Regan’s Libertarian Spirit

By David Boaz, Brittanica.com

Libertarians have mixed feelings toward Ronald Reagan. When we’re feeling positive, we remember that he used to say, “Libertarianism is the heart and soul of conservatism.”

Other times, we call to mind his military interventionism, his encouragement of the then-new religious right (“I know you can’t endorse me, but I endorse you.”), and his failure to really reduce the size of government. But the more experience we have with later presidents, the better Reagan looks in retrospect.

After a dispiriting era of stagflation, he revived American spirits and our faith in free enterprise. He slashed marginal tax rates and ushered in a “long boom.” Along with Margaret Thatcher, he both symbolized and galvanized a renewed enthusiasm for entrepreneurship and free markets.

He shocked the chattering classes in Washington and New York when he told the truth about communism: that it was a world of “totalitarian darkness” and a “sad, bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages even now are being written.” Even we anti-communists thought he was overly optimistic when he said that in 1983.

To read more, visit: http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2011/02/reagans-libertarian-spirit/

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Posted by reteaparty on Feb 4 2011. Filed under Activism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry