Libertarian conservatism - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Libertarian conservatism, also known as conservative libertarianism (and sometimes called Constitutional libertarianism or right-libertarianism

Right-libertarianism

Right-libertarianism names several related libertarian political philosophies which support capitalism. The term is typically used to differentiate privatist based forms of libertarianism from Left-libertarianism; which generally supports forms of economic democracy and...

), includes political ideologies which meld libertarianism

Libertarianism

Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...

and conservatism

Conservatism

Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...

. Frank Meyer, a co-founder of National Review
National Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...

has called this fusionism

Fusionism (politics)

Fusionism is an American political term for the combination or "fusion" of traditional conservatives with some libertarians and some social conservatives, forming the American conservative movement.-History and positions:...

.

United States Congressman Ron Paul

Ron Paul

Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...

has been described as combining libertarian and conservative small government ideas and showing how the Constitution defends the individual and most libertarian

Libertarianism

views. In 1975, Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

stated, "I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism" but some libertarians criticize Reagan for unlibertarian policy positions. Many libertarian conservatives, like Congressman Ron Paul

Ron Paul

and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson

Gary Johnson

Gary Johnson may refer to:*Gary Johnson , former Governor of New Mexico and candidate for President in 2012*Gary Johnson , American politician, Wisconsin State Assembly...

, affiliate with the Republican Party

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

and consider themselves libertarian Republican

Libertarian Republican

A libertarian Republican is a person who subscribes to libertarian philosophy while typically voting for and being involved with the United States Republican Party.Sometimes the terms republitarian or liberty Republican are used as well...

.

Some British libertarian conservatives such as British MEP Daniel Hannan

Daniel Hannan

Daniel John Hannan is a British journalist, author and politician who is currently a Member of the European Parliament, representing South East England for the Conservative Party and the European Conservatives and Reformists political group...

choose to affiliate themselves with the UK Conservative Party

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

Philosophy

Anthony Gregory has written that conservative libertarianism "can refer to any number of varying and at times mutually exclusive political orientations." He listed some as being "interested mainly in 'economic freedoms'"; following the "conservative lifestyle of right-libertarians"; seeking "others to embrace their own conservative lifestyle"; considering big business "as a great victim of the state"; favoring a "strong national defense"; and having "an Old Right opposition to empire." He holds that the issue is not right or left but "whether a person sees the state as a major hazard or just another institution to be reformed and directed toward a political goal."

Freedom & Virtue: The Conservative Libertarian Debate, edited by George W. Carey, contains essays which describe "the tension between liberty and morality" as "the main fault line dividing the two philosophies." According to Carey's collection, conservatives hold that shared values, morals, standards, and traditions are necessary for social order while libertarians consider individual liberty to be the highest value.

Laurence M. Vance wrote:

Some libertarians consider libertarianism to be a lifestyle rather than a political philosophy... These "lifestyle" or "cosmopolitan" libertarians, some of whom – to the detriment of their cause – are condescending, pompous snobs, are not content with personally and culturally conservative libertarians (like Ron Paul) tolerating diversity; they want them to likewise celebrate depravity. They apparently don’t know the difference between libertarianism and libertinism.

However, Edward Feser emphasized that libertarianism does not require individuals to reject traditional conservative values.

Thomas DiLorenzo

Thomas DiLorenzo

Thomas James DiLorenzo is an American economics professor at Loyola University Maryland. He is an adherent of the Austrian School of Economics. He is a senior faculty member of the Ludwig von Mises Institute and an associated scholar of the Abbeville Institute...

wrote that libertarian conservatives (or "libertarian constitutionalists") believe that the way to limit government is to enforce the United States Constitution

United States Constitution

The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...

. DiLorenzo criticized them, writing, "The fatal flaw in the thinking of the libertarian/conservative constitutionalists stems from their unawareness or willful ignorance of how the founders themselves believed the Constitution could be enforced: by the citizens of the free, independent, and sovereign states, not the federal judiciary."

Lew Rockwell

Lew Rockwell

Llewellyn Harrison "Lew" Rockwell, Jr. is an American libertarian political commentator, activist, proponent of the Austrian School of economics, and chairman of the Ludwig von Mises Institute.-Life and work:...

described the period when he and others advocated what they called "paleoism", which was "short for paleoconservatism

Paleoconservatism

Paleoconservatism is a term for a conservative political philosophy found primarily in the United States stressing tradition, limited government, civil society, anti-colonialism, anti-corporatism and anti-federalism, along with religious, regional, national and Western identity. Chilton...

(known for its alleged isolationism and heartland-style defense of localism) and paleolibertarianism

Paleolibertarianism

Paleolibertarianism is a school of thought within American libertarianism associated with the late economist Murray Rothbard, and the Ludwig von Mises Institute. It is based on a combination of right-libertarianism in politics and cultural conservatism in social thought...

(a term I used to distance Old Right libertarianism from the branch that cared nothing about stopping federal consolidation and US imperialism)."

Nelson Hultberg wrote that there is "philosophical common ground" between libertarians and conservatives. "The true conservative movement was, from the start, a blend of political libertarianism, cultural conservatism, and non-interventionism abroad bequeathed to us via the Founding Fathers." He said that such libertarian conservatism was "hijacked" by neoconservatism

Neoconservatism

Neoconservatism in the United States is a branch of American conservatism. Since 2001, neoconservatism has been associated with democracy promotion, that is with assisting movements for democracy, in some cases by economic sanctions or military action....

, "by the very enemies it was formed to fight Fabians, New Dealers, welfarists, progressives, globalists, interventionists, militarists, nation builders, and all the rest of the collectivist ilk that was assiduously working to destroy the Founders' Republic of States."

External links

Republican Liberty Caucus: A group of libertarian conservatives
Frank S. Meyer: The Fusionist as Libertarian Manqué

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Philosophy

See also

External links