The smug confidence of libertarians

last updated 8 January 2015

Nora Caplan-Bricker

NewRepublic.com

Why are most libertarians white dudes? asked Nora Caplan-Bricker. Of the 7 percent of Americans who identify as libertarian, a new survey finds, 94 percent of them are non-Hispanic whites, and more than two thirds are men. Don’t women and minorities want to be free to forge their own destinies, too? Apparently, the kind of absolute freedom that libertarianism promises is more appealing to white men, who for good historical reasons find it easier to imagine themselves as winners in a Hobbesian struggle for survival and rewards. Women, blacks, Hispanics, and other minorities find it easier to imagine the possibility of losing—and they know that once you fall without a safety net, “the lows are bottomless.” One study found that half the women earning $25,000 or more—and 27 percent of those earning $200,000 or more—believe they could wind up homeless if they suffer a few bad breaks. In a capitalistic, competitive society, “we can’t all be winners.” That’s why rational people agree to a social contract that protects the losers from abject poverty, starvation, and death. But to people smugly confident of winning, no net is necessary.