Are Millennials a Libertarian Generation?

Much has been made in recent weeks of the political direction of the Millennial generation, those of us born after 1980.  Representatives from all political ideologies are trying to claim that the current generation is moving in their direction.

Today Cato Institute Vice President Gene Healy weighed in on the debate with an op-ed in the Washington Examiner.  In it he dissects a Pew Research Center study which claims the youth are more liberal and pro-government than past generations.  Pew claims that, “Millennials ‘are significantly less critical of government’ than their predecessors… They’re the only one of the four generations polled in which a majority says ‘the government should do more to solve problems.”  However Gene points out that the picture is not quite so black and white:

“True, moral-values conservatives and foreign-policy hawks will have a hard time finding a pony in Pew’s data pile.

Gen Y is more socially liberal, pro-gay marriage, and pro-immigration than earlier generations. They’re also the least likely age group to support an aggressive, interventionist foreign policy, and the only one in which a majority of respondents disapproved of Obama’s doubling down on a bad bet in Afghanistan.

Pew calls the Millennials ‘a pro-government, socially liberal generation.’ For libertarians, often described as “fiscally conservative and socially liberal,” there’s at least some common ground there.”

On the left side of the traditional spectrum libertarian issues are doing very well.  Gene further points out that libertarianism is becoming more popular among conservatives as well, and cited Students For Liberty’s recent CPAC controversy as an example:

“And at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference, when an obnoxious lout named Ryan Sorba condemned the CPAC organizers for welcoming a gay organization, it was members of groups like Students for Liberty and the Ron Paul kids who booed him off the stage.”

You can read the full op-ed here.  For background on the CPAC Controversy check out the SFL video here.