Finding the future’s free-market advocates
It’s interesting to contrast the nightly news dispatches on the increasingly juvenile presidential campaign with the solid work of an organization composed of actual young adults — high school and college students – who quietly are attempting to attain political maturity by analyzing current trends in the U.S. economy.
When R Street celebrated its first birthday, back in the summer of 2013, we invited Charlie Kirk, then a high school senior, to dine with a few of us and our legislative advisory board to celebrate the anniversary of his founding Turning Point USA. The Turning Point message, which seems to be gaining interest, is that millennials are waking up to the notion that very few, if any, of the problems they face can be solved by big government.
The group’s mission statement reads:
Turning Point USA educates students about the importance of fiscal responsibility, free markets and limited government. Through non-partisan debate, dialogue and discussion, Turning Point USA believes that every young person can be enlightened to true free market values.
The student-produced publications offered on the TPUSA website explain the concept of “crony” capitalism, the impact of minimum-wage laws, how big government punishes success and how to avoid being indoctrinated by left-wing college professors. New publications bear titles like “Game of Loans,” about student loan debt; “50 Wacky Ways the Government Spends Your Money,” and “Capitalism Cures.” Among the most recent additions to the group’s site is a YouTube video featuring Kirk titled: “Love Uber? Then you love capitalism.”
Turning Point now claims more than 800 chapters on high school and college campuses and Kirk’s recruiting efforts are helped by nearly 30 regional directors and field staff. Kirk himself is now a frequent guest on television news shows, having appeared more than 90 times combined on Fox News, CNBC and Fox Business News.
The organization deserves the attention. As we did when we jointly celebrated a first anniversary, we wish Charlie and his enthusiastic crew all the best.
