Women In The Wilderness: Problem Solved

[Valin]

Ricodchet:

Mollie Hemingway

1/17/13

 

 

I mentioned I'd be discussing how to show women the strengths of limited government and economic liberty. The event was last night and it was really interesting. The most important thing to note is that I got to meet Barkha Herman in the flesh! (Her write-up of the event is here.)

 

Karlyn Bowman began our discussion with all the depressing data about how women are much more likely to support a big role for government. There has always been a gender gap in voting preferences, but it's becoming much more dramatic. And there are just interesting gender gaps in general. My absolute favorite stat was that if you ask people if they want to ride on the space shuttle, the vast majority of men say "yes, please" while the vast majority of women decline. She had a glimmer of good news for people who support Republican candidates, saying that the 2014 election should show some gains on account of 2012 being a wake-up call and because the electorates in mid-term elections are more favorable to Republicans.

 

Veronique de Rugy reminded us that while Republicans might be less hostile than Democrats to the ideas of liberty, they're aren't exactly the ideal vessels for them. She pointed out how much of the crises our government faces will hurt women (e.g. by a large margin, most recipients of Social Security are of the female variety).

 

 

Vid IWF's Women in the Wilderness Live Event