survey-reveals-libertarian-streak-among-youth
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Poll links "frequent" gamers to libertarian beliefs

Poll links “frequent” US gamers to libertarian political stances | Ars Technica - Sam Machkovech:

May 8, 2014 - "The June issue of Libertarian-leaning magazine Reason ... includes one of the most pointed political surveys about self-proclaimed gamers’ political leanings in recent memory. According to two Reason-Rupe polls conducted in December 2013 and April 2014, gamers are more likely to fall in line with libertarian beliefs, even if they don’t identify as libertarians.

"The random-call phone poll focused on the 16 percent of its 2,014 American respondents who self-identified as 'frequent' gamers. When asked to identify their political affiliation, the gamers were more likely to call themselves independent (55 percent) versus non-gamers (41 percent), while fewer called themselves Republican (15 percent of gamers versus 26 percent of non-gamers). Both populations were relatively even about identifying as Democrat.... In addition, the gamers were much more likely to describe themselves as liberal than non-gamers (32 vs. 21 percent), and less likely to describe themselves as conservative (17 vs. 33 percent).

"Unsurprisingly, 82 percent of gamers favored being allowed to play violent games compared to just 54 percent of non-gamers. Gamers were also more likely to support the use of Bitcoin and of 3D-printed guns, and they favored laws legalizing marijuana. In every question about whether government should intervene in specific activities or products, gamers were opposed to the idea more frequently than non-gamers by a margin of at least 13 percent.

"'We were most surprised by the idea that gamers, even though they identify as liberal and progressive regardless of their age group, were against government regulations of what people could do with their own bodies and their own lives,' story co-author Scott Shackford told Ars. 'Also, if gamers didn’t know what something was, like Bitcoin, they were more inclined to say that the government should allow it, whereas for non-gamers, if they didn’t know what something was, they were inclined to say the government should regulate it.'"

Read more: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/05/poll-links-frequent-us-gamers-to-libertarian-political-stances/
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33% of Americans think charities would use tax money better than government

76 Percent Say Charities Would Have Spent Their Tax Dollars As Well or Better than Government - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Emily Ekins:

April 15, 2013 - "The latest Reason-Rupe poll finds that only 17 percent of Americans think their tax dollars improved society more than had they given that same amount of money to charity or invested it in private businesses. A third say their tax money improved society less than had private charities or businesses spent it, while 4 in 10 say it really makes no difference. In sum, over 70 percent of Americans say private charities or businesses would spend their tax dollars as well as or better than government....

"Part of the reason so few Americans think their tax bill improved society more than had they given that money to charity or private business, is that they believe government wastes 50 percent believe government wastes 50 percent of its tax revenue....

"Those with higher levels of education and income were considerably more likely to say charities would improve society more with their tax dollars than government. For instance, those with college degrees (44 percent) were nearly twice as likely as those with high school diplomas (25 percent) to say charities would have better spent the amount they paid in taxes in 2013.

"Younger people are also more likely than older people to say private charities would have improved society more with their tax money: for instance, 40 percent of 18-24 year olds say [government] improved society less compared to 22 percent of seniors (over age 65)."

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2014/04/15/76-percent-say-charities-would-have-spe2
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The tide is rising for America’s libertarians

The tide is rising for America’s libertarians - FT.com - Edward Luce, Financial Times:

January 12, 2014 - "Robert Nozick, the late US libertarian, smoked pot while he was writing Anarchy, State and Utopia. He would applaud the growth of libertarianism among today’s young Americans. Whether it is their enthusiasm for legalised marijuana and gay marriage ... or their scepticism of government, US millennials no longer follow President Barack Obama’s cue.... If there is a new spirit in America’s rising climate of anti-politics, it is libertarian....

"Republicans such as Rick Santorum, the former presidential hopeful, who once likened gay sex to 'man on dog', elicit pure derision. Even moderate Republicans, such as Chris Christie, ... are considered irrelevant. Whether Mr Christie was telling the truth last week, when he denied knowledge of his staff’s role in orchestrating a punitive local traffic jam, is beside the point. Mr Christie’s Sopranos brand of New Jersey politics is not tailored to the Apple generation....

"The opposite is true of Rand Paul, the Kentucky senator, whose chances of taking the 2016 prize rose with Mr Christie’s dented fortunes last week.... Paul eschews the more outlandish fringes of libertarian thought. Rather than promising an isolationist US withdrawal from the world, he touts a more moderate 'non-interventionism'. Instead of pledging to end fiat money, he promises to audit the US Federal Reserve."

Read more: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cc9a31b8-7928-11e3-b381-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2qCFtSyNE
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Libertarianism vs. Conservatism: Which way will millennials push the GOP?

Libertarianism vs. Conservatism: Which Way Will Millennials Push the GOP? - Nicolo Dona della Rose, Policymic:

"There is a gap between America’s system of representation and the worldviews of its electors. However, many driven individuals refuse to be simply defined as Democratic or Republican, realizing that there are many more nuances to their ideology.

"Debates like 'Libertarianism vs. Conservatism' featuring interns from the Cato Institute, a predominantly libertarian research center, and the Heritage foundation, a renowned conservative institution, show the relevance and intensity of the current divide within the American right wing.

"Two interns were assigned to each side. While they did come from the two institutes, the speakers were not representatives of their foundations and spoke out of their personal worldviews. As the debate moved into a variety of topics, from foreign policy to the role of government, from immigration to civil rights, it was clear that what are becoming two strong separate movements within the American right wing could not be more different."

Read more: http://www.policymic.com/articles/54385/libertarianism-vs-conservatism-which-way-will-millennials-push-the-gop
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Britain’s libertarian generation

Children of Thatcher: Britain’s Libertarian Generation - Hit & Run : Reason.com Emily Ekins:

Jue 3, 2013 - "The Economist recently reviewed the long-running British Social Attitudes survey (BSA), among other surveys, finding that:

Young Britons are classical liberals: as well as prizing social freedom, they believe in low taxes, limited welfare and personal responsibility. In America they would be called libertarians....

"While two-thirds of Britons born before 1938 “consider the welfare state ‘one of Britain’s proudest achievements’.” Less than one-third of millennial Britons agree.

"Britons aged 18-24 are more likely to say social problems are the responsibility of individuals rather than the state, prioritize deficit reduction, support privatization of utilities, and more likely to reject bans on cigarette branding. They care about the environment, but also commerce and are more likely to have set up their own businesses than their peers in any other large EU country. "Young Britons are also more socially tolerant, and have a more relaxed approach toward alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana than other young people in the European Union. The Economist concludes libertarianism is growing especially among Britain’s young, politically engaged minority, and views'“this trend among the politically active as the visible tip of an iceberg of passive libertarian sentiment among the disengaged.'”

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2013/06/03/children-of-thatcher-britains-libertaria
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