Is libertarianism, the philosophy of voluntary arrangements, free markets and individual liberty, en vogue? After years of overreaching government by the Republican and Democratic parties, there are signs that a freedom movement is beginning to bristle.

The Associated Press moved a story July 7 with the headline: "With 'freedom' in fashion, is libertarianism back?" AP reporter Pauline Arrillaga wrote: "Something's going on in America this election year: a renaissance of an ideal as old as the nation itself that live-and-let-live, get-out-of-my-business, individualism vs. paternalism dogma that is the hallmark of libertarianism." She is correct.

A screen shot of the FreedomFest website.

ADVERTISEMENT

Those yearning for a liberty movement in the United States often cite the 2010 midterm elections, where voters, some reacting to the passage of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, ousted Democrats from office throughout the country and gave control of the House of Representatives to the Republicans. But even before that, liberty-minded voters began rejecting intrusive government policies.

In 2006, Republicans lost control of the House and Senate and a majority of the contested governorships. In 2008, Democrats won the White House, and increased their majorities in both chambers of Congress.

Those discouraging reversals for Republicans were due, at least in part, to the disenfranchisement felt toward the GOP by freedom-focused voters and the libertarian wing of the Republican Party. Too many policies enacted by the GOP during the George W. Bush presidency, especially when the GOP controlled both houses of Congress, were suspect. Republicans went along with bailouts, stimulus packages, unpopular wars and an arguable precursor of Obamacare, the Medicare Part D prescription drug program.

Every time politicians of either major party step on liberty, which they do far too frequently, voters react. Now, with the odious requirement in Obamacare that all Americans buy government-approved health insurance or pay what a Supreme Court majority decided to call a tax, the libertarian streak within many American voters may play a deciding role in the presidential election, now less than four months away.

Judging by this week's annual FreedomFest conference in Las Vegas, the liberty movement is gaining momentum. Thousands will pour into the largest city in Nevada, a key swing state, to promote all things free-market and pro-liberty. FreedomFest typically provides insight into what liberty-leaning voters are thinking. This year's event could even turn out as the unofficial kickoff of a push that decides the winners in November.

FOLLOW US @OCRegLetters

See the original post:

Editorial: Political parties earning freedom more fans