This Month at Cato Unbound: The Future of Right‐Libertarian Fusionism
This month our online ideas journal Cato Unbound boasts an all‐new design, with new software to make reading and navigating a whole lot more intuitive.
Our latest issue tackles the topic of fusionism — the old‐new idea that libertarians belong on the right side of the political aisle.
Fusionism has a long history. But will it play to millennials? That could be one of the most important questions in American politics.
Young voters are a lot less conservative on social issues like gay marriage and drug policy. In this, they echo previous generational trends on questions like interracial marriage and pornography, neither of which are live political issues anymore. Younger Americans also seem more skeptical of corporate influences in politics. That fact may tilt them to the left, but it could also pave the way for a less corporatist free‐market movement, if only we can make the case to them. And some millennials might not even remember a time when America was at peace — a thing we can’t say about any previous generation.
How does the old right‐libertarian alliance fare in this new environment? We decided to ask some young activists who’ve given some thought to the question.
Making the case for fusionism is Jacqueline Otto of the American Enterprise Institute’s Values and Capitalism Project. Economic liberty unites us, she says — and we ought not to let the rest divide us.
And contra, we have Jeremy Kolassa, a writer for United Liberty. He argues that libertarians haven’t gotten much from their old alliance with the right, and it’s time to stand on our own. Libertarians should offer good ideas to whoever will listen and form coalitions wherever specific issues allow it.
Over the next few days we’ll also have essays from Clark Ruper of Students for Liberty and Jordan Ballor of the Acton Institute. Also be sure to stop by our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter as the conversation develops.
