Left, Right & Babyboom : America's New Politics

Left, Right, & Babyboom is a short collections of essays written by people in politics from all sides of the Nolan Chart. This book was composed and edited in 1986, by David Boaz, one of the leaders of the Cato Institute, a Libertarian Think- Tank in Washington, D.C. There are a total of 15 different essays in this 122 page paperback book, and each one is written by a different author. The basic premise of this book is that the American Political landscape is going to change in the coming years, as the baby boom generation matures. Baby boomers are known for their tendency to be economically conservative (more Republican) and socially liberal (more Democratic). This combination of traits will move politics in a Libertarian direction, in the coming years. Today, the nations politics are more conservative overall. That's mainly due to the fact that there are so many older voters (pre- baby boom generation)who tend to be conservative on most all issues, economic and social. Some of the ideas presented here are interesting. The writers point out that, prior to the 1970's, political analysts tried to peg everyone as being either liberal, moderate, or conservative. Someone who was conservative on economic issues (against government control of the economy) and liberal on social issues (against government control on personal decisions) was considered to be "inconsistent" in his/her thinking. Likewise, someone who was liberal on economic issues and conservative on social issues was also viewed as inconsistent. If anything, what's really inconsistent is to be conservative on ALL issues, or liberal on ALL issues. In other words, in the past, if you were 100% pro- liberty, or 100% pro- government, you were labeled as unusual in your thinking. Times have changed!The various contributors of this book agree that politicians has better pay attention to the coming changes in the political landscape. If they ignore these changes, they will likely be replaced by more Libertarian- thinking leaders.