The Liberaltarian Future

Mark Thompson opines that the future of libertarians should be with the political left and not the right:

If libertarianism has a future with either of the two main political coalitions in this country, it is with the Left, not the Right.

As Mark admits, a liberal-libertarian fusion, or "liberaltarianism" is his "hobby horse." In fact, it has been a pre-occupation with many libertarians during the Bush years, as they became fed-up with the Republican Party's new found love of authority.

But the thing is, I think libertarians would be just as unhappy with the left as they were with the right. The problem is that both sides like big government to solve their issues.

I tend to think that maybe instead of wishing and hoping for the Democrats to notice them, libertarians might consider moving into the party that bears their name: the Libertiarian Party, and create a liberal-libertarian coalition there. The problem with the Libertarian Party as it exists now is that it is not practical at all. It seeks some kind of libertarian utopia that very few Americans want.

But what if liberaltarians came in and proposed a new agenda: one that was business friendly, socially liberal with a smaller role for the state and an enhanced federalism, sort of like the Free Democrats in Germany. I think then you could have a winning coalition that might just pass the other parties by.

Just a thought...