We’re all libertarians now
Jeff Foxworthy has made a lucrative career with a country comedy routine filling in the blank after the phrase "You might be a redneck, if "
You too can proudly descend the socio-economic ladder by matching your life and lifestyle to certain traits and proclivities, such as, "You might be a redneck, if ...:
" you think the last words of 'The Star Spangled Banner' are, 'Gentlemen, start your engines.' "
" you think a stock tip is advice on worming the hogs."
" you have more than three cousins named Bubba." (In Louisiana several years back there were nine candidates for governor -- including two Bubbas, a Buddy and a Sonny. But that's another story.)
Late this past month, a founder of the Libertarian Party, David Nolan, died at the age of 66. An advertising executive from Denver who was influenced by the works of science-fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein, he became disenchanted with the Republican Party and its leadership when President Richard Nixon imposed wage and price controls. So in 1971 he helped form the Libertarian Party.
Nolan ran for the U.S. Senate under the Libertarian banner in Arizona against John McCain. Among the issues listed on his campaign's website was the restoration of civil liberties. "Everywhere we turn, we see more restrictions on our liberty and more intrusions into our lives. The Bush and Obama administrations have eroded our privacy and civil liberties on an unprecedented scale. Warrantless searches, no-knock raids, phone taps and secret databases are the tools of a police state, and a free society should not and must not tolerate them."
Nolan was the creator of the Nolan Chart, the political answer to Foxworthy's routine. The chart displays political leanings not just along the familiar spectrum of left to right, but also top to bottom, depending on a person's desire for more or less government. A true libertarian would be at the top of the chart -- a position appealing to most people's egos.
For years, people would ask me my political stance and I'd invariably reply fiscally conservative, socially liberal -- let people keep their own money and do their own thing and don't discriminate.
I thought I was in the minority with such schizoid views.
Apparently not.
According to a Cato Institute policy analysis, a Zogby poll found 44 percent of respondents described themselves as "fiscally conservative and socially liberal, also known as libertarian." Asked only if they would describe themselves as "fiscally conservative and socially liberal" without the unfamiliar and apparently off-putting "libertarian" label, fully 59 percent agreed.
Cato analysts David Kirby and David Boaz concluded, "In the past three years ... libertarians have become a more visible, organized force in politics, particularly as campaigns move online. Ron Paul's campaign demonstrated that libertarians can be organized and raise large sums of money through the Internet.
"Tea Party protests demonstrated that libertarian-inspired anger can boil over to spontaneous, nationwide rallies. On September 12, 2009, more than 100,000 people marched on Washington to protest federal spending and the growth of government, carrying nerdy, libertarian-inspired signs such as 'What Would Mises Do?' and 'I Am John Galt.' "
Several versions of the aforementioned Nolan Chart can be found online. One of the better ones can be found at http://www.nolanchart.com/survey.php. It asks multiple-choice questions about 10 issues and then rates your answers visually on a diamond-shaped chart. If you fall on the left side of the spectrum you are liberal, or conservative if on the right -- the standard way of looking at things. But it also shows where you stand top to bottom, from libertarian to statist. In the middle of all four points of this compass is the centrist.
Take the issue of homosexual marriage.
Do you think?:
A. Laws should be passed protecting gay marriage and affording all the benefits afforded heterosexual couples.
B. State laws should reflect the majority opinion on this matter.
C. Homosexuality should be banned.
D. Government has no role in relationships or contracts between consenting adults.
Take matters of free speech.
Do you think?:
A. Speech should be free except for threats to public safety.
B. The government has a role in regulating certain speech, such as hate speech, pornography, campaign contributions and separation of church and state.
C. Government should regulate speech as needed to meet all government obligations.
D. Government should play no role in limiting free speech for any reason.
If you answered D to both of those questions, you might be on your way to coming out of the libertarian closet.
Better yet, go online, search for a Nolan Chart and answer the questions.
You might be a libertarian, if ...
Thomas Mitchell is senior opinion editor of the Review-Journal. He may be contacted at 383-0261 or via e-mail at tmitchell@reviewjournal.com. Read his blog at lvrj.com/blogs/mitchell.
