Rise of Libertarianism in Canada?

It is hard to argue that libertarianism making a come back in the US, big government advocates argue that it was free markets and deregulation that led to economic calamity but no matter how you splice it there was government involved all along. The social 'safety net' has become a much larger expense in both the US and Canada, but few are thrilled about what the systems offer. The bulk of Canadian electorate seems to be satisfied with the general state of things when compared to the rest of the world, but one could argue that less Canadians are in the, "well it can't happen to us", camp. The Canadian national debt per capita was gaining on the US until the United States went on a shopping spree and pulled into the lead. But regardless of debt load, what moral right does any organized government have to pre-spend money it has not collected yet?

If there is one libertarian concept that seems to have caught on across borders it is the moral argument against taking money by force from one group to give it to another. But perhaps more importantly it is when the victim group is younger or future generations. Deficits are sometimes sold as "an investment in the future", but recent history shows that nothing could be farther from the truth. Deficits are a tax, worse yet they are a tax on future tax payers in order to lavish current citizens with an abundance of expensive government programs. In my view it is not so much the taxation that is bringing more people towards libertarianism, it is the realization that this game does not go on forever and someone is going need to pay the bill and it may be in the current generation's lifetime.

I would speculate that the second libertarian concept drawing people is free enterprise. The boomer generation might be starting to look back and realize how complicated it is to run a business these days let alone start one from scratch. There are government regulations, privacy laws, tax code, payroll changes, and even more localized government changes that hinder businesses to get kick started. Growing assumptions that nothing should ever go wrong, and if it does we will have a tax payer funded public inquiry and committee of bureaucrats to run around and investigate only to find out that it was a basic human error or a problem that employees have been warning about for 2 years but nobody listened because there wasn't a media storm yet. These assumptions are in the private sector as well, but private industry instinctively does not spend more than a problem is worth (making it more sustainable). Government on the other hand with the deficit tax can spend endlessly on problems the mainstream media decides it should solve. So, what does this do specifically to free enterprise? Well it seems most apparent in any food related industry; dairy, produce, food prep, and utilities to varying degrees. Dairy prices are relatively high comparatively, supply is always good though, but there is virtually no open door to younger generations breaking into this industry unless they are rich. Utilities and phone companies would probably be in the same category, prices are kept high across the board, infrastructure is complicated/regulated/subsidized so there is little chance of new competition starting from scratch. Food prep, everyone probably knows someone that went through the hoops so they could sell a sandwich. Produce, let's just say 10 years ago you could buy a box of apples grown in British Columbia for next to nothing but now during harvest season you will be hard pressed to find apples that aren't from Washington. The orchards of Okanagan Valley are becoming harder to find, less in number, and replaced by buildings with for sale signs on them.

The philosophy of government spending future tax payer's money on current citizens seems both stupid and evil (perhaps it is evil because it is disguised as nobility). The last few decades have seen an overall rise in government involvement yet there is both debt and dissatisfaction. More Canadians are looking around the world and are ready to lose some of their safety net, take a chance on liberty, and maybe be given a real shot to succeed or perhaps even the chance to fail.