Politics

Shikha Dalmia on Millennials and The Libertarian Moment

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Millennials2
jonny goldstein / Foter / Creative Commons

As far as the David Frums and Paul Krugmans of the world are concerned, talk about a "libertarian moment" is overblown baloney. Why? Because beyond legalizing pot, young Americans don't care about government intervention in the economy.

But this represents a serious misreading of the millennials based on cherry picked poll data, Reason Foundation Senior Analyst Shikha Dalmia notes. A careful reading of the Reason-Rupe polls shows that millennials are not some 1960s-style hippies who want to move to a commune, toke up, and read Das Kapital. Millennials are children of the twin wars on drugs and terrorism. Hence, they care more about their personal freedoms and the growth of the surveillance state. But they are also aspiring entrepreneurs who want worldly success—along with legal pot.