Frank's Musings

American voters include a sizable minority of disaffected middle-class workers who resent the apparent privileged status of those who have succeeded within the free market economy. Whether or not they profess it, they try to act independently of democratic institutions and believe the government and our political leaders are responsible for their failure.

This militant libertarianism, of course, is limited to those government services that they cannot provide or choose not to provide for themselves. It disregards the inability of certain people to fend as well for themselves.

Nevertheless, these militant libertarians are certainly not fascists. They are vulnerable, however, to being exploited by would-be authoritarian rulers. Therefore, it is incumbent on advocates of liberal democracy to enlighten voters of the danger of weakening the universality of democratic institutions. We are all in this boat together, so everybody has to play their part and accept their duty.