10. Ron Swanson  Parks and Recreation

Libertarianism is an ideology that holds individual freedom as its highest virtue, and asserts, basically, that a person ought to be free to live their life however they please so long as it doesnt harm others. Paradoxically, Libertarianism is at once the core of the American mythos, and a fringe-movement in her politics. Libertarian ideas are enshrined in the nations constitution, the writings of its founding fathers, the fiction of Mark Twain, and the classic Westerns of Hollywood and some of the iconic characters of today  and yet, while the popularity of these ideas remains strong, in many ways the country grows ever more authoritarian by the year. I wrote this list a month ago and ended up not submitting it, as the site is so apolitical (and thats a nice thing), but in light of the revelations about the current administrations invasive surveillance, targeting of political enemies and so on, Ive reconsidered. This is not intended as a treatise on the merits and flaws of libertarianism, for which this isnt the place, and I am unqualified; but simply, here are ten characters (and groupings of characters) from film and TV which, for better or worse, exhibit libertarian traits and extol libertarian ideals.Libertarianism is all about individual liberty and it should never be defined by the terms Liberal or Conservative Ill be the first to admit it. There are characters on this list in which I will be postulating and overreaching - searching for a Libertarianism that just isnt there. Taking a few Libertarian qualities the character may possess, then filling in the blanks to fit my own purpose. Then, theres Ron Swanson. Hes a good place to start this list, because theres really no subtext in his politics, and if you want a crash-course in Libertarianism and cant be bothered reading up on some Mises or Hayek, hes a good place to start. He values privacy, self-reliance, the freedom to quantities of bacon and eggs which will probably kill him, the function of the marketplace -which he astutely equates with survival in the wilderness- and savings (I promised myself when I started burying gold in my yard, I was never going to be a hoarder or a miser about it). While the show pokes a lot of fun at his eccentricity and cantankerousness (common libertarian traits), he is often the shows voice of reason.