The philosophical casualty of the Great Recession was supposed to be libertarianism. But signs to the contrary are thriving. Americans are increasingly opposed to activist government programs. The most significant social movement of 2009, the Tea Party protests, grew out of that opposition. Libertarian heroine Ayn Rand is as popular today as ever. Rand's brilliant and radical laissez faire novel "Atlas Shrugged," sold roughly 300,000 copies last year, according to BookScan, twice its sales in 2008 and roughly triple annual sales in recent decades.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Libertarianism's Comeback?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The Tea Party thing is interesting. I see it pretty much as you do but the left is describing it as a movement mainly composed of the religious/Palin right; to say nothing of being organized by big pharma and other corporations.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it's a mixture of everything but I don't know why it's being attacked so derisively by the left.
You?
I think the Republicans are the inevitable casualty, and Libertarians will likely sweep in to get their voters. How can you blame Libertarians for Bush?
ReplyDelete