Carlos Sierra Political Consultant | El Paso, Texas

Parks and Recreation is one of the most beloved sitcoms in the past ten years. Taking its cues from the office with its mockumentary style, the show focused on a small set of government employees, their daily hijinks, and their heart-warming relationships. But one character, Ron Swanson, truly stole the hearts of many fans with his stone-like demeanor, comical cynicism, and alpha-male actions. And though Nick Offerman plays a wonderful part, his character has one major flaw; he’s a very bad libertarian. Though many champion him as the poster-man of the party or use his outlandish quotes as fodder against it, a deeper look shows some holes in his apparent political views. So, the next time you need to clarify the difference between Swansonism and true libertarianism , below are some helpful thoughts. “All government crumbling to the ground.” First, libertarians do not oppose the government. It’s true, the libertarian’s rep in the national consciousness is often one of gov...

The Libertarian Party caught a lot of attention this past election cycle. In a year with two unpopular presidential candidates , voters were looking for an alternative. In fact, Google searches for the Libertarian Party surged in the wake of the news that Ted Cruz, a serious political contender for the Republican Party, suspended his campaign -- thus leaving Donald Trump as the Republican frontrunner.   This is where Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson came in. Voters rallied for him to break the two-party system in an election that was already filled with drama and controversy among both Democratic and Republican candidates. By the end of the election cycle, Johnson earned a reported 3.3% of all votes (about 4,488,919 votes to be exact) and become the most successful candidate to run a presidential campaign for the Libertarian Party in decades.   What is Libertarianism? According to the official Libertarian Party website, Libertarians strongly oppose any gover...