Our generation should look beyond the red and blue political factions

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the MSU Exponent, its editorial staff, advisers, or Montana State University.

In American politics today, you’re expected to pick a side: “Progressivism,” backed by big government, or “conservatism” that talks about free markets while giving subsidies and regulations to well-connected corporations. 

Both sides want your tax dollars; both want to dictate how you live and simply expect you to just fall in line. 

But what happens if you reject both? That’s where libertarianism comes in — a political philosophy built on individual freedom, private property and a government limited to protecting people’s rights. 

The Libertarian Party’s Statement of Principles puts it this way: “People should not be forced to sacrifice their lives and property for the benefit of others. They should be left free by the government to deal with one another as free traders; and the resultant economic system, the only one compatible with the protection of individual rights, is the free market.”

For millions of Americans, the choice between two parties is a false dilemma. According to a study by Gallup, 45 percent of Americans now identify as independents, yet the ballot offers only two front-runners.

When I look at the modern political landscape, I don’t see a choice between Democrat or Republican — I am exhausted from having to choose between two parties that don’t serve American liberty. 

The two parties function like a duopoly, dominating the market for political power and competing mostly with each other.

The answer to our political stagnation isn’t picking the lesser of two evils — it’s stepping outside that system and embracing a genuine third way rooted in individual autonomy and economic freedom. 

The idea isn’t new. In the 1600s, John Locke argued that every person holds property in their own person and labor — a right that has existed before any government and that no government grants. 

Today’s parties treat that ownership as conditional. Progressives dictate how we manage our lives, while establishment conservatives put foreign entanglements ahead of problems at home. 

The result is a state that owns you and rents out your liberties. As the French economist Frédéric Bastiat wrote in 1848, “The state is the great fictitious entity by which everyone seeks to live at the expense of everyone else.” 

How could a libertarian approach change?

First, the budget. The U.S. should balance its budget, lower taxes and end corporate welfare, so that no business — big or small — gets ahead because of political connections instead of competition.

Second, war powers. Congress should exercise its constitutional power to declare war, and the U.S. should end open-ended foreign interventions and nation building, so that American money and American lives are spent defending America.

Third, civil liberties. The government should respect the right to keep and bear arms and stop warrantless surveillance, including tools like AI-driven monitoring and license plate cameras, because a government that can watch everyone and disarm anyone doesn’t answer to the people.

Putting America first shouldn’t mean trading one flavor of big government for another. 

A nation can’t stay free at home while it’s hollowed out by endless interventionism abroad. For my generation, watching leaders prioritize foreign conflicts over the struggling infrastructure and economic struggles of everyday Americans has been the ultimate disillusionment. 

Some say that a vote for a third party is wasted. But a vote for a party you don’t believe in is the real waste. Third-party and independent campaigns have repeatedly forced major parties to adopt ideas they once ignored. Local offices, where a few hundred votes can decide a race, are winnable. 

That’s why I plan to enter politics myself one day, not to manage a bloated state, but to help shrink it and return power to local communities and the everyday citizens who built this country.

Real reform won’t come from the edges. It will come from a new generation of leaders willing to reject the duopoly and demand a government that answers to the people rather than the political class. 

Show up to the next City Commission meeting, find the Libertarian Party of Montana and look for candidates who will protect your liberty and your property, no matter what label they carry.

Freedom in Bozeman starts at the local level. Show up, speak up and hold the people who govern us accountable.