Teenagetarian
/ˌtiːnˈeɪdʒəˌtɛəɹiən/
noun (informal, pejorative)
- An adolescent or young adult who adopts libertarianism in a cringe, identity-driven way, contributing little beyond memes, bad takes, and performative posturing, while mistaking ideological intensity for understanding.
- A young person who treats libertarianism as a personality and online subculture rather than a serious body of political and economic thought, often pedestalizing guru figures or micro-celebrities within the movement and taking slogans, memes, and intra-movement drama far too seriously.
adjective
- Teenagetarian libertarianism: a shallow, hyper-online mode of libertarian engagement among adolescents or young adults, marked by meme-literalism, absolutist language, incoherent “radicalism” or faux-pragmatism, and misplaced identity politics.
Common traits:
- Adolescent or early-adult entry into libertarianism
- Guru-worship and quote-posting instead of theory or history
- Memes treated as arguments
- Overcorrection into absolutism or “abolitionism” without comprehension
- Importing identity-politics logic into anti-identity frameworks
- Lack of strategic, institutional, or economic realism
Usage notes:
The term is an internal critique, not a dismissal of young libertarians as such. It targets a phase of ideological immaturity, not age itself; some grow out of it, others remain stuck.
Example sentences:
- “That’s not anarchism—it’s just teenagetarian posturing.”
- “Most people have a teenagetarian phase before they start reading seriously.”
- “Libertarianism survives despite, not because of, teenagetarian culture.”
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