It’s no secret that there is no love between conservatives and libertarians. Well, there is some, but often times there is just as much disagreement between conservatives and libertarians as there is between liberals and conservatives. The ideology is very different between the two and libertarians are often looked down upon by many conservatives.
The insults are probably the worst. Of all the libertarian people I’ve read up on and talked to, most of them have yet to refer to conservatives in some clever and derogatory way. At best they are called fools for voting Republican without regard for the consequences. However, I’ve seen libertarians be called “liberaltarian” and “kook” among others by the very conservatives who grip about liberal insults.
While it’s true that all of us libertarians have a very different outlook on the role of government, we are not all that dissimilar from conservative thought. I myself was a conservative in my younger, more naive years (there I go insulting them like I just complained about). I made the transition when I realized that freedom was more important than security and that the government has been, by and large, a very bad investment when it comes to justice and security.
But libertarianism does more than offer an alternative to conservatism for those who desire limited government. Because we are further to the right (generally) than the conservative movement, we tend to keep conservatives more honest and question their own leaders when they refuse to adhere to the principles of limited government. What we do is challenge there more fanatical devotions to Republican leaders who behave like liberals but claim the holy mantle of conservatism.
This doesn’t always work out the way we want, of course. If one of us libertarians pushes too hard, the conservative will buckle down and get defensive, to the point of supporting worthless dolts who don’t give a damn about their own ideals. This guy Bennett from Utah is a prime example, considering that he was re-elected during the Bush years.
The truth is, libertarians are needed within the conservative movement because we going to hold you to your principles, whether you like it or not, because many of those principles are our principles. Sure we have conflicting views on some things like foreign policy and social issues, but at the same time, this nation isn’t too concerned about those things right now.
Considering what has happened in Greece, what will probably happen in Europe, and what has to happen here, isn’t it time we set aside our petty differences on social and foreign policy and focus instead on the very serious fiscal issues that Democrats and liberals clearly don’t give a damn about?
Or are we bound to constantly fight each other over things we both know the government cannot fix any time soon where as budgets are surprisingly easy, despite what a politician might tell you.
Still though, I fully expect many conservatives to look down on libertarians because for many, it’s considered some kind of higher calling. I know because I used to think that way too. And so long as you believe that you are right and everyone else is evil, well, you’ll never compromise.