Have Libertarians Lost Their Idealism?
I came across a link recently to a transcription of a speech delivered by Whole Foods founder and Libertarian John Mackay. In it he presents the case that Libertarians have not done a good job of winning over young and idealistic people, though we’re in an ideal position to do so.
I’ve been thinking for a long time that it’s odd that most Libertarians I’ve run into found their way to Libertarianism from the right rather than from the left, and I’ve wondered if we couldn’t do more to attract people from the left. It seems that the task there is to address the main difference we have with Leftists today — that freedom is a better way to prosperity than socialism.
If Libertarians really are idealistic people, if we believe in and want peace, justice, and prosperity for ourselves and others just as much as Progressives (and I believe we are and we do), and if we believe that the only way to reach these goals is by free people acting in their own self-interest under a rule of law that respects human and civil rights, then how can we do a better job of communicating this? Does this dovetail with our initiative to reach out to college students that Mike put forth in his last post?