Real ones, or at least the college-kid version of them as opposed to the wackjob tea partiers... We're set up downtown as a street vendor at the college, and yesterday we had a new neighbor, a "Young Americans for Liberty" booth with pamphlets, copies of the US Constitution, etc. So, being bored, I chatted with them or asked them questions like "what government services do you currently receive that you'd be willing to give up?" (Background, apparently the group started as Youth for Ron Paul in 2008, but it morphed into Youth for America to retain it's 501(c)3 tax exempt status).
Now, avoiding the obvious question of "why are self-described libertarians recruiting on a public university that's paid for through taxpayer dollars", I think I might have figured out *why* young people are son enamored with Ron Paul/Libertarians, and why anyone over the age of 23 isn't: It's all about idealism and the belief that deep down inside, people are good. They truly *believed* that if Medicaid went away that people would help out their friends and neighbors ("Ron Paul doesn't accept Medicare but charged patients a reduced rate or gave away health care for free..."), or that corporations would do the right thing if there was no FDA. They believed that if you handed airport security back to the airlines you'd have an easier time than the TSA just... because. No real reasoning, no thinking of the worst scenario that could happen (ie, airlines granted immunity from prosecution to enact more strident security than we have now, or putting language into every ticket sold that waives your right to sue...), just a sort of lib-topia ideal where nothing goes wrong.
It really boiled down to the fact that these kids are young, idealistic, and basically believing that everyone is good and wholesome, when in reality those of us who're old enough know that people are mostly evil, corporations will do *anything* they can to make money, and without strict regulations you're likely to get food poisoning or shot, or blown up, or whatever. Sure enough, when viewed through that lens Ron Paul/'s answers last night started making a *whole* lot more sense.
At least when I asked whether they'd vote for Obama or Perry, all chose a 3rd candidate...
Now, avoiding the obvious question of "why are self-described libertarians recruiting on a public university that's paid for through taxpayer dollars", I think I might have figured out *why* young people are son enamored with Ron Paul/Libertarians, and why anyone over the age of 23 isn't: It's all about idealism and the belief that deep down inside, people are good. They truly *believed* that if Medicaid went away that people would help out their friends and neighbors ("Ron Paul doesn't accept Medicare but charged patients a reduced rate or gave away health care for free..."), or that corporations would do the right thing if there was no FDA. They believed that if you handed airport security back to the airlines you'd have an easier time than the TSA just... because. No real reasoning, no thinking of the worst scenario that could happen (ie, airlines granted immunity from prosecution to enact more strident security than we have now, or putting language into every ticket sold that waives your right to sue...), just a sort of lib-topia ideal where nothing goes wrong.
It really boiled down to the fact that these kids are young, idealistic, and basically believing that everyone is good and wholesome, when in reality those of us who're old enough know that people are mostly evil, corporations will do *anything* they can to make money, and without strict regulations you're likely to get food poisoning or shot, or blown up, or whatever. Sure enough, when viewed through that lens Ron Paul/'s answers last night started making a *whole* lot more sense.
At least when I asked whether they'd vote for Obama or Perry, all chose a 3rd candidate...
