Liberal Revolution
From Zanecorpwiki
2010-03-06
The recent Pew Research Foundation survey found that Millennials (those currently 18-29 yrs old) are the first generation to ever say the government should do more not less. I'd love to dig into these numbers, but I can't imagine it's because they've been impressed by what government can do, so I imagine it has to be they're disenchanted with the private sector.
Even though I consider myself a free marketeer, and though it's clear that government has a vital role to play in modern society, that markets need the right regulation to function, etc., it's also pretty clear to me that there's no better way to waste money or screw things up than to give over control to the government. Our political process is simply terrible at making good policy.
I once heard someone say the difference between the modern liberal and the classic free market liberal is that the former don't trust corporations and the latter doesn't trust government. Liberals say that free marketeers are naive regarding the evil of corporations. Free marketeers say that liberals are naive about the evils of big government.[notes 1] I say it's naive to not be skeptical of any Concentration of Power whatsoever.
Still, I can sympathize with the Millennials. All they've known is a Republican administration that may be amongst the worst in history. Not because it was Republican, just because it was bad. Still, not having seen enough to really understand that the problem is systemic, it makes sense that they'd turn to the liberal message and embrace the idea of big government. Anything would be better than what they witnessed.
As for the free markets, well, they screwed the pooch, didn't they? In the face of the financial crisis and the reprehensible greed and lack of responsibility that it has exposed, it's hard to argue that free markets--the natural contra to big government--deserves another shot.
I'm hopeful that the post-millennial generation actually gets it right and learns to be skeptical of everything.
Notes
- ↑ Some might use the labels liberal and conservative, but I just don't see any ideological consistency in the modern conservative movement. In the eight years they were in power, they did nothing but expand the size of government. The fact that "big government" has once again become their rallying cry isn't probative, it's just sad.
